This original RB-3 is new to the market, but it's one we've known for about 25 years. Gryphon purchased it from relatives of the original owner in the early 1980s. Frank Ford refretted it back then, because it had been refretted badly and the second set of frets were also worn out. The only other change was to the armrest (it had been drilled for a larger bolt, which Frank replaced with an original size bolt from another old Gibson armrest we had). We then sold it to a friend, and it has been owned by the same guy ever since, but he's more of a guitar player, so it didn't get a lot of use despite the fact that he knows how to play bluegrass banjo. With the exception of the newish frets, the replaced armrest bolt, the head, bridge (and strings, of course), this early '30s flathead 5-string is all original, BUT, the first owner took two liberties with his banjo. He drilled the hole in the headstock, so he could hang it, presumably, and he removed the lacquer from the back of the neck. The neck shape is unchanged, and the color is the same, but the lacquer is gone from the handstop to the heel, and the line between where the finish is untouched and where it is missing is too abrupt to be from wear.