UPDATE!

Well my EBAY experiences are over and I would like to report that everything turned out OK.

I took the Lyon and Healy to a fantastic banjo repairman that by chance lives here in Silver Spring, Jim BumGardner. He inspected it and confirmed that it was not playable. I then communicated this to the seller along with several statements of what would happen if I did not get my money back. Even though he "had sold the banjo for a friend" he agreed to return the money. Today, I cashed the refund check. He even gave me back my shipping charges.

On the other banjo I bought for $90 the week before. Jim was able to replace the 5th string tuner, straighten the bump in the neck caused by the previous one, and do a general setup. All for $40.00. He even threw in an old case for free. Now I have a nice little frailer with a skin head. It's ugly and built from parts but it works!

It will be awhile before I buy from EBAY again.

The main lesson I learned is be very cautious and ask many many many questions ahead of time. It doesn't hurt to simply ask "do you know of any known defects", and "Is the banjo playable in its current condition (playable means to me: no noticeable buzzes,and clean scales up and down the neck on each string)"

Anyway, I'm back to looking for a playable open back that I can afford (around $300). I'm partial to instruments with a very strong bass feel.

JAB