Circa 1919 Orpheum No. 1 tenor banjo

VG+. In the late 1800s the Buckbee Banjo Company, the largest banjo maker in the world, went bankrupt. William Lange and a partner bought the bones and made it into the Orpheum Banjo Company and over 20 years these tenors were the most popular banjos, now with frets and a tone ring to give it more volume and projection to compete in big Dixieland jazz bands. Dixieland jazz was born in part because of the high quality of Orpheum. The Model One had medium decoration with hand inlays and fretboard markers. This model was the best seller (the fanciest models had carved heels, gold hardware and deluxe trim) and has a five-piece flame maple neck, three-layer overlay, 24 tension rods (one is missing) and a raised tone ring. It has great volume. Our shop works on banjos so we sent this through and now it plays easy and sounds great. Comes with its original hardshell case. Google Orpheum banjos and William Lange will come up first. American history.