Banjo Building

I am really bad at blogging! I get so busy with daily life and building banjos that I forget to post any updates. Although I'm pretty sure no one reads this thing anyway, I do apologize to those that would like more frequent updates.

I've got several builds I am working on and will be posting more pictures and sound files in the coming weeks. In the meantime head over to Banjos to see the latest build post.

A beautiful Lefty Walnut banjo with a Canadian Twist:

Well Spring as been in full force here in the South and I have been so busy here at Buzzard Mountain HQ. I have a ton of exciting builds coming up this year and I really appreciate all of my customers who continue to support my banjo building habit!

I have updated my site with a couple of new builds, both banjos turned out sounding and looking wonderful!





For those of you who can make it, I will be traveling once again to the Great State of Virginia to the Henry Reed Memorial Fiddlers Convention in about a month. It's a great time to camp next to the New River and enjoy some great music and fun.

I'll be leaving for Clifftop (Appalachian String band Festival) in WV in a couple of days. I decided to have a booth this year to show and sell some banjos. I just finished up the last one yesterday and got some pictures of them all taken today. So I thought I would post some of the pictures and give a brief description on each. If your coming to Clifftop, make sure to stop by and say hello!

#10018
12" Block Cherry Rim with Bubinga Tone Ring
Cherry Neck with black stripe and German Silver Plate up to the 7th fret and at the scoop.




#10019
12" Curly Maple Rim with Walnut Cap and Whyte Laydie Tone Ring
Curly Maple Neck with Walnut Stripe




#10020
11" Block Cherry Rim with Ebony Cap, Hond. Roswood Tone Ring and aged Brass Hardware
Cherry Neck with Black Stripe




#10021
11" Curly Maple Rim with Bloodwood Cap and Bloodwood tonering with Rolled Brass Rod
Curly Maple Neck with Red Stripe




#10022
11" 100+ Year Old Chestnut Block Rim with Ebony Cap, Hond. Rosewood Tone Ring and Aged Brass Hardware
Birds Eye Maple neck with black Stripe




I'll post some more pics and some sound files when I get back.

It's been awhile since I have updated my blog, I've been real busy this summer building banjos and doing repairs. Earlier this spring I finished up a custom long neck banjo for my buddy Kelly in Chicago and I am just getting around to posting some pictures of it.

It's a long neck open back with a maple neck and rim that features an ebony rim cap and heel cap, ebony fingerboard and headstock overlay, Nickel Silver Inlay and a mastertone style tone ring. I hand delivered this to Kelly at the Henry Reed Fiddlers Convention and he was in love at first site.









Kelly's going to be posting some more videos at his site, so head over to BanjoMania to see and hear this beast in action.

Here is a recent build from my shop, it is a customized version of the "Road Kill" budget model. The owner of this one wanted a full length 5th string which required a custom Minstrel style headstock to accommodate the added tunning peg. It features the Bubinga wood tone ring and rim cap, Dobson style heel and rosewood fretboard and overlay.











I love it when a customer challenges me to build something new! Although the concept for a long 5th has been around for a very long time, it's certainly something you don't see often these days.

Here are some pictures of my latest custom banjo I am working on. It is a custom Road Kill model with a full length 5th string. The rim is 2 play Maple with Bubinga Wood Integral Tone Ring and cap. The rim is completed and the neck is roughed shaped at this point, I'll be wrapping this one up before the new year. The headstock features a minstrel style headstock thats enlarged to handle the extra tunning peg and wider nut for the full length 5th string.

Here is a sound file of the latest custom banjo the BM09005.
BM09005_Test.mp3

This is the next custom to come out of my shop, BM09005 is truly a unique and outstanding banjo. It has a lot of great features. This custom banjo has a block form, yellow birch rim, with a Tubaphone tone ring. The rim has a Bloodwood cap that matches the Bloodwood heel cap on the neck. The neck has a center strip of Bloodwood surrounded by some beautiful curly maple. The fingerboard is Bloodwood with an underlay of white/red striping. The head stock is Bloodwood with the same white/red underlay and an overlay of veneer marquetry depicting a night scene in the mountains. The headstock and fingerboard feature inlays of white & gold MOP stars and moon completing the night scape theme of this custom banjo.

Here are some pictures of the finished banjo:















This was a really challenging and fun build, the only thing negative about it is that I have to ship this beauty off to its new home! I'm sure it will be well taken care of.

I got some request for a sound file of the Latest Custom Banjo to leave my shop. So I whipped up a quick sound file of me playing Lonesome John on it, you'll have to excuse the mistakes as my hands are cold and that's my story and I'm sticking too it.

Lonesome John on the Buzzard Mountain BM09005

BM09005_Lonesome_John.mp3

This is the latest custom banjo to leave my shop, it is a 11" maple rim with Rosewood Tone ring and cap and it features a short 24" scale length. The headstock design is a custom one designed around the customers love of Kayaking, so it is shaped after his favorite paddle. The headstock inlay is a Chakana or Inca Cross done in Abalone shell and gold MOP. The Rosewood in the picture is still very orange in color, over time (the next few months) it will naturally darken to a rich tobacco brown.

Here are a few pictures: