Hello, I was fortunate enough a few years ago to acquire several style 500 and style 800 proto types. I liked these banjos because the shells were full thickness 3 ply maple, one piece flange and best of all, the tone rings really sounded good. I used some of these rings in a few old banjos I had and they sounded great. The Proto types on these banjos were stamped AA-??. As near as I can tell the earliest of these was 1961 which we know was 3 years before entering production and onto the market in 1964. I don't know the origin of these gold plated tone rings although I have heard many theory's and much speculation, they are still just that, theory's and speculation. They can't be confirmed so that's that. I do know they match the PW specs closely and sound great. I used one on an old one piece flange Granada conversion and anyone would be hard pressed to say it isn't an original PW flat head banjo by the sound. All of that said, I have one of these left that is stamped AA-46. I have a beautiful, matching tobacco maple 5 string neck with Rosewood fb and Flying Eagle pattern on it. I don't remember where the neck came from, but I usually had Frank Neat build my necks. I put a new gold Presto TP on it. It also has Scruggs tuners. This banjo sounds great. It comes with the original TP, an original 500 tenor neck though not original to this banjo, the original tenor case, and of course the 5-string neck and case. I have described to the best of my ability but please don't hesitate with any questions you may have. $3,800.00 + shipping. Please add 3% if PP is used.
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