This is as clean a vintage Stelling as I've ever had -100% original and immaculate! It is also a very early Cooperman rim as well as a very early Red Fox. [For those of you who follow such things, Geoff used own block rims until Nov. 1981 when he began transitioning to StewMac 3 ply rims (fully in June of 1982). He used Coopermans beginning in 1994 and switched to Tony Pass block rims in late 2001. Anyway, some of the early fox peghead inlays suffered from a bad finish reaction and this one went back to Geoff's at some point in 2010 or so to get the inlay fixed, at which point Geoff redid the fox and refinished peghead front/back and installed then-current two-band Schallers. The 1990s hardshell has some nicks but is in excellent condition. The banjo has zero issues and the only sign that it has been used at all are the *slightest* indents at the second/third frets - not even what I'd call fret wear so much as indications it was played a few times!
As good a sounding/playing Stelling as I've had - and I've owned upwards of 30! If you've been wanting a perfect Red Fox, this is the one!
Video linked below.
