038 – Seeders Style 3 Cherry Banjo
This banjo was built for someone who started it all for me. The 4 year old that the very first banjo I sold was built for and my piccolo/pony banjo was designed for was turning 9 and was finally ready for a full sized banjo. It’s a variation of my Style 3 model made from Cherry.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 1-5/16″ Nut
- 11″ Cherry Rim
- Cherry Neck
- Rolled Brass Tone Ring on Pins
- Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Van Epps Style Tension Hoop
- Cole Style Boat Heel
- Walnut Rim Cap
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard and Peghead
- Published in Banjos
037 – Engraved 12″ Thin Rim Banjo
A walnut long scale banjo with a thin rim featuring engraved mother of pearl inlays. The rim has the owners niece and nephews initials engraved into the rim cap to add an extra personal touch. I used the floral engraving theme to design a unique fifth string transition carving.
- 27″ Scale Length
- 12″ Walnut Thin and Deep Rim
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Weymann Peghead Shape
- Ivoroid Bound Fingerboard, Rim and Peghead
- Ebony Bound Dowel Stick
- EVO Fretwire
- Nickel Hardware
- Fifth String Transition Carving
- Published in Banjos
036 – Brass Half Spun Slothead Banjo
This banjo features the first half spun over banjo rim that I’ve made. It’s built very similar to the old style of spun banjo rims but it’s topped with a wooden tone ring. It’s loosely designed from old Dobson banjos with some variations. With the slotted 5th string that starts on the seventh fret it has a great look to match the slotted peghead while not loosing space behind the 5th fret for your hand. The owner also had me inlay an 1889 Silver Dollar that he got from his Grandfather.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 11″ Brass and Walnut Half Spun Rim
- Bubinga Tone Ring
- Curly Walnut Neck and Rim
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard, Peghead and Rear Peghead Overlay
- Pointed Volute
- Increased Peghead Angle
- Maple Accent Veneers
- Antiqued Brass Hardware and Rim
- John Balch Skin Head
- EVO Frets
- Slotted Peghead and 5th String
- Van Epps Style Tension Hoop
- Published in Banjos
035 – Pi Banjo Conversion
This banjo started as a 4 string Little Wonder banjo from 1919. The original neck was falling apart and the owner wanted a new five string neck. Built for the same customer as the Prime Number Banjo and is a similar numbers theme. Using Pi as the idea we came up with this unique design. I came up with a new technique for making delicate inlaid dots to feature the number of the banjo at the end of the Pi string and a Pi symbol for the decimal point.
- 10-15/16″ 1919 Vega Little Wonder Rim
- 26-3/16″ Scale Length
- Pi Themed Inlays
- Ebony Fretboard and Peghead
- Ironwood Inlays
- Delicate Inlaid Dots
- Cherry Neck
- Published in Banjos
034 – Coffee Themed Pony Banjo
This piccolo/pony banjo features coffee themed inlays and a coffee color stain. There’s a coffee pot on the peghead, a coffee bean on the fifth fret and a coffee cup on the scoop. Made for a graphic designer that no doubt enjoys her coffee. Even being small these piccolo/pony banjos offer a great palette for creative inlays and designs.
- 18″ Piccolo/Pony Scale Length
- 1-1/4″ Bone Nut
- 8″ Curly Maple Steam Bent Pot
- Rolled Brass Tone Ring
- Engraved Coffee Themed Inlays
- Ebony Fingerboard
- Seeders Peghead Shape
- Calfskin Head
- Aquila Nylgut Strings
- Published in Banjos
033 – Seeders Engraved Style 3 Banjo
This banjo was built as the first prototype for a standard Seeders model I’ve been working on. It’s not named yet and the final details and options being finalized for future builds. It features W.A. Cole and Fairbanks inspired appointments with a few of my own twists. The tone ring is a variation of the classic W.A. Cole Eclipse tone ring, a modern Little Wonder tone ring placed on pins to raise the ring off of the rim. This give is a very crisp punchy sound with a lot of presence that will cut through in a group setting without being too loud or overpowering.
