Nickel plated brass. Last of the 12 fret neck to body joint instruments with rare mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard as most were maple necks with ebonized (tinted) maple fingerboards. Solid good condition with honest play wear, plating worn down to the brass in a few places and a couple of nicks that add to the character. Set up by famed New Orleans based Delta blues player and Son House disciple John Mooney (see embedded video for a fascinating interview with him) with replacement National Resophonic cone. It has also been pointed out to me that the tuners are not original. Everything else is original. Includes Road Runner hard shell case and additional string sets. The dies for these original instruments were lost so they are irreplaceable, even by new reissues which are different from the vintage ones. Get the genuine article for the asking price of a new reissue.