This banjo has a powerful well rounded tone unique to the Dobson Special with a comfortable neck profile ideal for all hand sizes and comfort while playing all over the neck. The Dobson Special utilizes a Dobson tone ring mounted on a rolled brass ring to isolate the tone ring from the wooden rim giving it a unique and powerful Dobson sound with more balanced and a crisp overall tone. It’s simple but elegant inlays and overall design has a vintage inspired look while having modern playability and durability.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 12″ Walnut Rim
• Dobson Special Tone Ring
• Black Mother of Pearl Dot Inlays
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• Seeders Curly Maple Armrest
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Ebony Details
• EVO Fretwire
• 1-5/16″ Black Tusq Nut
• Black Rim Binding
• Golden Brown Stain
• Gotoh Tuners
• Fiberskyn Head
• Cole Boat Heel
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulous Satin Finish

This banjo has a powerful well rounded tone unique to the Dobson Special with a comfortable neck profile ideal for all hand sizes and comfort while playing all over the neck. The Dobson Special utilizes a Dobson tone ring mounted on a rolled brass ring to isolate the tone ring from the wooden rim giving it a unique and powerful Dobson sound with more balanced and a crisp overall tone. It’s simple but elegant inlays and overall design has a vintage inspired look while having modern playability and durability.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 12″ Curly Maple Rim
• Dobson Special Tone Ring
• Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• Seeders Curly Maple Armrest
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Ebony Details
• Modern width EVO Fretwire
• 1-5/16″ White Tusq Nut
• Black Rim Binding
• Honey Maple Stain
• Gotoh Tuners
• White Suede Head
• Cole Boat Heel
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulous Satin Finish

These banjos have a powerful well rounded tone unique to the Dobson Special with a comfortable neck profile ideal for all hand sizes and comfort while playing all over the neck. The Dobson Special utilizes a Dobson tone ring mounted on a rolled brass ring to isolate the tone ring from the wooden rim giving it a unique and powerful Dobson sound with more balanced and a crisp overall tone. It’s simple but elegant inlays and overall design has a vintage inspired look while having modern playability and durability.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 11″ Curly Maple Rim
• Dobson Special Tone Ring
• Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Seeders Curly Maple Armrest
• Ebony Details
• EVO Fretwire
• 1-5/16″ Black Tusq Nut
• Black Rim Binding
• Rich Brown Stain
• Gotoh Tuners
• Cole Boat Heel
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulous Satin Finish

I’ve done a number of dog memorializing influenced inlays over the years but this is one of my favorites. Taking the classic Fairbanks lion griffin inlay and adding the profile of the owners own dog I came up with this fun whimsical spin on a classic inlay. The peghead and fretboard are Grenadillo wood to reference the reddish brown color of “Nellie Mae”, the dog who’s name and profile adorn the banjo.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 11-5/8″ Walnut Rim with Rolled Brass Tone Ring
• 1-3/8″ Black Tusq Nut
• Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Grenadillo Details
• Mezies Jamaican Goat Skin Head
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Seeders Walnut Armrest
• Rickard North Star Adjustable Tailpiece
• Rickard Cyclone Brass Tuners
• “Nellie Mae” Rim Engraving
• Flush Mount Truss Rod Cover
• Cole Boat Heel
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulose Satin Finish

This Walnut banjos features the Seeders asymmetrical peghead design and some simple but elegant details. The tone ring is a hollow brass tube that is similar in sound to a regular rolled brass tone ring but has a little something extra to it because of the added size and mass.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 11″ Walnut Rim with Rolled Brass Tube Tone Ring
• Seeders Asymmetrical Peghead
• 1-5/16″ Black Tusq Nut
• Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Striped Ebony Details
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• Seeders Walnut Armrest
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Flush-mount Truss Rod Cover
• EVO Fretwire
• Renaissance Head
• Gotoh Tuners
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulose Satin Finish

This banjo is essentially the standard Dobson Special model I make with an extra low string. A really fun banjo to play that has a really big deep and rich sound with the added low string bass and overtones.

• 25.5″ Scale Length
• 12″ Curly Maple Rim
• Dobson Special Tone Ring
• Curly Maple 6 String Neck
• Ebony Details
• Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Sustainer Neck Brace
• Seeders Curly Maple Armrest
• Seeders Wide Notch Comfort Tension Hoop
• EVO Frets
• Gotoh Tuners
• Cole Boat Heel
• Flush Mount Truss Rod Cover
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulose Satin Finish

This was one of the most unique and challenging projects I’ve had in a while. There aren’t a lot of people out there that would know what to do with so many strings. This unique creation was built for the talented Michael Nix and he really knows how to bring it to it’s full potential. Having played a similar 7 string banjo for years he knew just what he wanted to bring the instrument (that he’s dubbed the banjar) to the next level. Using early Vega banjos as a template we came up with this creative design to bring the best of what Vega had to offer for rim construction and hardware while keeping playability and tone forefront for the amount of strings that were needed.

• 25-13/16″ Scale Length
• 12″ Maple Rim with Bracket Band
• Whyte Laydie Tone Ring
• Mahogany 7 String Neck
• Ebony Details
• Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
• EVO Fretwire
• Gotoh Tuners
• Antiqued Brass Hardware
• Seeders Comfort Notched Tension Hoop
• Seeders Mahogany Armrest
• Black Tusq Nut
• Custom 7 String Bridge
• No-Knot style Tailpiece
• Vintage Thin Nitrocellulose Satin Finish