Gathering info about banjos
I have an interest in banjos but not really playing them yet due to the tuning being different to guitar and ukulele. Eventually I’ll get down to learning the chords and getting a tune out of one.
Banjos were very popular in the early 1900s and there were in the region of 100 banjo manufacturers in Great Britain, ranging from individual craftsmen to large factories. One of the biggest was the Windsor company of Birmingham from which was made my banjo.
Founded by Arthur Octavius Windsor who had a small factory making coffin furniture. Banjo playing at the time was gaining popularity and he started to design and make his own. The instruments he made sold like hot cakes so he set up a specialised factory in Newhall Street, Birmingham.
The Windsor firm existed for nearly 50 years but ceased trading in December 1940 when the factory was destroyed during a German air raid. Windsor was probably the largest manufacturer of fretted instruments ever known in Great Britain and produced thousands of banjos each year.
Windsor banjos look good quality and have a nice badged headstock.