Here we have a great sounding archtop pot assembly, consisting of a 1950s or 60s Gibson 4-hole archtop tone ring and 3-ply maple rim made for it by John Janzegers in 1974. I had this pot put together so I could swap it in and out of the flathead banjo John had made for me a year earlier. I long ago decided to keep the 1973 banjo as a flathead, eventually raided the banjo built around the archtop for parts, and have finally decided I'm never going to use the archtop ring and its rim again. So here they are for sale, offered individually or as a set (for less than the asking price if sold separately).

The ring is in very good condition. The plating -- which looks chrome to me -- has a large and strange bumpy area on the inside wall, which is never seen when the resonator is on. And there's one small bit of plating chipped off on the outisde. Both of these are clearly shown in the photos.

The rim is also in very good condition. It recently spent about two months in the attic clamped to reverse egging from the coordinator rods. As the photos show, it is now within 1/32-1/16-inch of round.

Photos also show the extreme tightness of the seams. There's some minor scraping of its finish in the skirt area from removing and reinistalling a flange back in the days when the rim was out-of-round. This is purely cosmetic.

The fit of the tone ring is extremely loose. Turn the pot over and the ring falls off. I loosened the fit over 15 years ago. John's original fit was pry-off tight. I will include pieces of veneer of various thicknesses for you to put behind the tone ring skirt on either side of the lag bolt hole -- should you choose. This will let you keep the installed neck from pushing back on the ring and raising the neck angle.

Asking $475 for the pair. Or separately: $300 for the tone ring and $250 for the rim.

Price includes insured and tracked shipping (probably USPS) in the U.S. Additional cost for international will have to be calculated.

Payment is easy: Cash for local pickup. Check, money order or PayPal for shipment to you. Will send a PayPal invoice so you get buyer protection.

No returns, so please ask all questions before you buy.

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