Gibson: RB-250

Submitted by handy13 on 6/21/2007

Where Purchased: Venemon Music, Virginia

Year Purchased: 1976
Price Paid: 1100 ($US)

Sound

Recently replaced the tone ring with a Huber tone ring. Seemed to be a significant improvement! It was not bad in its original state but the Huber ring made it better.

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

Action was fine. I have occasionally made adjustments. I noticed that when I eased the banjo into the resonator while it was ringing, the last 1/4 inch or so seemed to deaden the sound. I built some small wooden blocks that keep the resonator spaced about 1/4 inch from its original position. Helped a lot. This banjo absolutely stays in tune. Almost never have to adjust tuning while playing. (And yes, I have a good ear. Nearly as good as a tuner...) Adjusting the head tension is critical of course. See my web page: http://www.astroshow.com/banjo/banjohead.html

Setup Rating: 9

Appearance

Three of the inlays were cracked when I bought it. Half of one is now missing. I need to get them replaced... However I bought it anyway because it had better sound than other RB-250s in the shop where I bought it. My skin is acid so the nickle finish on the arm rest was eaten through after a year or so playing outside in Virginia where the temperature was 85 and the humidity was 95! Have always been happy with this banjo though. Have been playing it for over 30 years now...

Appearance Rating: 9

Reliability

After 30 years of play, the varnish on part of the neck is a little thin. Maybe worn away in places on the back side. Absolutely dependable banjo. I've never brought a backup banjo to a gig.

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

Never had occasion to need any service.

Customer Service: not rated

Components

Pretty solid all around.

Components Rating: 9

Overall Comments

Highly recommend this banjo. Price was good for the high quality of this banjo. If somebody stole it, I would consider purchase of a Colt 45... :-) Absolutely love this banjo. Only thing I didn't know about when I bought it was "fingerboard relief" It didn't have any. Didn't get any buzzing but when I had it refretted, "fingerboard relief" was added. (When I bought it, I thought that an absolutely straight neck was what I should be looking for. Not so...)

Overall Rating: 9