1930s Kel Kroydon KK-11 5-String Conversion

Gibson launched the Kel Kroydon line in 1930 as a budget-conscious brand of Kalamazoo-made instruments intended for department stores and catalogs. Although the origin of the name is unclear, Kel Kroydon instruments had striking aesthetics unlike other Gibson-made instruments. The KK-11 was a tenor banjo very similar to the Gibson TB-11. This model featurse a Maple pot and Maple resonator, but it doesn't have a tone ring quite like the Mastertone designs. In place a heavy tone ring, the KK-11 has a simple brass hoop between the pot and head, and the hoop design gives it a slightly softer, more old-time sound. From there, the KK-11 has some of the most over-the-top details you could ask for—it has the same pearloid resontator as the TB-11, but it goes further with a pearloid fingerboard and a pearloid peghead overlay.  Like other prewar tenor banjos, the KK-11 is a highly-desirable candidate for 5-string conversion, and this early-'30s KK-11 was converted to a 5-string neck by Robin Smi