1920s Gibson TB-4 Trap Door Tenor Banjo

This is a classy-looking 1920s Gibson TB-3 tenor banjo that was in for a level/dress of the frets, tuner swap-out (it already had replacements on it), and setup work. The owner (amazingly) plays it in standard tuning so it was nice to hear this jazz-age plinker doing its jazz-age plinking thing. Most folks want me to set these up "Celtic-style" in octave mandolin tuning as the very short (~19") scale length makes fingering easy for Celt-o-philes.

Anyhow, it's very much original save the tuners and has a nice, red-toned sunburst on the back and sides. I love the giant, cream pickguard as well. There's something about pickguards on banjos that just makes the mandolinist in me pop out and smile.