Looks Like one to me with a replacement truss rod cover.

Have you removed the resonator and checked the rim for a Gibson label with his signature?

I haven't seen a re-issue of the Scruggs banjo that was gold plated I don't think. But as we all know, Gibson did a lot of stuff over the years that were exceptions to the norm. Hard to say precisely without a picture of the interior of the pot.

Bobby

The guy owned it for about 15 years and bought it from another guy that said he put a Huber tone ring in it years before that and rim therefor no label its a beautiful looking banjo but is it worth $1900 he is asking without the label?

more photos

I’m not sure there’s any way to prove it’s a Scruggs personally, though it could be a parts banjo.

I'm the fuetherst from an expert when it come to banjos, but from what I've seen of other Scruggs, the resonator is a pretty dark color on that banjo.

I’m not sure about the price myself.

I guess my question is. what is it? and is it worth buying.

I know the exact banjo, I've been looking at it too.

At the price he's asking, I think it's worth it regardless of the specific model, as long as it's a real Gibson. He also lowered the price to $1700 recently, so he might be open to even more negotiation.

The only thing that makes me hesitate is the Huber rim/ring. Huber makes 3 rings and two rims, what type is this one? Why does it have a Huber rim/ring? What happened to the Gibson rim/ring? It's also got a different truss rod cover, raising more questions. What other modifications have been made?

What we have here is a person selling a used banjo they claim to be a Gibson, at a very attractive (lower than market value) price. It's been listed for quite some time now, and hasn't sold, despite being in an area where good banjos typically don't sit on the listings for long. They state that the resonator, rim, and tone ring are Huber, installed by the previous owner prior to them buying the banjo. The neck says Gibson, but doesn't seem to have the right truss rod cover. These issues are why I haven't pursued it. I would want to inspect it very closely before making the purchase.

But, here's the other thing. Let's say it's a reproduction Gibson neck, with a Huber pot, gold plated hardware, and a quality HSC. And lets say it plays well and sounds good. At $1700, I think it's still a pretty good deal. 

What would i look for? and how can i tell if its worth it? I talked with him on the phone and he knows nothing about it. hes a older guy that wanted to learn. what's the worst thing that could happen? it has gold parts and if indeed it has a huber tone ring and resonator it could be a great player yes?

And other then the sticker how can you tell if its the real deal?

Forget the Gibson thing on the peghead for a minute. Does it play great? Does it sound like a $1900 dollar banjo?
Are they open to an offer? If it has the tone and the setup potential, and lights you up when you play it, then go
for it.

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Originally posted by boyer

Forget the Gibson thing on the peghead for a minute. Does it play great? Does it sound like a $1900 dollar banjo?
Are they open to an offer? If it has the tone and the setup potential, and lights you up when you play it, then go
for it.

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John,

Touché you are spot on with that. Good call!

I get all that . But I don't want to lose money if I sell it down the road or trade it. Can I take off the resonater and tell if it has a hubur ring and rim or resonator?

I don’t think any of it is a Gibson Earl Scruggs model Couple of suspect things are

1. Yellow looking peghead inlay
2. Missing signature truss rod cover
3. Gold non engraved hardware
4. Wrong tailpiece for a Scruggs
5. Strange looking resonator finish. (Scruggs would be sunburst)

May have a Huber ring and rim, but I would not trust the seller. It doesn’t sound like he knows what he has. It is more then likely a parts banjo, however it is unknown what exact parts it has. It may play well sound good and may be worth the price, however I would not buy a banjo like this without in person inspecting and a test drive.

Om sure its not a Scruggs. I just got off the phone with him and he never had the banjo apart and is afraid to take it apart. He only knows when he bought it many years ago it had a hubur tone ring and changed Resonator. I'm not sure what to do. Could it be a different model other then a Scruggs?

Gibson never made a hearts and flowers model with the 1st fret inlay other then a Scruggs model, so I would say that it is not any Gibson model at all.  Case is also not something that I have seen from Gibson. 

Didn't they make a RB 800 with that neck coustom order

The first fret inlay on an rb800 looked a little different. Also, rb-800s with hearts and flowers usually had a fiddle cut peg head. I don’t think I have seen the double cut on an 800, and when I have it is with different inlay and shaped differently then this one. RB800s were also usually sunburst finish on the neck. Could be custom, but I highly doubt it, especially without a serial number.

So there's no way for me to know what kind of tone ring is in it unless I take it apart. And I cant do that in the sellers house. So if it looks nice and plays good whats a fair price to offer him.? Knowing it may be a parts bass 

If you're allowed to take the resonator off, look at the underside of the flange where the neck heel comes down and obscures it. IF it's a real Gibson, you can make out the "Gi" on the left side of the heel, and perhaps the "on" on the right side of the heel -- cast into the underside of the flange.

If you don't see that, it's not a Gibson flange. If there's no Gibson sticker and serial number on the inside of the rim, then all the warning flags are correct -- it's probably not a Gibson. I agree it might be a good "parts" banjo and worth $1700 if you like it, but if you can't prove to yourself it's a Gibson, you'll never be able to prove to anyone else that it's a Gibson.

Gibson made quite a number of gold plated Scruggs models. A gold plated Scruggs is not in and of itself non-Gibson.

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Originally posted by BobbyE

I haven't seen a re-issue of the Scruggs banjo that was gold plated I don't think. But as we all know, Gibson did a lot of stuff over the years that were exceptions to the norm. Hard to say precisely without a picture of the interior of the pot.

Bobby

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Didn't Gibson make a Scruggs model called the Golden Deluxe? 

Ok I took the 2 hour ride. Looked it over it was as fake as they get. Bad yellowing on the headstock. The flange was copper color. And a weird thing it had 2 holes inside the rim where a tag must have been. 3 ply rim as well very dark and varnished. He would sell for $1500. Didnt sound that great either. Oh well i had to know. Thank you all for helping me out this site is Awesome.

The yellowing on the peghead is not necessarily a bad thing. That happens with a lot of older banjos. But the color of the resonator and the copper looking flange are red flags.
At least you got to see it hands on and hear how it sounds. The satisfaction you got from that was worth the two hour trip even if the banjo wasn't what you hoped for.

quote:

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Originally posted by jimmyprince

Ok I took the 2 hour ride. Looked it over it was as fake as they get. Bad yellowing on the headstock. The flange was copper color. And a weird thing it had 2 holes inside the rim where a tag must have been. 3 ply rim as well very dark and varnished. He would sell for $1500. Didnt sound that great either. Oh well i had to know. Thank you all for helping me out this site is Awesome.

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Thanks for saving me a trip all the way over there! When he dropped it to $1700 I considered taking a day off and making the drive, I'm glad I didn't waste my time. 

Nice guy but I think he knew it wasn't real. After offering $1000 for it I'm how glad he turned me down.

Jimmy, look how much you learned though by asking advice and going to see it yourself. All this will stand you in good stead NEXT TIME you consider a "Gibson" banjo for sale. That's why I always encourage people to thoroughly check out every "Gibson" you encounter -- as an educational experience if nothing else.