This is an old 5-string open back banjo. Back in about 1980 I found an old neck in good condition, then found the "pot" at an antique store. I had a friend who built banjos assemble it all including new frets, direct drive tuning keys, and he did have to use a few shims to get the neck to fit the pot.
Both pieces are very old; neither had any type of markings for identifying a brand. Sorry the pictures are not clear on some features. I can email you more pictures showing different views of the banjo..just ask. It looks old because it is. Probably 1900.
In general it is playable. I just put a new tailpiece and strings on it, tuned it up and away I went!! It could use some "cleaning up" as some of the brackets and brass/copper on the pot have a bit of corrosion,etc. Nothing is loose. Neck is solid to the pot.
The entire banjo is about 33.5"long. It pot has 38 original bracketts. Not certain what the pot wood is (maple??), but outside it is covered in the original brass-over-copper. The pot is about 10" diameter.
The fret board is painted black over the yellow poplar neck. This is how it was originally. There are some finger wear spots on the fret board. The neck is almost 23" and the distance from nut to pot is about 17.5" .
This little banjo has a neat old-timey - plunky yet bright sound for frailing/clawhammer. It would be a good entry level instrument and would of course need to be set up for the player. I played this for about 10 years, back in the 80's-90's .
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