Recording King has announced a new banjo model, the RK-Elite, to be debuted in January 2010. They describe this as their “most traditional Pre-war style banjo ever.”
The Elite features headstock and fingerboard inlays styled after the popular Flying Eagle pattern, and the headstock uses the classic double cut design common in pre-war Mastertone banjos.
The guts are patterned after the Mastertone as well. The pot assembly is made with a 3-ply, steam-bent rim and a flathead tone ring. A one-piece resonator is used on the Elite, something of a departure from the pre-war flatheads on which this banjo is styled. Solid resonators were typically only installed on top-tension banjos, though there are exceptions to that rule.
The RK-Elite carrys a retail price of $1424.99, with a hard shell case and limited lifetime warranty. More details can be found on the Recording King web site.
