What were the years Gibson started making the RB-7, 12 and 18? I was at Merle Fest and Gibson had just came out with them. I demo’d the 7 for them there. I cannot remember the year.
According to an expired Reverb advertisement for a reissued EB-18:
reverb.com/item/10012163-gibso...sion-2001
"If you're looking at this listing you probably already know the story of Gibson's legendary "top tension" Mastertone banjos. Only made for a few years (1937-1943), original 5-string models are impossibly rare, and the whole top tension phenomena might have been forgotten were it not for Bill Keith, one of the first players to develop the chromatic style (and also the guy who transcribed all those Earl Scruggs solos). The reissues of top tension models didn't last much longer than the originals, but of course most were 5-strings instead of tenors or plectrums. First reissued in 1995, they were discontinued in 2008. "
CORRECTION: Should read, "RB-18"
