- Date My Guitar Serial Number
- Search Guitar By Serial Number
- Guitar Values By Serial Number
- Serial Number Vegas 13
- Guitar Serial Numbers Check
I just 'won' the little brother to this amp on eBay. It's a Vega Commander with an unusual single-ended 6L6 setup. Tubes are: V1: 6SL7GT V2: 6C5 V3: 6L6G (cool coke bottle 6L6) V4: 5Y3 The date stamped in the back of the cabinet is Dec of '47. The speaker is a 10' Jensen PM10C with the OT mounted on the speaker frame. From 1933 we have a full sequence of numbers, and thus can date with certainty: First Number.
| ARCHIVED TOPIC: identifying Vega / Martin banjo |
Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/243873
Bassora - Posted - 08/28/2012: 20:59:07
Trying to date our 'new' banjo. Vega is imprinted on the front of the headstock, Martin and Co. logo is stamped on back of headstock. There's a Martin decal on the insideof the rim that looks like the Martin that is stamped on headstock. On the rim is stamped the number: 242.
With this information does anyone have any idea when it might have been produced or who I might contact to get information?
Bassora
'out with the old, in with the older'
Bill Rogers - Posted - 08/28/2012: 22:40:48
Check the Vega dating at mugwumps.com
beegee - Posted - 08/29/2012: 05:56:06
Contact C.F. Martin. They should have the Vega productions records for their ownership period.
mikehalloran - Posted - 08/29/2012: 19:09:39
242 by itself is meaningless. It was made by Vega and sold by Martin or made by Martin. In any case, it was sold between 1972 - 1979 but may have been made earlier. POST PICTURES! Please? There are many who can identify it if you do. Include pictures of any labels on the inside.
Jmiller71 - Posted - 11/27/2012: 11:26:21
I also have a martin Vega and Vega is imprinted on the front of the head stock, Martin and Co. logo is imprinted on back of head stock. Also a Martin decal on the inside of the rim that looks like the Martin on the head stock and under that, is the number 993. I sent an E-mail to Martin Co. asking the age of my banjo, Martin replied saying they had built 2000 Vegas with the Martin name prior to selling the banjo business and according to my serial number, the banjo was manufactured between 1975 and 1976. I hope this helps you.
mikehalloran - Posted - 11/27/2012: 22:32:34
Whoever sent that email is guessing. 993 is in the middle of the serial number list so '75 - '76 is as good a guess as any other. The Martin-Vega numbers give a clue as to when they were sold but will not tell you when they were made - or even by whom, Martin or Vega.
Post pictures including the label and inside the pot where the co-rods attach to the neck. There are a few of us who know these well enough to be able to tell you who made what.wrangler - Posted - 11/28/2012: 10:38:16
I have a Martin/Vega that I bought new in the spring of 1970. At the time, I didn't know that Vega was bought out by Martin. The banjo does not say Martin on the back side of the head stock. According to sources that I can find the serial beginning with M didn't come out until 1972 but serial number 130095 would have placed it in 1971. http://mugwumps.com/acf_date.html I bought this banjo brand new in 1970 and the store had to order it. Martin/Vega seems to be mysterious to me. It is a very good sounding banjo though.
Edited by - wrangler on 11/28/2012 10:40:04
rexhunt - Posted - 11/28/2012: 15:06:24
quote: Originally posted by wrangler
I have a Martin/Vega that I bought new in the spring of 1970. At the time, I didn't know that Vega was bought out by Martin. The banjo does not say Martin on the back side of the head stock. According to sources that I can find the serial beginning with M didn't come out until 1972 but serial number 130095 would have placed it in 1971. http://mugwumps.com/acf_date.html I bought this banjo brand new in 1970 and the store had to order it. Martin/Vega seems to be mysterious to me. It is a very good sounding banjo though.
Date My Guitar Serial Number
I believe any Vega with a yellow label like this was made by Vega in Needham MA. If it said Martin on the label, it was after the buyout but before manufacture moved to Nazareth. The one in the picture is a Bobby Joe Fenster model which was exactly the same as the Pro II but renamed by Martin. I've got one from 69 without Martin on the label.
Rex
mikehalloran - Posted - 11/28/2012: 18:29:25
Among the 2000+ Vega banjos that Martin made and / or sold were about 250 or more completed banjos including all 100 of the Bobby Joe Fenster model named after a comic character created by Eugene Levy - otherwise, it's the VIP II. Are you sure of that 1970 date when you purchased it? That would be 2 years before Martin purchased Vega. Many of the Vega made, Martin sold banjos do have earlier serial numbers from 1969 - 71 and the Boston label.
wrangler - Posted - 11/29/2012: 06:28:35
I graduated from under grad Kent State in June of 1971. During the winter quarter before my graduation, I did student teaching. I played the Vega at a school assembly and have a picture someone took. That would have been Jan. or Feb. of 1971. I rembrer buying the banjo in the spring just before my senior year. That would have been about May of 1970.
Jmiller71 - Posted - 12/05/2012: 12:41:46
quote: I'll try to load pictures you requested.
Originally posted by mikehalloran
Whoever sent that email is guessing. 993 is in the middle of the serial number list so '75 - '76 is as good a guess as any other. The Martin-Vega numbers give a clue as to when they were sold but will not tell you when they were made - or even by whom, Martin or Vega.
