Closeup of the worst examples (click to enlarge)

Binding isn't great either. You see the cracks, that's typical on the entire neck. Would that need to be replaced with a refret? I got it for a decent price, but trying to avoid dumping too much into this thing. I've got maybe $100-150 I'd be willing to put into it.

Also has a delaminated rim, but it's just one spot and I'll clamp/glue it, that's always worked well for me. Clear head will be replaced with AMB frosted top. Grover bridge will be replaced with Sullivan. I'm going to wash it, but am not attempting to remove corrosion/"patina" from the metal parts.

Sounds great. Plays well so far. Just needs some love.

Bonus picture of the resonator. I wish the whole banjo was in as good of condition as the resonator.

I purchased one of this without its reso. When I stripped it down I found the tone rime wasa made od steel and there was a 2-4mm slop between the ring and the rim. I had a wood turner check the roundness of the rim on his wood lathe and found it was slightly out of round. Re addressed this. I then glued long strips of wood veneer to where the ring would sit then it was turned down to as close to a slip fit as can be. I had a reso that matched so I eventually sold it which was the purpose of buying it in the first place.

Cracked binding on Ibanez instruments of that era is not uncommon. I thought they did a nice job filing the binding around the frets. My electric of that vintage is very similar both in style and the number of cracks. The frets don't look too back, other than the patina. You might try fine steel wool to bring back their luster.

Those frets don't look worn, just tarnished. Probably not seriously in need of leveling, much less replacing. They should clean up just fine with 0000 steel wool.
The cracks in the binding are a minor cosmetic defect.

Those frets do not look that worn, at least not from what I see in your photos. I have one of these and use it as a traveler/ festival banjo. I wore out the frets on that one and it took a while. Re-fretted and still picking it. Give the instrument a little TLC and enjoy it.

On my banjos-fret wear shows up as dips where major licks happen often- i see none--though not a given either way --sometimes they might not be level--but you would hear that --

Yep, virtually no wear.  No grooves.  Can see that the 3rd fret under the second string has been barely touched by a string.   No need to "level."

Put some masking tap along each side of each fret, and go to work with the 0000 steel wool, as suggested above.  While there are finer abrasive pads that will give the frets a mirror shine, 0000 steel wool gets 90% of the way there and can work on the side edges of the frets too (tape protects the fingerboard).

Regarding the metal parts, I like the idea of washing, and have done it -- don't like the idea of someone else's DNA on my banjo.    Since you'll be taking it apart, after washing might try some "Nevr-Dull."  It's a can of cotton with a tarnish remover that works pretty good for nickel and silver metal.  It's not an abrasive, but works on nickel tarnish.   Most all hardware stores will carry it.  Won't remove deep tarnish or actual metallic corrosion  , but works pretty well on surface tarnish that soap and water can't touch.

After you polish the frets with steel wool, take an eraser, the big square kind, not the one on the end of the pencil, and go over the frets with it.
Stewart MacDonald makes a full set of fret erasers but the old pink ones from Dollar General do the job for a lot less money.

I‘d actually would wait working on the frets and play a while with a new set of strings and see how they wear off some of the tarnish.
It looks kind of vintage, which is cool. If you don‘t like it, you still can do the steel wool job.

For non-agressive polishing and light cleaning on both wood finishes and metal parts, I've used both Gibson brand and Ken Smith guitar polish. These are liquids in pump bottles. About 4 oz.

I agree with all the above that 0000 steel wool will get those frets clean and bright enough.

The significant brown tarnish on the ends of the frets indicates to me that the fretboard binding is decomposing and off gassing enough to corrode the nickel-silver frets. I have had a few instruments that the celluloid off-gassing from pickguards and fretboard binding was so bad that the frets crumbled when I tried to take them out.

Chances are good that you can get by with polishing the frets. If it was an instrument I had for sale, I would feel obligated to replace the decomposing binding and refret.

Autocorrect changed "refret" to "regret". Though I changed it back to my original word, I suppose the autocorrect version would not be wrong.

Bob Smakula
smakulafrettedinstruments.com

Yep, the way the tarnish is on the edges of the frets supports the celluloid breakdown (new tune name… I'm calling it).

Once celluloid starts to go, there is no stopping it. It will crumble to dust or turn to a sticky gel like goo. There is no predicting why this happens and different pieces from the same batch of celluloid can breakdown or not.

There have been many studies done to try and figure this out. One major study was done in 1907.

I currently own only one banjo with binding, I’m not a fan and take binding into consideration when I am thinking of buying a “new” classic era banjo.

Thanks everyone for the input. I truly appreciate your help and guidance. The steel wool worked perfect. And yes, a chunk of binding came off with the painters tape and I had to glue it back on. I don't think I'm going to stretch for a full restoration, just want to make it playable for now.

Here's some photos if you're interested. First time doing this for me. I love buying old banjos, learn something new every time!

Not "good as new" by any means, but looking much better!