Gibson TB-Granada #9556-26, the "Martin Balada"
This Granada tenor remains in the family of its original owner, Martin Anthony Balada (1910--1984). Mr. Balada lived in New Jersey and played with the Mummers in Philadelphia. #9556-26 remains in excellent original condition with curly maple neck and resonator, gold-plated and engraved hardware, forty-hole archtop tone ring, one-piece flange, double-cut peghead and rosewood fingerboard with flying eagle inlays. The banjo remains in its original case and is still set up with a calfskin head.
#9556-26 exhibits a couple of unusual features; the tailpiece, rather than the typical clamshell type, is a Kerschner engraved with "DeLuxe" as used on style 5 banjos of the 1920s. Also, this banjo lacks the Mastertone block normally inlaid at the nineteenth fret. The concentric rings of marquetry on the back of the resonator are a feature typically associated with the two-piece-flange Granadas of the 1920s, but they are found on some of the earlier one-piece-flange examples from the 1930s. Both types of resonator have been seen in lot #9556.
Photos courtesy of
the family of Martin Anthony Balada.
