Price List from the 1921 Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company Catalog
     (click on image to enlarge)

While Gibson got in the banjo buisness beginning in 1918, the first banjo descriptions I have are from reproduction price list included in the 1921 Catalog. This early catalog did not include pictures and descriptons of the banjos.  The focus of the 1921 catalog is  mandolins and guitars.

The banjos listed in this catalog include MB (Mandolin Banjo), TB (Tenor Banjo), GB (Guitar Banjo) and CB (Cello Banjo).  In addition there is listed a second, less expensive model, the Style 2 which was available in MB-2 and TB-2 configurations.

Both "List" and "Net" prices were listed in the 1921 Catalog The Net prices were about 60% of list.  A TB could be had for $100 with a down payment fo $10 and monthy payments of $9.  The Faultless case was an additional $15.

  1923 Gibson TB-5
            (click on image to enlarge)

By 1923 Gibson had started featuring banjos along with mandolins and guitars in their catalog. In addition to the MB, TB, GB and CB that were cataloged in 1921, the 1923 catalog included the RB (Regular, or 5-string, Banjo) and the PB (Plectrum Banjo).  These were the "trapdoor" style banjos.

Construction
The 1923 catalog included a comprehensive description of  Gibson's Mastertone Rim Construction which featured "...a floating head which is obtained through the use of a non-friction, full floating tone tube in place of the usual rigid bearing band and ball bearing contact at twenty points...".    This construction differed from the later ball-bearing tonering in only two details.  First,  the ball bearings rested on metal disks set in the holes drilled into the top of the rim rather than on springs as in the later ball-bearing models.  Second, the tube style tone ring was made of a single 1/2, drilled tube.  The later ball-bearing tonering had a second tube of smaller diameter added that resulted in an archtop appearance.

(Most literature I have read before refers to the 1925, ball-bearing style banjos as the first Mastertone instruments yet the reference to Mastertone Rim Construction is very promenint in the 1923 catalog. )

1923 Mastertone Rim Construction

Other standard  features of Gibson Mastertone Rim Construction included the Gibson Tension Tube, Arm-rest, Finger-rest, Coordinator-rod, Rim-rod and Tone-projector.  The Tension Tube allowed for bracketless construction of the rim and even tension against the rim shoulder --- essentially this is the tube of the later tube and plate flange construction.  The Tone Projector was Gibson's name for the trapdoor resonator.

Mastertone Models

The Mastertone styles that were featured in 1923 included Style 3, 4 and 5.  The Style 3 was finished in dark mahogany with the neck blending from mahogany to a clear maple finish at the peghead.  The peghead of the Style 3 was inlayed with "The Gibson".

The Style 4 was finished in cremona brown sunburst and had silver plated parts.  The peghead of the Style 4 was bound and in addition to the Gibson logo,  was inlayed with a "fleur-de-lis".

The Style 5 was also refered to as the Mastertone Artist Model. The rim of the Style 5 was covered with pearl pattern pyralin plastic.  The fingerboard inlays on the Style 5 were fairly simple geometric shapes, however the bound peghead was inlayed in an elaborate vine pattern.  Metal parts were gold plated on the Style 5.

1923 MB-4 (SN: 11064A-1) with peghead details and  finish typical of Style 4 instruments
 

Other Models

In addition to the three 1923 Mastertone models, a TB-1 was offered that had a simpler peghead shape, brackets and a 1/2" brass tube bearing band (tonering) that was supported directly on the rim made of white ash with maple veneer.  The GB was available as a GB-4, or a special mahogany GB version that used a honeycombed wood rim with a wood lip serving as the bearing band.

    The simpler rim construction and peghead of a 1923 TB-1 (SN:  11010A-7)

A fifth model, the TB-JR stated showing up in 1923, but was not cataloged this year.  The JR is a simpler instrument that the Style 1 using bracket shoe construction and with the head bearing directly on the wood rim.  It was finished in clear maple or often in black.  The JR style was more prevalent in 1924 and some examples were made as late as 1925.  The Jr style has been seen in TB, RB and MB models.

        Simple construction of a 1924 TB-JR
 

Summary of Styles in 1923

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