Gibson TB-1 #DA-5091



The style 1 of the 1930s was a non-Mastertone model and therefore had
no true tone ring--only a small-diameter brass hoop on top of the rim. It did,
however, feature the same pot metal one-piece flange and three-ply maple rim as the
Mastertones of the same period.
Style 1 had nickel-plated
hardware and a dark-finished maple neck and resonator, with white binding on the neck and
both edges of the resonator. Even though the Mastertone models had by this time gone
to the double-cut peghead shape, the fiddle-shaped peghead was retained on
style 1, with a minor
modification--the two small indentations normally found under the fourth- and first-string
tuners were absent. The rosewood fingerboard was inlaid with a fleur-de-lis inlay
pattern until circa 1937, when the fingerboard inlay was
changed to the simple dot
pattern seen here, although the "inverted bud" peghead
inlay remained.
As is common with banjos from the late 1930s, this example has a serial number stamped on the back of the peghead; the letter prefix "D" indicates a production date of 1938 (see Gibson banjo serial numbers vs. factory order numbers).
Photos courtesy of Ron Galloway.