My suggestion is to look in the vintage market and find a prewar Vega model such as little Wonder or bacon peerless… they are great instruments and they will not loose their value in the years..

Do you want/need a resonator, or will you play an open back? I agree with Paolo that a vintage Vega open back is more plentiful, and cheaper, around $1000 is not unusual. Resonators are scarcer and likely a bit more expensive. Vegas are the most plentiful and are trouble free. Paramounts are good too and have resonators, but might be more expensive and the tuners are often troublesome.

Tenors will be much more common than plectrums.

There are 103 4 string banjos in the BHO Classifieds Marketplace today, including a few plectrums with and without resonators, and some 19 fret tenors.   Prices are all over the spectrum.  Check 'em out!

Keep an eye on the Bernunzio website (Rochester NY).

Also Turtle Hill in Maryland and Vintage Instruments in Philly (the home of the Mummers and their plectrum banjos).

Good luck.

Since I'm just playing at home - I don't "really" need a resonator. I know I could also just get a 5 string and take the 5th string off.

I found a few Plectrums on GC and Reverb (20s PB1, 30s may bell plectrum, 70s Iida plectrum, 50s Vega Little Wonder Plectrum, 20s L&H Plectrum, Ludwig Kenmore Plectrum, Ludwig Kingston Tenor, B&D Gordon, Fred Stewart Black Beauty Tenor, Martin Vega VIP Tenor, Kel Kroyden/RK Tenor, and 20s Majestic Tenor) - don't know ow if any of those are contenders, or should be shot down.

The nice thing about needing a tenor or plectrum banjo is that there are excellent choices in the used market priced far under their intrinsic value (cost to replicate). The issue with used instruments is that many are being sold as-is. People wanting to sell an older banjo are not willing to spend the time and money to do necessary maintenance and repairs. Joe-blow does not even know enough to tell if the banjo is in excellent playing condition. So, be careful. A set of new tuners will cost $100 or more. Fret leveling, fret replacement, new nut, new bridge, resetting the neck angle ($300ish), new head, are all issues to consider. The well known and respected vintage dealers do all this work and provide a return option. Their higher prices are often cheaper in the end contrasted with buying from Joe-Blow.

Adam, you've found an interesting list of contenders. I know most (but not all) of those names. If you can, visit the stores and try them out. Find out what appeals to you for sound, feel and appearance. If none of them are busted or repaired in a half assed manner, YOU DECIDE which ones you like for the money.

As for buying a 5 string and removing the 5th string peg, 5 stringers actually usually cost more than 4 stringers because there's more of a market for 5 stringers.

If I were you, I'd try to check out the 1970s Iida plectrum, the 1950s Vega Little Wonder, the 1930s Maybell plectrum and the Ludwig Kenmore plectrum. These are all decent banjos if they have all their parts.

Depending on price, the Martin-Vega VIP should be an excellent banjo. I’d take it over any of the imports from the same period.

The Martin Vega is @ 500. The body is a master clone.

The Iida is about $750

The Ludwig kenmore is 600

The Maybell is 400.

The maybell is returnable, the others would be blind buys.

There's a Paramount Style A on ebay at the moment. My favorite (I have Tenor, Plectrum and 5-String) jazz age banjos. Under $500...but just an hour to go.