The style 2 of the 1930s was, like style 11, a lower-priced model which dressed itself up through the use of a pearloid fingerboard and peghead overlay with stenciled designs. Unlike style 11, however, style 2 limited its pearloid veneers to the neck; the resonator was walnut with single white binding on both edges. The hardware was nickel-plated. Style 2 banjos were not Mastertones and had no true tone ring, but did have the same three-ply maple rim and one-piece flange as the Mastertone models of the period. The fiddle-shaped peghead of the 1920s was retained on style 2 as well as style 1 in the 1930s.
This example is an extremely rare original five-string. Ralph Stanley played an original RB-2 during the early career of the Stanley Brothers.
Photos courtesy of Players Vintage Instruments.