In the early 70's, I bought a Merlin banjo from a fellow music teacher at Hewitt's Music in Dearborn, Michigan. Later went on to tour with it with the New Christy Minstrels. Here's a link to a picture of an album the group made in Japan:

http://www.thenewchristyminstrels.com/images/7306-NCMKeepJapanBeautiful-100.jpg

While traveling with that banjo, the resonator got very banged up, even though it was inside a hard case. The metal of the resonator was so soft, every time we'd fly, just the movement of the instrument inside the case would enlarge the holes where the screws went through. Was lucky enough to get a new resonator before the Merlin company went out of business, so the banjo is in great shape. It was very good for concerts--hardly needed a microphone. And boy, did it stay in tune with those high ratio tuning keys.

I'm now a freelance television producer and recently helped produce a program on a medical subject. Without knowing beforehand his Merlin connection, one of the people we featured was Bill Malloy who worked in the Merlin factory. I spoke at length with his wife and found out many things about Bill and that banjo. It is remarkable that our paths would cross under those circumstances and after all these years.