This banjo was restored to playing condition in the first half of 2022. 
 

It had been well played for the first half of its life, evidenced by the lovely weathering on the skin, and by the slightly oddly positioned tuners - a previous replacement. It had then sadly fallen into some disrepair, largely due to the single-ply back of the pot gradually warping and pulling away from the rim. This had caused some damage to the rim itself, and had broken away a lot of the banding around the edge. There was also a section of veneer at the front of the rim that had chipped away, the nut was worn and needed replacing, and the fifth-string pip had gone missing. 

I removed the back completely, reinforced the rim, and then glued it back into position. I then replaced the banding at the back and fitted new veneer to the front of the rim. I also fitted a new nut and pip and cleaned the whole thing up, re-oiling the fretboard and rejuvenating the french polish on the rest of the woodwork. The bridge was adjusted to lower the action a little and a new set of strings were installed.