I bought this banjo from Pick
'n Grin (Bud Brewster and Glen
Laney - set up) in 1987. It had a '4-hole' archtop tone ring installed
along with a heavy ODE tailpiece. I played it for several years as it was
set up, but in 1996 decided to install a Tennessee 20 tone ring.
The sound was not what I was hoping for due to the thin rim.
WyattFawley had
a late '60s RB100 unaltered rim that I bought and I put the RB100 back
together "as original" using a 1/4" rolled brass 'tone hoop' that I bought
from Stewart -MacDonald
back in the mid - seventies.(I should add at this point that a later
tone hoop from a 30s TB 11 from Curtiss McPeake replaced the Stewart-MacDonald
hoop.)
The sound of this banjo was far different
and much better than what I expected. It was bright and sparkley with a
lot of "woodsey" bass for bluegrass and had a warmth not present in any
of my other banjos for frailing, or clawhammer.
Definitely a "keeper!"
[Note: Yes, that's 'Pick 'n Grin' sticker on the
back of the peghead!]
