The Fender

So I picked up a Leo Fender 5 string from a friend of mine over the holiday. I am actually bringing it back to Texas for someone else to look at. It's a 1978 model, still in the original Fender yellow fir lined case. It sit idle in the back of some music store in Indiana for it's entire life. No one had ever played it before last fall when I found it at the Arlington guitar show. My friend who is a dealer and luthier wanted to take a look at this instrument I was having a fit over (I don't really like banjos, I just play them), as I'm not impressed very often. He ended up buying it from the other dealer, turned it the next week and ended up buying it back from a gentleman who had too many banjos and needed to liquify. The man who he bought it back from had changed the pot and tone ring out to a Snuffy Smith setup with an arched top. To those who read 5stringking but don't know about the banjo, an archtop actually has a raised ring around the outer parameter of the head (the big white thing). This allows a more treble, but louder sound. Basically, I want the banjo. The problem is $$. I kinda hope the guy I'm showing to doesn't take it and I still have a crack at it months down the road. It's been 30 years since I actually owned two 5 strings. As I said, I don't really like them anyway.