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OK, Max, here's the story on all of Dave's banjos:

1. The one with the plugged holes from where the Scruggs tuners used to be is owned by the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma. Dave sold that banjo in 1991 to pay his medical expenses from his last illness. The purchase price, I believe, was $15,000. It came with an authentication letter from Dave. Below, I'm linking to details on this banjo and the sale.

2. Details are hazier on the second one. It came to light in about 2000 when it was put up for sale by a small music store. The story was that the person consigning it had been a housekeeper for the Guard family and Dave had given the banjo to her as a gift.

The story was authenticated, as much as it could be, and this banjo was sold to a private individual. I'm still trying to find out who.

3. As for the S.S. Stewart Universal Model No. 3 that Dave played on the first two albums, it's owned by a private collector in Massachusetts. I'm told it's still playable and still sounds just as it did on those first two albums.

Joe Connor