Gibson’s one-piece flange is made of pot metal, a zinc alloy that over time can become brittle. They’re also scarcer than many highly collectible guitars such as the pre-war D-45, Gibson Les Paul Standards from ’59, and the earliest Gibson Flying Vs and Explorers – and it resides in the same price range. The Granada combined many features and appointments that have always appealed to bluegrass players, and is simple and tasteful compared to the ornately decorated/carved and painted upper end of Gibson’s Mastertone line of the ’30s – the Bella Voce, Florentine, and All American.įlathead/one-piece-flange Granadas are fine instruments, unsurpassed by any banjo made before or after World War II. With the introduction of the one-piece flange, the peghead of the Granada was changed from Gibson’s “fiddle shape” to the “double-cut,” and its “hearts and flowers” inlay was augmented with the “flying eagle” option. Even after the flathead tone ring and one-piece flange were introduced in late ’29, the majority of tenor and plectrum Granadas were still made with 40-hole/raised-head tone rings. As a result, banjos like the Granada sometimes sat for years at the factory before being shipped.īeginning in early 1927, Gibson gave the Granada raised-head tone rings without holes (the 40-hole head was introduced later that year). Though it was not the most expensive banjo in the Gibson line, it had a figured-maple neck, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, laminated/figured-maple resonator, three-piece maple rim, engraved armrest, tension hoop, tailpiece, and gold-plated hardware that in 1930 pushed its list price to $200 – as much as Martin’s D-45.īy the late ’20s/early ’30s – the height of The Great Depression, prior to the advent of bluegrass – the demand for five-string banjos was very limited, while tenor and plectrum banjos were popular with Dixieland and jazz players who typically had a higher income than country players. The Granada was first issued in 1925 with a ball-bearing style tone ring and two-piece flange.
Instrument courtesy of George Gruhn.The Gibson Granada five-string banjo is primarily known for being played by Earl Scruggs, who had an enormous impact on the sound and style of bluegrass music after joining Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in late 1945. This 1930 Gibson Granada five-string banjo bears serial number 9530-1 and is one the most-pristine known pre-war five-string Granadas and ranks with the most-soughtafter vintage guitars.
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