094 – 11-5/8″ Curly Maple and Zircote Banjo
This Curly Maple and Zircote banjo features an 11-5/8″ rim, a relatively new size for Seeders Instruments. I believe this one is the third or fourth one I’ve made with great results. You get a little more low end without it getting too muddy while retaining some of the clarity of an 11″. A great balance between 11″ and 12″ rim choices. This model features Zircote appointments and hand engraved mother of pearl inlays.
- 11-5/8″ Curly Maple Deep Rim
- 25.5″ Scale
- 1-5/16″ Tusq Nut
- 1/8″ at the 12th fret action with 11/16″ Seeders Violin Bridge
- EVO Fretwire
- 3/8″ Rolled Brass Tube Tone Ring
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Hand Engraved Mother of Pearl Inlays
- Black Mother of Pearl Engraved Scalloped Square Inlays
- Flushmount Truss Rod Cover
- Gotoh Tuners
- Boat Heel
- Vintage Thin and Eco Friendly Satin Waterborne Laquer Finish
- Published in Banjos, Uncategorized
067 – Curly Maple Whyte Laydie Compass Banjo
This banjo was custom built for a student at Berklee College of Music looking for a banjo with a strong voice and tone to fit playing clawhammer as well as to accompany songwriting and singing. The design was based on The Lion Head Model but simplified aesthetically. The Whyte Laydie tone ring is one of the staples of the old time banjo world and is an amazing versatile tone ring for many styles of playing. The compass inlay was inspired by a drawing that adorned the owners first banjo and they wanted to continue on the theme.
- 11″ Curly Maple Rim
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- Whyte Laydie Tone Ring
- Antiqued Brass Hardware
- Engraved Abalone Compass Inlay
- Striped Ebony Fingerboard and Appointments
- Cole Boat Heel
- Gotoh Tuners
- Black Tusq Nuts
- 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
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
055 – 11″ 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.
- 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
- Warm Red Brown Stain
- Cole Boat Heel
- Hard Oil Finish
- Published in Banjos
053 – 12″ Walnut Style 1 Banjo
This banjo has the standard Seeders 12″ Walnut Style 1 specs. It features a simple look with a focus on play ability and tone. The rolled brass tone ring is an excellent choice for old-time playing and the 12″ rim gives it a rich deep sound. The neck is a modern C shape neck for a comfortable feel.
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- 12″ Walnut Rim
- Rolled Brass Tone Ring
- Antiqued Raw Brass Hardware
- EVO Fretwire
- Ebony Fingerboard and Details
- 1-5/16″ Nut
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Published in Banjos
052 – 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 Finish
- Published in Banjos
1929 Vega Tubaphone Longneck Conversion Banjo
This banjo started its life in 1929 as a Vega Vegaphone tenor banjo. The new longneck was design to match the original neck in style and looks while also using some of Vega’s Pete Seeger model as influence. These old Vega rims make excellent conversions and the Tubaphone paired with the longneck scale is a perfect combination for a big deep sound. The three extra frets on the low end of the longneck add a great range of tunings and keys to play in.
- 32″ Long Scale Length
- 1929 – 10-15/16″ Vega Tubaphone Rim
- Ivoroid Neck Binding
- Mother of Pearl Star Inlays
- Gotoh Tuners
- 1-1/4″ Nut
- Sunburst Nitrocellulous Lacquer Finish
- Published in Banjos
048 – B’rer Rabbit Trickster Banjo
This banjo features some of my favorite inlay and engraving work yet. The unique folklore trickster theme led us to make some very fun decisions that tied everything together very nicely in a personal and cohesive way. We started with B’rer Rabbit on the peghead and the Japanese Kitsunev, a nine tailed fox, in the scoop with fox prints traveling up the fingerboard. We later added a raven to the back of the peghead and lastly a butterfly to the heel. The connection of the two is as follows, “in the Canadian Pacific northwest, the Haida depict Butterfly as the companion of Raven the Creator-Trickster, perhaps acknowledging the unpredictable and unreliable nature of “flights of fancy” and dreaming”. The copper of the half fretless overlay with brass screws led to the use of copper and brass side location dots as well as the raw brass hardware. Overall a very fun and playful but elegant design resulted.
- 12″ Curly Walnut Rim
- 25.5″ Scale Length
- Wenge Tone Ring
- Copper and Brass Half Fretless Overlay with Engraved Fret Markers
- Copper with Brass Eye Side Location Dots
- Ebony Peghead Binding
- Engraved White, Black and Gold Mother of Pearl and Abalone Inlays
- Figured Maple Details with Golden Brown Stained Finish
- Backstrap
- Raw Brass Hardware
- Brooks Banjos Hooks and Nuts
- Scalloped Ebony Nut
- Seeders Violin Bridge
- Fielding Tailpiece
- Aquila Nylgut Strings
- Published in Banjos
