Here’s a nice example of a lower-end Gibson tenor banjo dating to late 1926 (see Gibson banjo serial numbers vs. factory order numbers). The style 1 of this period featured a bracket-shoe construction and a flange with diamond-shaped openings; style 1 was a non-Mastertone model and therefore had no true tone ring–only a small-diameter brass hoop on top of the rim. The hardware is nickel-plated and the wood is dark-stained maple. The inlay is a simple dot pattern and the only peghead ornamentation is a silkscreened “The Gibson” logo. This banjo is accompanied by a braided “neck cord” as sold in Gibson catalogs of the period.
Photos by David Travers.