Produced for a short time from 1929 until 1931 by Gibson for distribution by Montgomery Ward, tenor banjo models 505 and 506 were similar to Style 6 banjos, updating its model number about halfway through the instrument's roughly two year run. This particular banjo left the factory as a tenor (original neck included in sale and is unmodified apart from pearl peghead block, and no tuners), and was converted to five string using a stylistically correct reproduction neck by Al Jamieson). The 3/4" thick four ply maple rim features the original 40 hole archtop tonering, chrome plated tension hoop/tube and plate flange with hexagonal cutouts, nickel plated armrest, die-cast Factory Order Number stamps present inside rim; hardware appears original but for 3x of the thumb screws, and resonator mount bracket screws, reproduction tailpiece; wear present from adjustments on coordinator rods; batch number #16 stamped beneath heel on rim. The flamed maple resonator is fully bound and trimmed with colorful sparkle binding on sides; the thin original finish has some small areas of of scratching and wear on back, with small checks over binding. The reproduction five string neck was built by Al Jamieson using highly flamed maple, has a thickly bound 26-1/4" scale rosewood fingerboard with hearts and flowers pearl inlay on fretboard, pointed peghead shape with fancy pearlwork and borrowed engraved Recording King block from tenor neck; built with a truss rod, there is a pearl truss rod cover on face; equipped with spikes on 7/9, original Grover pancake tuners with large pearl buttons (later fifth); some finish flaking present on face of peghead. Included in sale is hard case, with original tenor neck inside.