Finished Michael's Cherry banjo this week, everything came together extremely well, the copper/brass inlays look super sweet with the lovely figured Ebony fingerboard, Cherry wood and Brass hardware.
Really tasty tone too, rich and warm :)

Working on some Tackhead commissions next, follow my Instagram page for slightly more frequent updates!


Specs:
2-piece Cherry neck w/Ebony pinstripe
3-Ply 11" Cherry rim w/Ebony cap, Honduras Mahogany integral tone ring and Dobson tone ring
Ebony 25.5" scale fingerboard
Goat skin head
Cherry bridge
Medium GHS Americana strings

Finished this nice banjo earlier in the week, ready to send over to France on Monday.
Many of the features are inspired by an old 'Weaver' banjo - 12" thin Ash rim, bridge placement, peghead shape, fingerboard dot postions (notice the 3 dots at the 12th, and 1 at the 14th), Ebony tuning pegs.
Although this banjo is primarily designed for 'classic' style playing, I didn't stick rigidly to a traditionalist's preferred 'classic' set-up, so it is also very playable for clawhammer and other styles.
Since I'm atrocious at 'classic' style playing, I've recorded the 1st audio using 2-finger thumb lead style and the 2nd 'classic' piece in clawhammer style, to give an idea of the tonal possibilities!

Full specs:
26 1/4" scale length
Nylon, medium strings
12" Ash rim with brass round rod tone ring
​Cherry rim cap
Cherry neck and dowel stick
Thin calf skin head
Maple bridge

I've been fortunate enough to work on some awesome projects this year, check out the little slideshow of some of this year's banjos. A huge thanks to all of my customers for keeping me going!

​Some exciting projects (some non-banjo) planned for 2020, so keep an eye out!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
​

Check out Bob's souped-up mountain banjer, the last of 2019, it turned out pretty cool! Tried out some different finishing techniques on this one, really pleased with the slick results.
Next up will be Rainier's 'classic' style open back, look out for it early next year.



​
Walnut pot with Ebony cap
Ash tone ring
Goat skin head
Walnut neck
Ebony fingerboard and peghead overlay
26" scale length
Nylgut strings
Maple bridge
Inset Farthing, with birth year!
Brass scoop plate

Finished Mike's fretless this week,  inspired by Tommy Jarrell's banjo.
Mike supplied the vintage 12" spun rim, which I added a 1/4" brass rod tone ring to. We decided to leave the old skin on, as is pulled down nice and tight, and sounds great.
Scale length is just over 24.5", with the bridge placed just back from centre, as on Tommy's.
Cherry neck, Ebony trim, mother of pearl inlaid star, inset copper plate, Gotoh tuners, light gauge GHS Americana strings.

Check out these two beasts. Fresh from the workshop, they both turned out pretty 'bad ass'!

These are both spoken for, but if you fancy something similar(or completely different) get in touch to discuss, I'm currently taking orders for 2020 :)

12" 3-ply Cherry rim with Ebony cap
Customer's own peghead design 
Rolled brass tone ring
Goat skin head
Flamed Maple neck
26" scale fingerboard
GHS Americana Medium strings

6-String semi fretless
​12" 3-ply Cherry rim with Ebony cap
Dobson tone ring
Renaissance head
Cherry neck
25.5" scale neck
​Nylon medium strings

Check out the latest two 'kick ass' builds: Roger's tackhead and the 'Mounstrel', which is up for grabs and will added to the 'banjos in stock...' page shortly.

​
11" 2-ply rim
Goat skin head
Ash neck
26" scale
Brass side dots
​Minstrel Nylon strings

10"Ash pot
8" tunable Remo Renaissance head
Ash neck with Walnut fingerboard
​27" scale
​Minstrel Nylon strings

Corentin's mountain banjo is all complete and ready to be shipped over to Belgium, nice sweet tone with plenty of volume, I love making these things! 
10" Ash pot with 8" tensionable Remo head
26" scale neck
Medium gauge nylon strings
Maple bridge

Should have Roger's tackhead complete at some point next week, and also the 'Mountstrel!' banjo, which will be for sale.
Hopefully get a chunk of the work done on Stephen's open back too!
I'll post some progress on these banjos on my Instagram page during the week.

Finished these two killer banjos this week, the Walnut is now on the 'banjos in stock..' page, with price, full specs and a few more photos. This banjo has pretty much all of the available extra options (apart from radiused f/b and inlay),plus upgraded Waverlys, and would cost a little over £1800 if commissioned, so quite a nice little saving on an awesome banjo!  

Scroll to the bottom to see what else I'm working on at the moment.

12" Walnut block rim
Goat head
25.5" scale length
​Dobson tone ring

11" Ash 2-ply rim
Goat head
26" scale
​Nylgut classic strings

I'll be focusing on Roger's tackhead, Corentin's mountain banjo and Stephen's open-back during October, hopefully getting them pretty much complete by the end of the month.
Here's a a few pics of some of the builds I have on the go at the moment.
Top row left: (front) Corentin's Ash mountain banjo, (back) stock/spare minstrel/mountain banjo
Top row right: (front) Bob's Walnut mountain banjo, (back) stock/spare Walnut mountain banjo
Middle left: (front) Stehen's Maple/Cherry open-back, (back) Cherry 6-string semi-fretless
Middle right: As above, rear view!
Bottom row left: (front) Roger's Ash tackhead, (back) Mike's fretless neck and vintage pot
​Bottom right: (front) Michael's Cherry open-back, (back) Rainier's Ash 'classic' open-back

It has been nice (and a little overwhelming) to get back in the workshop the last couple of days, after returning from our family hols!
It took a while to remember where I was up to, but I think I'm now ready to really get stuck in next week.
The plan is to get Bob's tackhead ready for oiling by the end of the week, followed closely by the Walnut 'Dobson' stock banjo(I'm fed up having it laying around the workshop!), both should be complete by the end of September.
I'm also hoping to have Roger's tackhead and Corentin's mountain banjo well on the way by the end of Septemeber, which will leave October and November free to continue with Stephen's open back, start on Mike's fretless and finish Bob's mountain banjo. I can then get on with Rainier's 'classic' style open back in Decemeber, and that'll be another year done and dusted, scary!!
​
Below are a few pics of what's what. No picture of Stephen's or the Walnut banjo, as they still look the same as my last post (but not for long ;)
​
Left: Roger's tackhead (Front), Bob's tackhead (back)
Middle: Corentin's Ash mountain banjo (front), Bob's Walnut mountain banjo (back)
Right: Rainier's Ash/Cherry 'Classic' banjo