Buzzard Mountain Instruments
Custom Banjos Handmade in North Georgia, USA
Buzzard Mountain Instruments was founded by luthier Neil Turner on the principles of building beautiful, innovative and affordable folk instruments. In his shop in North Georgia, Neil hand crafts customs banjos and guitars. All of Neil's instruments are built with a keen eye for detail and tone. Each one is a unique playable piece of art.
Neil honed his craft and workmanship while at school for Architecture, where he spent many hours toiling away in the University's wood shop building custom furniture, Architectural models, sculptures and instruments. Years of a professional education and career in Architecture has taught Neil the importance of the details. “God is in the details” and “Form follows Function” are some famous quotes from the German Architect Mies van der Rohe, the founder of the school of Architecture that Neil received his degree from and Neil is a firm believer in those principles of good design that he learned while there. Neil uses these principles to capture the beauty inherent in every piece of wood, piece of bone or mother of pearl he uses.
“Neil's passion for quality design shows in the instruments he builds, he truly is an artist. He is continually trying to push the envelope in the design, sound, craftsmanship and playability of his instruments. He strives to find a balance between modern and historical building techniques and he continually improves his craft. Not a day goes by that I don't thoroughly enjoy playing and admiring my custom banjo” - Jason Likason, North Carolina
For the latest news and to view some of our latest projects be sure to visit the Buzzard Mountain Blog.