very early Fairbanks & Cole 5 String Open Back 5 string Banjo 1880s

Description

Fairbanks & Cole 5 String Open Back Banjo Parts Or Repair.
This is a very old, and very early Fairbanks and Cole banjo. It had been a wall hanger in a barn for an unknown amount of time. I purchased it from a guy who tried to set it up, but had no banjo knowledge. Sadly he reemed the 5th peg hole to put a new geared tuner in. He also set up with steel strings, which I quickly removed. The heel has a split which has an old glue repair. The neck fretboard is missing most of the shell inlays. The first fret is drilled all the way through the neck (banjo abuse as far as I'm concerned from the owner of the barn where this spent many years) The ebony headstock overlay shows some splintering near the nut, guessing from someone taking the original nut out.. The current nut is also a makeshift replacement from the guy I bought it from.
I replaced the hide head with a light calf one from elderly and strung it up with gut strings to see how the action was and have it in my repair pile to fix further. The tailpiece is a no-knot but im unsure if its original or a reproduction.
being sold as is, as it needs a bit of repair and setup to be fully playable. Would be great for a newer luthier to work on or an experienced luthier to restore.
Im a long time BHO member and ebayer. Let me know if you have any questions. This would make a fun restoration project or just set up with minimal repairs, a cool banjo with a lot of mojo.
I've been watching an old ODE banjo and thought I would throw a few instruments up on ebay to see if I have any bites, to fund the purchase of the ODE. So if this doesn't sell, I won't be too disappointed either, as it has a great, quite loud old time sound to it.