Well, I make them ! I have one of Frank's...the one he played on tour in about 1960 as he came through the U of Illinois. Mine is signed "personal banjo of Frank Proffitt, Reese, NC. My instruments look very much like his, usually they are of curly maple, but some are cherry. My older ones have a hide head, but recently I have modified the pot to take a slightly larger (8 inch) head which I found REMO makes using fiberskyn 3. I think they sound great. I use nylon strings and violin pegs. You can see a couple of them by going to TRINITY GUITARS and click on the GILMAN FOLK INSTRUMENTS link