Search Guitar By Serial Number
Post pictures including the label and inside the pot where the co-rods attach to the neck. There are a few of us who know these well enough to be able to tell you who made what.
| Brass Instrument Manufacturer | |
| Industry | Musical Instruments |
|---|---|
| Fate | Name phased out in 1928 |
| Predecessor | E.G. Wright & Co. merger with Graves & Co. |
| Successor | Cundy-Bettony |
| Founded | 1869 as Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory |
| Founder | E.G. Wright, Samuel Graves, William Graves, George Graves, Henry Esbach, & Louis Hartman |
| Defunct | 1928 |
| Headquarters | 71 Sudbury Street, later 51 Chardon Street, , United States |
| Products | Brass Band Instruments |
The Boston Musical Instrument Company was an American manufacturer of brass bandinstruments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries located in Boston, Massachusetts.
History[edit]
Elbridge Wright was an apprentice to Samuel Graves at his original woodwind shop which had been founded in the 1820s outside of Boston. At the same time Wright was with Graves, James Keat, who had apprenticed to hais father Samuel in England around the turn of the century, introduced the Graves firm to brasswind instrument manufacture. Wright learned from both Graves and Keat before setting out on his own.[1]
In 1869, the E.G. Wright Company of Boston, Massachusetts (established in 1841) and Graves & Co. of Winchester, Massachusetts combined to form the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury located at 71 Sudbury Street, Boston. The partnership included Elbrdige G. (EG) Wright, Samuel, William and George Graves, and Wright’s 'practical partners' Henry Esbach and Louis Hartman.[2][3]
E.G. Wright left the company shortly thereafter to join the firm of Hall and Quinby (established by David Hall in 1862) which became The Hall Quinby Wright Company until Wright’s death in 1871. In the 1869 Catalogue announcing the formation of the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury, an opening letter to customers cautions against any firms that might “advertise in the old name in order to enhance the value of inferior instruments”. The continued use of E.G. Wright & Co. tools, patterns and craftsman was assured in the same.[2] Hall and Quinby would be bought by Thomas and Odell in 1884 changing its name to the Standard Band Instrument company and then again in 1909 by the Vega Company.[4]
Guitar Values By Serial Number
E.G. Wright and Company had been founded in 1841 and continued as the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury uninterrupted at 71 Sudbury until 1902 when the name was changed to the Boston Musical Instrument Company. This change coincided with a relocation to 51 Chardon Street in Boston. Two years later the company was purchased by Cundy-Bettony which continued to build instruments in the Boston name until 1928.[5]
Products[edit]
left top: upright bell, left bottom: over the shoulder, right: cornets, (valve trombone, flugelhorn,) slide trombone, (trumpet,) and French horn.
The Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury/Company was a producer of traditional instruments for brass band. The 1869 catalog shows a full line of such instruments including the traditional cornets in E-flat and B-flat, E-flat Alto horn and horn, B-flat tenor, B-flat baritone, B-flat valve trombone and slide trombone, and tubas in B-flat and E-flat. Slide cornet was another option. The company also offered the full range of instruments in upright bell and over the shoulder configurations.[2]
Initially, most valved instruments were offered in rotary valve configurations with piston valvecornet and alto horn being the only exceptions. The rotary valve is a string operated dual-bored axial valve actuated by a lever pressed with the fingers. A piston valve is directly actuated by downward finger pressure on the top of a dual-bored piston over a spring. Rotary valves were common in central Europe in the mid 19th century while piston valves were the preferred configuration in British brass bands.[2]
Among the American firms competing with Boston were the H.N. White Company, The Standard Band Instrument Company, C.G. Conn, Ltd., F.E. Olds, E.A. Couturier Co., Ltd., the Frank Holton Company and the J.W. York Company. All manufactured similar full lines for band.
Herbert L. Clarke[edit]
Noted cornet virtuoso Herbert L. Clarke, author of many solos for cornet and successful touring soloist of the turn of the 20th century, purchased a Boston 3-star cornet for his first professional quality horn.[6] He purchased this horn after several months of saving following his graduation from high school and relocation to Indianapolis from Toronto in 1884. The Boston 3-star cornets were popular horns of the day and are still respected by collectors and antique cornet enthusiasts. These horns carried the inscription “Ne Plus Ultra” on the bell. Clarke had learned to play on his brother’s horn and then had played professionally for a time on a band provided Courtois. Clarke did not stay with the Boston for very long, changing horns and manufacturers many times in his career.[7]
Volume and serialization[edit]
The Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury/Company was a low volume producer by modern standards.
The company produced only 4000 to 4500 total instruments in each decade of the 1880s, 1890s, 1900s and 19-teens. Boston serial numbers do not appear on horns prior to 1880 and begin in the 6000s.
Serial Number Vegas 13
Around 1890 the serial numbers were in the 10,000 range, in 1900 the 15,000 range, in 1910 the 19,500 range, and in 1920 the 24,500 range.[5] Horns built after 1914 (serial numbers 22,000 and above) were manufactured after the departure of the original owners from the firm.
Guitar Serial Numbers Check
References and Sources[edit]
- ^Berndt, Ron (2017). A Timeline of Trumpets. Amazon.
- ^ abcdeIllustrated catalogue of the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory (formerly E.G. Wright & Co.)(Press of Hollis & Gunn steam job printers). Boston: Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory. 1869.
- ^'The Boston Cornet Project'. oberloh.com. Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
- ^Vega Company, Wikipedia
- ^ ab'Serial Number List, Boston Musical Instruments'. Musictrader.com. Lars Kirmser. Archived from the original on 2000-03-03. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
- ^Clarke, Herbert (1934). How I became a cornetist(PDF). St. Louis: Joseph L. Huber. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^Endsley, Gerald R. (1979). Herbert L. Clarke with Sousa's Band and the Victor Orchestra (Media notes). Sedro Woolley, Washington: Crystal Records.
External links[edit]
- [1] Lars Kirmser's Musictrader.com, Boston Musical Instrument Serial Numbers
- [2] The Boston Cornet Project, Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works