Beautiful new mahogany Vega-style neck by Wyatt Fawley, nicely crafted for an original 11 inch Tubaphone shell. Some banjo players may be surprised to see an original Vega resonator on a Vega shell with no flange, but in the early days of resonators Vega sold many banjos with this option. The advantage is that by simply turning the screw in the middle of the resonator back (a coin will serve as the screwdriver blade), the resonator can be removed and presto! You have an openback banjo with no resonator flange that digs into your thigh. Original finish on resonator, nice reproduction Kirschner tailpiece, and the real calfskin head delivers great tone. A beautiful and versatile banjo, and one without the quirks that can hamper the fun of playing many original early 5-strings.