NMM 2695.  Tenor banjo by Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company, Kalamazoo, ca. 1923. Style TB-4.  Batch number 11041A-49. Gift of Jay F. Miller, Franklin, Pennsylvania, 1980. This Gibson Mastertone tenor banjo features a short-lived resonator design that allowed the player to open a hinged door on what Gibson literature called the "tone projector." This feature led such instruments to be nicknamed "trap-door" banjos. Though the trap door allowed easy access to the interior of the instrument and permitted it to be used as an open back or a resonator banjo, the design did not catch on and was soon discontinued. This TB-4 banjo was originally sold with a pickguard, which was removed from the instrument at some point. Front, Side, and Back Views with Tone Projector ("Trap Door") Closed Back Views with Tone Projector ("Trap Door") Open and Removed Side and Underside Views of Trap Door Back of Body with Trap Door Removed and Signature of Banjo Head Manufacturer Fretboard, Front and Back of Peghead, and Back of Neck Neck Heel Lower End of Banjo Gibson Guarantee Label Literature:  Joseph R. Johnson, Mandolin Clubs and Orchestras in the United States (1880-1920):  Their Origin, History and Instruments, M.M. Thesis (Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 1987), pp. 75, 107. Joseph R. Johnson, "The Mandolin Orchestra in America, Part 3: Other Instruments," American Lutherie, No. 21 (Spring 1990), p. 52. Joseph R. Johnson, "The Mandolin Orchestra in America," The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Two, 1988-1990 (Tacoma, Washington: Guild of American Luthiers, 2000), p. 277. Return to Gibson Banjo Checklist National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069 ©National Music Museum, 2005-2008 Most recent update: June 19, 2008 You are the 5,173rd visitor to this page since May 5, 2005 The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page