2000s Homemade "Box" Fretless Banjo

This octagonal, shop-class-style 5-string "banjo" has been hanging-around a friend's restaurant for years. He finally brought it to me to make it musical as it certainly didn't do much beforehand, though it was pretty cute. It'd been made by the son of a friend of this friend in high school, so I thought it was a nice idea for him to get it making sound.

Work included pulling the not-really-installed frets, adding "flushfret" markets in the fret slots, leveling/dressing the fingerboard, holes for simple string mounting, a new bridge, and a setup. While the action is a little higher than I'd like (3/32" at the 12th fret), it plays just fine and has a surprisingly-good sound. That plywood top actually gives it the voice and  similar volume level of an 1880s minstrel banjo but, ya know -- a little woodier.

Figuring-out how to hold this is another thing entirely, though...