Charlie Cushman assembled it for his own use as a road instrument when he worked for Gibson, in or around 2005. Included is a handwritten document from Charlie describing how he came to assemble and use the banjo. He points out that the rim was originally a \"second,\" only because of a small unobtrusive strip (shown in one of the pics) where stain did not soak in as well, so the serial number was removed. Everything else was hand picked by Charlie from top Gibson parts. There are a few minor marks characteristic of a used instrument in excellent condition and minor button trails on the resonator. Typical Gibson mahogany/Crowe ring sound with the added Blackjack appointments of the V neck and characteristic inlay pattern.
This is a very fine instrument as a player, with the added attraction of Charlie Cushman\'s participation in its history.
Guardian high quality case in excellent condition included.Incidentally, some may be interested in additional background information: I acquired this Blackjack roughly a year ago with the above information and history from a fellow Hangout member. As many of you know, I like to experiment--and this set of tests was designed to measure its characteristics against a standard Blackjack. I found the tone to be equally deep, but with a tad more brightness. There have been discussions on the Hangout about whether gold is \"warmer\" sounding than nickel, and based on my tests with this instrument, that would seem to be the case--but only very slightly. In my tests, everything else was the same--bridge, strings, tailpiece height, head tension...
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