- 11″ Cherry Rim with Black Lacquer Finish
- Eclipse Variant Tone Ring
- Fairbanks Style Peghead Inlay
- Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- 1-5/16″ Bone Nut
- 25-1/2″ Scale Length
- Satin Lacquer Finish
- Nickel Plated Hardware
- Ivoroid Binding on Rim
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard and Peghead Overlay
- Scooped Fingerboard
- W.A. Cole Boat Heel
- Published in Banjos
Birdseye Maple Style 9 Tubaphone
This Tubaphone started it’s life as a 1924 Vega Style X Tubaphone Tenor Banjo. Originally planning to copy the original mother of pearl engraved inlays we instead decided to go a different direction and use a contrasting wood that had some interesting figure. I happened to have quite a unique piece of Birdseye Maple that was perfect even for the small pieces needed for the inlays. It features a lightly figured Mahogany neck with an African Blackwood fingerboard, heelcap, peghead overlay and volute overlay with a Curly Maple fretboard binding and Birdseye Maple inlays. The combination of the shorter scale with the wide 11-13/16″ Tubaphone rim turned out to be an excellent sounding banjo.
This banjo also features a thumb scoop in between the 17th and 21st frets giving you the perfect amount of room to catch your thumb while playing over the fingerboard.
- Original Vega Style X 11-13/16″ Tubaphone Pot
- Three Piece Figured Mahogany Neck
- African Blackwood Fingerboard, Peghead, Rear Peghead/Volute Overlay and Heelcap
- Highly Figured Birdseye Maple Inlays
- 1-3/8″ Nut Width
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- EVO Fretwire
- Curly Maple Fingerboard Binding
- Oettinger Style Tailpiece
- Vega Tubaphone No. 9 Style InlaysPointed Volute
- Pointed Volute
- Thumb Scoop 17th to 21st Frets
- Published in Banjos
032 – Brass Star Curly Maple Banjo
- Published in Banjos
Henry Dobson Reproduction Neck
This Dobson was a very unique project. The owner purchased the original banjo on eBay and when it showed up it turned out to be a little more beat up than anticipated. Wanting a Dobson that would be a durable everyday player we decided to recreate the neck with just a few minor modern upgrades. I tried to keep as close to the original aesthetic as possible while giving it a thicker fingerboard, neck profile and fifth string transition. While the finish was far from original, it had such a cool look to it that I did my best to match the feel. I was able to save the original dowel stick with Henry Dobson’s ID stamps which was an extra bonus. The textured rim is fairly unique as well, I believe they were made for a short time by Buckbee for use on these Dobson models as well as some of the Celebrated Benary banjos of the same time.
- 11″ Original Henry Textured Dobson Clad Rim with Patented Dobson Tone Ring
- 6th fret 5th String transistion
- Dyed skin head
- Peghed Tuners
- Nickel Silver Inlays
- Madagascar Rosewood Fingerboard and Peghead Overlay
- Walnut Neck
- Hand Rubbed Oil Finish
- Brass Scoop Plate
- Published in Banjos, Restorations
Maple Leaf Spun Rim Banjo
This Walnut necked banjo features a very nice spun rim most likely from the Buckbee factory or possibly a Fairbanks. It is simply adorned with an engraved Maple leaf and unengraved star on the fingerboard. The rim features 30 brackets and is a nice heavy spun rim construction that lends to a great sounding banjo. This banjo was designed as a short “A” scale banjo.
- Walnut Neck
- 11″ Nickel Spun Rim with Original Hardware (possibly Buckbee)
- 1-3/8″ Nut
- 22.72″ Scale Length
- Engraved Mother of Pearl Maple Leaf peghead inlay
- Ebony Fingerboard and Peghead Overlay
- Ogee Scoop
- Hard Oil Finish
- Dobson Heel Profile
- EVO Frets
- John Balch Hide Head
- Published in Banjos