John, you don't think those black bands are needle cast?? Seen quite well on image 1144. It looks just like the pictures I've seen on the net. And I showed the pictures to the curator of the bonsai collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden and he thought it was needle cast too.
That being said, I have been keeping the watering low/on the dry side, due to reading they don't tolerate wet roots well. Plus, Andy has this planted in Turface and grit, so it drains real quick after watering. On the other hand, I also read that overwatering can lead to brown tipped needles. So, I'm a bit confused. This is a hard topic to convey over the internet imo.