062 – Style 5 Dobson Special Banjo
This is a custom built variation of the Seeders Style 5 Dobson Special made with Walnut with a Fairbanks and Cole style peghead inlay. 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 adding modern play ability and durability.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 12″ Walnut Rim
- Dobson Special Tone Ring
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Black Tusq Nuts
- EVO Fretwire
- Ivoroid Rim Binding With Internal Rim Bevel
- 1-3/8″ Bone Nut
- Cole Boat Heel
- Rich Brown Walnut Stain
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
061 – Curly Maple Style 3 Dobson Special Banjo
This is a custom built variation of the Seeders Style 3 Dobson Special made with Curly Maple. 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 adding modern play ability and durability.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 11″ Curly Maple Rim
- Dobson Special Tone Ring
- Stern Tannery Calf Skin Head
- Radiused Ebony Fingerboard
- Ebony Backstrap
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- EVO Fretwire
- 1-3/8″ Bone Nut
- Keith Tuners
- Warm Amber Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
060 – 12″ Engraved Lion Head Whyte Laydie Banjo
This banjo is loosely based on early the golden age of Fairbanks and Fairbanks and Cole banjos. I redesigned the classic lion head griffin giving it a more fierce and lion like head. Using the original inlay patterns I created my own engravings giving it a traditional but more refined look. The curly maple 12″ rim features a Whyte Laydie tone ring with ivoroid binding and antiqued raw brass hardware. The tone from the 12″ Whyte Laydie is deep and precise. Paired with the elegant looks this is one of the finest of banjos available from Seeders Instruments.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 12″ Curly Maple Rim
- Whyte Laydie Tone Ring
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard
- EVO Fretwire
- Seeders Pointed Nuts
- 1-5/16″ Nut
- Ivoroid Binding
- Gotoh Tuners
- Red Amber Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
059 – de Groot 12″ Curly Maple Dobson Special Banjo
This is a variation of the Seeders Dobson Special made with Curly Maple. 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 adding modern play ability and durability.
This banjo is owned by the talented Allison de Groot. You can hear her playing it with Bruce Molky’s “Molsky’s Mountain Drifters” as well as her other duo with Tatiana Hargreaves.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 12″ Curly Maple Rim
- Stern Tannery Calf Skin Head
- Dobson Special Tone Ring
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard
- EVO Fretwire
- 1-5/16″ Bone Nut
- Gotoh Tuners
- Rich Brown Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
058 – Curly Maple Style 3 Dobson Special Banjo
This is a variation of the Seeders Style 3 Dobson Special made with Curly Maple. 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 adding modern play ability and durability.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 12″ Curly Maple Rim
- Dobson Special Tone Ring
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard
- EVO Fretwire
- 1-5/16″ Bone Nut
- Gotoh Tuners
- Red Brown Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
057 – Curly Maple Style 3 Dobson Special Banjo
This is a variation of the Seeders Style 3 Dobson Special made with Curly Maple. 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 adding modern play ability and durability.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 11″ Curly Maple Rim
- Dobson Special Tone Ring
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard
- EVO Fretwire
- 1-5/16″ Bone Nut
- Gotoh Tuners
- Rich Brown Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
056 – Curly Maple and Cherry Bluebird Banjo
A custom Curly Maple, Cherry, and Ironwood banjo that features custom blue fretboard inlays with accompanying bluebird inlay. The 10 1/2″ rim delivers a focused tone while being more comfortable for a smaller person or someone desiring a more compact feel.
- 10-1/2″ Curly Maple and Cherry Rim
- 24-1/2″ Scale Length
- Rolled Brass Tone Ring
- Custom Recon Stone and Ebony Bluebird Banjo
- Recon Stone Fretboard Location Dots
- Ironwood Fingerboard
- Raw Brass Hardware
- 1-5/16″ Nut
- Gotoh Tuners with Amber Knobs
- Antique Maple Stain
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Hard Oil Satin Finish
- Published in Banjos
Rabbit Ear Minstrel Banjo
This unique neck was built for a great old brass clad rim with very cool original hardware. The neck design was influenced by an old minstrel banjo that the client had stumbled on. The fretless neck is a one piece Cherry neck with a distressed dark finish. The head material is a unique material from Yellowstone that is stretched similar to a skin head but is a paper product. The unique head material and nylon strings made for a wonderful deep and rich tone.
- 11″ Brass Clad Antique Rim
- One Piece Cherry Fretless Neck
- Ebony PegHed Geared Friction Style Tuners
- Deep Minstrel Style Scoop
- Antiqued Stained Distressed Finish
- Handmade Reproduction Buckbee Style Tailpiece
- Published in Banjos
1922 Vega Tubaphone Pineapple Banjo
This 1922 Vega Tubaphone rim is paired with a custom neck with original Vega details and a custom pineapple peghead inlay. The Mahogany neck is a great match for the 10-15/16″ Tubaphone rim. It has the crack and volume that you’d expect from one of these orginal Vega banjo rims.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 1922 10-15/16″ Vega Tubaphone Rim
- Engraved Pineapple Peghead Inlay
- Original Engraved Vega Style Fretboard Inlays
- Owners Initials Inlaid into Heel Cap
- Schubb Fifth String Capo
- PegHed Geared Friction Tuners
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Stacked Vega Style Heel Cap
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Hard Oil Finish
- Published in Banjos
Vega Tubaphone Five String Banjo
This Vega Tubaphone was sent to me as a complete Vegaphone with a beautiful original tenor neck. The owner wanted to preserve the original instrument as much as possible but copy the original neck details making it into a five string banjo. I matched the finish of the original neck and used the original inlays. The owner had me do a couple of tweaks to the original inlays to make it a little more personalized. We swapped the Vega lettering in the peghead inlay to Tango, the town in West Virginia where they live and added in a silhouette of West Virginia in the lower part of the fingerboard. We kept all the original hardware as well as the resonator making it an excellent banjo for many different styles of playing.
- 26″ Scale Length
- 11″ Vegaphone Rim with Matching Resonator
- 1-1/4″ Nut
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Curly Maple Neck
- Custom and Original Vega Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Sunburst Nitrocellulous Lacquer Finish
- Modified C Shape Neck
- Stacked Vega Style Heel Cap
- Original Five Star Planetary Tuners
- Published in Banjos