Hmm… the “9”, “5” and "1" are a slightly different font than my 1929 TB2 conversion, FON 9548… I’m assuming that they used consistent stamps during this era, making this one a reproduction?

The construction and look is pretty similar -- my TB2 rim width sits between .59" and .61".

Stampings and seam laps in rim plies make me doubt it being prewar. Not fact, just my opinion.

The PAT APPLIED FOR stamping seems like the letters are more up and down rather than in a straight line. Still, it looks like a nice beefy rim.

Thanks guys. Yeah, I’m now thinking it’s not a prewar. Admittedly a little deflated, but it’s okay.

I actually sold this banjo once, missed it, and traded back for it — prewar or not, I guess I have a soft spot for it. But it’s developed a crack in the flange by the armrest, so it’s been on my mind lately and I’ve been thinking through what to do with it. (It also has a Burlile ring in it that I’ve always wanted to try on some other banjos in comparison to a V35 and HR30, just to satiate my curiosity.)

All the while a Rickard Resophonic keeps calling me, but I have more banjos than I need as-is! Maybe for now, I’ll tear it down and JB-Weld the underside of that flange… see if this banjo is really where that Burlile ring wants to be.

From Greg Earnest's invaluable website......

A different font ?

RioStat — yeah, I’m seeing the round top portion of the 9 as being fuller than the bottom curl, compared with mine. The flag on the “1” is wrong too, 2's are different… The stampings on my known prewar rims look like that pic from Greg’s site (which I’d forgotten about, good call there).

So it's a safe bet to say, the same stamping/font in Greg's pic was consistently used on prewar rims from '29 on through the early 30's?  If so, thats at least one relatively easy way to weed out some imposters.

I have a feeling that your rim may be some of Bill Sullivan's work from the  1980-90's.....First Quality Music

You almost "hope" that that rim is not genuine pre-war.....al the 9522's on Earnest Banjo are listed as 1930 Granada's.....hate to think about someone parting out a 1930 Granada, but I'm sure that happened at least once.

I imagine that it is disappointing to find out that it is not pre-war, though 

I checked Earnest's website. 9522 is a batch of Granadas with many examples pictured. I checked the NEXT batch of nearby FONs which was 9530 (the Scotland and the Cozart Granadas included). The font of the "3" does not match your rim's example.

To imagine someone would have parted out a GRANADA rim is nearly unimaginable. CERTAINLY a missing Gibson Mastertone label would be another strike for a supposed Granada rim.

It's not a "bad" looking rim. But it doesn't match up with known littermates and neighbors as far as fonts.

Yeah… and your assessment of it being Bill Sullivan’s 80’s-90’s work tracks, RioStat … The gentleman I purchased it from “inherited” it after the passing of a good friend, and believed the neck to be an older Sullivan neck. That’s one of the things I love about the banjo, neck feels great and it’s not radiused, unusual for an RB-12 clone, but perfect for me!