Eli V - Posted - 03/18/2026:  08:02:39

Hey everybody! I am looking at trying to find an old Gold Star GF100 "Masterclone" from the 1978-1986 era. Obviously its not super easy to find these banjos often, but I wanted to ask and see if anyone here knows places to watch for them to pop up or any other random tips about them and searching for them that I could use to help me as I look for/purchase one. Any knowledge and help on these banjos and the used banjo search process would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

TnFrosty - Posted - 03/18/2026:  08:43:29

They pop up on here from time to time. Keep an eye out on Facebook Marketplace as well…that’s where I found mine. I have also seen a couple on eBay. One tip is to make sure it’s intact…meaning original parts are there and the label is present so you can verify the year (first two digits in the serial number are the year in case you didn’t know) Original tail pieces seem to be the weak link and are often replaced (mine was)
There is a lot of archived info on the old Gold Stars here on the hangout, so do some digging there. Good luck in your search - the vintage Gold Stars are well worth the effort to locate one.

tomd7 - Posted - 03/18/2026:  09:21:01

I was looking at FB Marketplace recently and saw a nice '84 100-W in Maryland and a nice '86 100-FE in Pennsylvania. They were both available last I checked about a week ago. There's also a '79 100-HF on Reverb that's been there for a while now.

Old Hickory - Posted - 03/18/2026:  09:28:53

There are countless dealers in used and vintage instruments who probably have one of these from time to time.

Elderly, RetroFret, Jake's Main Street, McCabe's, Gryphon, Turtle Hill, Greg Boyd, Pickers Supply, Banjo Ben's, Ceres. Plus various auction houses.

Don't know if there's an automated way to monitor their inventories. 

Searching is about all you can do.

5stringpicker2 - Posted - 03/18/2026:  11:30:10

Have you checked here or joined this group? 

facebook.com/groups/903847780195294/

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