I don’t think so. But it’s pretty new but wears off as it’s played and loses its luster .

Lots of authorities on the topic claim that gold plating "sweetens" the tone.

But 99% of the time this is said in the context of an old Mastertone Granada (just ask Charlie Cushman)

My guess would be that it's a "sum of all parts" kinda deal

If it does it’s going to be minuscule and the only part that where it might make any difference is the tone ring.

All in the ear of the player I guess.

As has been discussed here often, it's nearly impossible to get any two banjos to be identical in build except for the plating.

Doubtful—and no way to accurately test it.

I don't think so. My Stelling is gold plated and it'll hold up against any other banjo of its caliber. Gold plating just makes it look better, at least to me.

As far as it losing its luster, if you keep it clean, it stays nice and bright. I do wear a wrist guard to protect the armrest.

Sonny Osborne said in Banjo Newsletter that if you think it improves the tone, then it does improve the tone. 
 

And that's all you need to make a difference to you.  

Frank and Ricky Neat told me they had some walnut a few years back that sounded fantastic when paired with gold . The arch top Mountain Dr. Frank makes is maple and gold. Frank said he could get closer to the Ralph Stanley “sound” with nickel so I had my Mt.Dr plated in nickel instead of gold . Blind folded … I have no idea .

I prefer the "patina" that nickel takes on. That said one of the best sounding mastertones I ever heard was faded gold and covered in cigarette ashes.

A few years ago I removed my nickel ring, stripped the nickel and then had it gold plated. I reinstalled it to the same parameters.

I honestly can't say that I noticed any difference, and I have a pretty keen ear for small changes in tone. However, there was a couple weeks between sound samples so it wasn't a direct comparison and I could have missed some nuance.

My thoughts?  I suppose on a theoretical level it has to change.  On a practical level I suspect the proportion of people who could detect the  change would be infinitely tiny.

And now I think I should defer to our man Todd Snider's expertise:

"Now, I don't know what you believe, but I do know there's no doubt
I need another double-shot of something ninety-proof; I got too much to think about."

My opinion is that plating makes a difference. Unplated is best, then gold, nickel, and chrome. The harder the plating, the more difference it makes, is my thinking.

Gold fiddle bows sound/play better than silver fiddle bows sound/play better than nickel bows. But is has nothing to do with metal used.

The bow makers sort the wood. Only best wood with the perfect density and other factors end up getting the gold plated parts. They take more care in the construction of those.

Probably goes the same for hand made banjos. If you're going to spend the money on gold fittings, then you're going to select your best wood and do your best fitting it, because you know your eventual buyer is looking for the best and will be picky.

Factory banjo? It's just a color choice at that point. Probably makes no difference at all. Grab parts out of one bin for a nickle order, out of another for a gold order.

That's my theory at least.

It is a myth that you can tell the difference between two reasonably good instruments, in a blind test, let alone gold or no-gold.

The closest I have seen as a test of this was on Osborne Chief #001, currently owned by Lincoln Hensley. The first chiefs had nickel hardware. Dale got 001 from Sonny, it was nickel plated, and was played that way by Dale for a period of time with Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain. At one point, Dale saw some of the later chiefs that were gold plated. He contacted Sonny about changing 001 over which Sonny agreed to. Dale and I went to Sonny's house where Sonny took 001 apart on his living room floor and put it back together with the gold parts. To my ear, 001 sounded better after the gold parts were installed than it did with the nickel. Everything else was the same except the hardware. Nickel Huber ring to gold Huber ring but from what I remember there was no difference in the model of the rings. Different fit of the tone ring, looser/tighter, possibly. But whatever it was, it did sound better.

- Wes

If Mr. Sonny set up your banjo, it will sound better, regardless of plating.    

It will certainly have an impact (also om the price) if if the gold plating is VERY thick. Sorry. Just joking. Steen

Earl didn't think it mattered to him.

But yet his main banjo had a gold plated ring, at least it started out with plating. He traded a great nickel plated banjo for it. It is not a requirement for a great banjo, but does it make a slight difference that some can hear? Just maybe.

quote:

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Originally posted by lightgauge

But yet his main banjo had a gold plated ring, at least it started out with plating. He traded a great nickel plated banjo for it. It is not a requirement for a great banjo, but does it make a slight difference that some can hear? Just maybe.

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He traded a mahogany-necked RB-3 for a maple-necked Granada. I suspect the difference in the wood far overshadowed the difference in that several-atoms-thick plating on the tone rings.

. . . the difference in the wood far overshadowed . . . "

Yes, and that's a central point to the discussion question:  the more meaningful question is not "does it make a difference" but rather "does the plating make an audible (to humans) and consistent difference" from banjo to banjo.  Practically, for comparing banjos or parts, it is difficult to maintain the "all else being equal" condition.

Yes, and then replaced the maple neck with a mahogany one.
I have often said it is only real if you hear it and we all hear differently. We have a lot of fun with banjos and discussing them, but it is mostly opinions more than facts.

Time to get out the blindfolds. Have about 10 banjos, one of which is gold plated. See if someone who claims that gold plating makes a difference in tone select the correct one. If the gold plated banjo is correctly identified, then I’ll change my view that plating makes no difference in tone.

I think gold plating affects an instrument's sound about as much as $149 plastic discs applied to walls and ceilings in a listening room improve an audio system's performance.

I suggest discussing with a ring maker who has dealt with hundreds of various rings in different banjos and get their experienced opinion.