Just finished David's 6-string, really punchy tone. This is the 2nd 6-string I've made for David, mainly to be used in sessions, it has been strung up with an additional high G string and tuned to an open G tuning, the other banjo is mainly being kept in a 'D' tuning with an extra bass string.
Audio file will follow shortly, once I familiarise myself with the extra string!

11" Block Cherry rim
​Cherry neck
Whyte Laydie tone ring
Renaissance head
25.5" scale Ebony fingerboard
Walnut caps

The 3 stock banjos should be finished by the end of next week, keep an eye out for those!

Just started oiling these 4 banjos, David's 6 string and three stock banjos. They should all be finished in two weeks, the two Cherry/Purple hearts and the Walnut one will be be up for grabs once complete. See my earlier post for the specs on these, and keep checking for photos, audio files and prices!
Once I have these out of the way, I'll be getting on with some mountain banjo and tackhead commissions, along with getting parts prepared for some open backs due out later in the year and a stock Walnut-Dobson banjo.

Just finished this nice little Cherry mountain banjo for Matt.
Cherry pot and neck
Rosewood fingerboard and peghead overlay
Goat skin head
Ash tone ring
Heavy gauge nylon strings, tuned a step or so low

Just finished David's banjo, another super sweet Walnut 11incher!
11" Walnut block rim with rolled brass tone ring, Fibreskyn head and Ebony cap.
Walnut neck with 25.5" scale Ebony fingerboard.

One of my customers has just had this lovely leather case custom made for his 'Suffolk slugger' banjo. The case was made by French craftsman Gilles Garneret www.facebook.com/anchesetcuirs/ 

Been a bit slack on the updates of late, but certainly haven't slacked on work! Been busy slotting fingerboards, getting necks glued, turning rims, gluing caps and fitting tone rings ready for future commissions. The last photo shows various bits and bobs of my workload for much of the year, parts of your banjo will be amongst that lot of you're expecting delivery this year!
Top left is David's Walnut banjo, just needs the neck shaping, heel cut, frets installed and a jolly good sand. Hopefully I'll have it ready for final sanding by the end of the week.
Top right is Matt's Cherry mountain banjo, evreything is glued ready for working on whilst oiling David's banjo.
Bottom left, David's Cherry 6-string Whyte Laydie is taking shape, rim is all finished apart from sanding, still a fair bit to do on the neck, and possibly some inlay??
Slightly more frequent updates are on my instagram page: www.instagram.com/ballardbanjers/ 

Finished up Sam's Ash minstrel this week, lovely deep tone!
12" Ash 1-ply rim
Goat head
Ash neck 
Walnut fingerboard, 27" scale length, Maple flush frets
Gotoh tuners
Inlaid brass star in peghead
Nylon strings
Maple bridge


It was great to meet Davy last week, when he travelled down from Scotland to collect his Cherry open-back. It was a really nice surprise when I logged into my website this afternoon to find the lovely comments he wrote!

Back on with David's 6-string, Matt's mountain banjo and David's open-back next week.

Just a little reminder that I'll be updating my prices next weekend, so if you would like to commission a banjo at the current prices let me know this week. Wait time is around 10 months, so Jan/Feb 2020.

We finally finished my son's banjo...turned out pretty cool!

Ash pot and neck, 23.5" scale Rosewood fingerboard and peghead overlay, mother of pearl 'zombie' head, 8" Renaissance head.

Had quite a productive week, Sam's minstrel should be ready for oiling sometime next week, just need to carve the neck, sand and stain.
David's Walnut banjo is coming along nicely, rim is glued up (just needs an Ebony cap), neck is also glued up.
Glued up David's (different David!) Cherry rim, hopefully get the neck blank glued up next week.
Also hoping to start gluing bits for Matt's Cherry mountain banjo.

The last two banjos of the current batch finished this week....phew!
I have a mixed bag to get on with next, back on to Sam's minstrel, a 7-string flush fret, a mountain banjo, a fairly standard open back and a 6 string open back. Should keep me out of trouble!

Tom's Banjo:
12" Walnut block rim
​Ebony rim cap
Dobson tone ring
Renaissance head
Walnut neck
25.5" scale
​GHS Americana medium strings

Stock banjo. This will be for sale shortly, full specs will and price will be on the 'banjos in stock' page.  Unfortunately it will be Europe shipping only, due to the Rosewood tone ring.

12" Flamed Maple rim
​Ebony rim cap
Rosewood integral tone ring
Renaissance head
Flamed Maple neck
25.5" scale Ebony fingerboard
Slotted peghead with Waverly tuners w/Ebony buttons

Been finishing up Davy's Cherry banjo and Andrew's 'Kibbo Kift' Walnut banjo this week, both banjos have an awesome sound but I still have a day or 2 of tinkering to coax the best possible tone out of them. The audio files don't really do them justice, I was struggling to play with a finger pick after sanding half my claw nail off a week or so ago!!
​Some really nice personal touches on both banjos, I'm really chuffed with how the hiker turned out on Andrew's banjo and the Cherry blossom on Davy's.
​Check out Andrew's great band www.hatstandmedicineband.com/ 

Should have Tom's 'Dobson' banjo complete next week, along with the stock Maple banjo, so keep an eye out for those :)

12" Cherry block rim
Integral Rosewood tone ring
Fibreskyn head
Cherry neck
Ebony 25.5" scale fingerboard
​GHS Americana medium strings

12" Black Walnut block rim
​Brass round rod/Dobson combo tone ring
Goat skin head
Black Walnut neck
Ebony 25.5" scale fingerboard
​GHS Americana medium strings

Finished carving the next batch of necks, installed frets and inlay, a little bit of engraving left to do and lots and lots of sanding/scraping! Rims are also waiting to be sanded, hopefully have at least 2 banjos ready for oiling by the end of next week.
Top to bottom: Stock flamed Maple, Tom's, Andrew's, Davy's.

I've recently started uploading more frequent workshop pics on my instagram page, it's a lot quicker and easier for me to keep customers up to date on progress. Follow on there if you are interested, I'll probably post a few 'how I do it' videos at some point!
www.instagram.com/ballardbanjers/