Most prewar Gibson banjos came equipped with either a one-piece or a two-piece armrest. Two-piece armrests are generally found on tube and plate flange banjos. In 1929, the one-piece (or “single-piece”) armrest was introduced and installed on one-piece flange banjos.
The bottom piece of these armrests were soldered to the top, hence the “two-piece” name.
These armrests were used on all top tension models (7, 12, and 18).
Like other hardware, armrests were normally plated with nickel, gold, or chrome.