Gibson TB-Granada #9522-12
"Outward beauty of gold plating, engraving, burl walnut (sic) woods and attractive decorations--inward beauty of matchless tone, power and responsiveness", boasted the 1935 Gibson catalog of the Granada. This style, actually the least expensive of the gold-plated and engraved models, was introduced in 1925 and remained in production until 1937.
This instrument is a beautiful example of a 1930s Granada: The wood is curly maple with a sunburst finish on the back of the resonator, the tension hoop and armrest are gold plated and engraved, the flange is one-piece, the tone ring is a forty-hole archtop, the peghead is double cut, and the fingerboard is Brazilian rosewood with flying eagle inlays. There is black and white multi-ply binding on the neck and on both edges of the resonator. The tailpiece is the "clamshell" type found on many higher-end Gibson banjos of this period.
Photos courtesy of Music Man.
