J.G.Abbott & Co. No. 8

I was mainly doing in this auction to get the Dallas B, but there was a couple of 5 string Banjos I was vaguely tempted on particularly as I already had the Dallas to collect. The ones I was most interested in, started at the low estimate, (which was to high for me), and the auctioneer past them unsold rather than drop the price to a level I would have bid on. Then came a J.G.Abbott 5 string Zither Banjo, (with the hidden channel and the 6 tuners; supposedly for symmetry). Now I know Abbott is suppose to be the best British Banjo maker of the inter-war years and that the instruments usually go for a lot of money; so when the auctioneer started at the low end of his estimate, (and he didn't really know value of the Abbott, so even the high end of their estimate was very low), this time I thought it was worth a punt. As with the other Banjos, no one else bid so with the maiden bid the J.G. Abbott is coming to Ukulele Corner incorporating the Pony Guitar - and Banjo! -Sanctuary too. 

I had to drive up and collect the Abbott but it was worth it, it really is a lovely Banjo. It didn't come with a case but it is still in very good nick with reasonable strings on. It also has a surprisingly good tone, far better than I was expecting; the Abbott reputation is well founded it would seem.  The only issues are the frets could do with dressing and someone (from the look of it years ago) stuck a hook into heel of the neck where the stamp is, to attach a strap. not much of a problem but it did go in right where they stamped the model number  and I would like to have known for certain, the model number.