These specifications are all adjustable on request, as is the design inspiration.

A wide array of hardware is available, ask for anything you don’t see here.

Rims are steam bent, 2-ply and available in 10.5, 11 and 12 inches. Necks are 1.25 inch wide at the nut and can have a scoop or thumbscoop for frailing over the neck. They can be a regular 25.5 inch scale length, or a shorter 23.5 inch, sometimes preferable for players with smaller hands. However, necks are strengthened with a 2-way adjustable truss rod to allow for steel strings and the action is a low 1/8”-5/32” at the 12th fret. They draw from a wide range of mid- to late-19th century instruments, from the early industrial instruments of Dobson with patinated brass hardware, to the highly ornate, nickel plated and mother of pearl inlaid instruments of makers like Fairbanks and Cole. About 1895 he trained his three sons (Percival, 12, Harry,9 and Raymond, 7) as banjoists.įrank E Cole died at the age of 67 in Avondale, Nova Scotia on 19th July 1922 from cerebral haemorrhage.My wooden-rim banjos are made for playing contemporary 'Old Time' stringband music, with aesthetic elements of Victorian-era banjos.

At one time about 1890 he organised a banjo quintet that frequently appeared in public and did much to publicise the Cole banjos. He sold his plant to E J Nokes and Edward F Nicolai.įrank Coles was an exceptionally fine banjoist and was responsible for major improvements to banjos that were incorporated in the instruments he produced. “Eclipse” banjos were sold up until 1922 when ill health forced Frank Cole to retire. William Cole died 2nd January 1909 and Frank Cole took over the business and from then on the banjos he made at 3 Appleton Street Boston carried his name. In 1895 the London firm of Essex and Cammeyer was appointed British agents for the Cole Banjos and Mr (later Sir) Home Gordon played the first of these to be imported, at a concert held in North Cray in December of that year. for on that date they patented their “Eclipse” banjo which incorporated improvements deigned by Frank Cole. On the 30th January 1894 the factory had become established at 786 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. The foreman of the Fairbanks factory had been Frank E Cole (Williams younger brother) and the two brothers started making banjos under the name of William A Cole. after he had dissolved the partnership with A C Fairbanks in 1892 – after 12 years of supervising the production of Fairbanks banjos. The first Cole banjos were made by William A Cole of 179 Trement Street, Boston, Mass. William A Cole to 1909, Frank E Cole 1855 to 1922

Fairbanks cole banjo