| CHARLES Z FISH'S PRE-WAR GIBSON BANJOS |
| RB-00 |
| The Gibson Company introduced its first banjo, a plain tenor model, in 1918. Gibson banjos were designated with letters to correspond to the type of instrument. Tenor banjos were designated TB, plectrum banjos PB, guitar banjos GB, mandolin banjos MB, and regular, or 5-string banjos RB. Banjos with a string scale length halfway between that of a tenor and a plectrum were made for a brief period in the late 1920's and were called plectrum tenors, or PT. Ukelele banjos were designated UB and cello banjos CB. |
| The letters were followed by a number corresponding to the grade or quality of the instrument. Style 00 was at the bottom of the line. Style 0 was next, then 1. Style 11 (double one) was a later inexpensive model. Style 2 had fancier inlays and extra binding. Style 3 had more of the same. Style 4 was fancier yet, and style 5 had gold plating, elaborate inlays and other appointments and was the fanciest model until 1925. Beginning in that year Gibson introduced several high end banjos, including style 6, the Granada, the Bella Voce and the Florentine. The most elaborate banjo of all, with a three-dimensional carved eagle on the peghead and painted scenes depicting American history on the fingerboard, was named the All-American and was introduced in 1930. |
| The RB-00 was the lowest-priced resonator banjo in the pre-World War II era. This is a regular (5-string) banjo and was manufactured between 1935 and 1942. It has no serial number and cannot be dated exactly. The list price in the Gibson catalogues was $30.00. |
| The banjo has a maple neck and resonator with a sunburst finish. The resonator is "single-bound," with white celluloid binding on the back edge only. |
| The peghead shape is unique to style 00 and tapers to a point. It has a dark shaded walnut finish. The Gibson logo is silkscreened in white rather than being inlaid in mother of pearl. |
| The fingerboard, or fretboard, is made of Brazilian rosewood and has one dot inlay at frets 5, 7 and 10, and a two-dot inlay at fret 12. |
| The "pot" has a cast white metal, one-piece flange. Three threaded thumbscrews pass through brackets attached to the flange and seat in wall lugs set in the resonator. |
| The Grover tuners and tailpiece are original. The nickel plating shows wear. |
| The tension hoop, or stretcher band, is of a type seen on the least expensive Gibson banjos. It lacks the notching of most other banjos of this period. It is grooved differently from the hoops of the earlier TB-2 and MB-3 models on these pages, but, as with earlier inexpensive models, it accommodates flat-type rather than rounded brackets. It is solid brass and is stamped "E2" on the inside. |
| The rim is rolled and laminated maple, 3 plies of 1/4 inch each, machined down to 5/8 inch at the top and 1/2 inch at the bottom, over which the flange slips. There is no tone ring. There is a turned bead in the wood at the outside top edge, upon which the head rests. |
| As is the case for other pre-war, non-Mastertone models, the neck is attached to the pot with a fastening nut and a single coordinator rod, for which Gibson had been granted a patent in 1922. Designed by Gibson engineers Thaddeus "Ted" McHugh and Delmont C. Mafit, this allowed adjustment of the angle of the neck of the banjo to the pot. |
