#9383-3 is an extraordinarily well-preserved example of Gibson's style 1 as it appeared in 1929, shortly before the model's transition to a one-piece flange. The "Coke bottle" peghead shape would appear on a few transitional one-piece-flange style 1 banjos, but here it is seen with the earlier bracket-shoe construction and flange plate with hexagonal holes. The inlay consists of a simple dot pattern on the fingerboard and the old-style "The Gibson" logo on the peghead. There is a small-diameter brass tone hoop on top of the wood rim, typical of the non-Mastertone models; the wood is straight-grain maple with a uniform dark finish and binding on the back edge of the resonator only. The tailpiece is the type referred to in prewar Gibson catalogs as the Grover "first model". The hard case is also in excellent condition and includes original documentation from the Geib and Schaefer company, manufacturers of many of the cases used by Gibson in the prewar period.
