Gallery of Custom banjos

Below are some of my newer Custom banjos along with a few of my favorites from the last 20 years of banjo making. 

On first glance this banjo seems fairly plain, but upon closer inspection it has numerous custom features, many of which were new and experimental. 

It's primary specs are that it is a 12" walnut with a rolled brass tone ring and a skin head.  It's most prominent feature, though is it's super deep (3-1/2") rim which give it a booming low end.  It's 1/4" brass tone ring sits in a groove on top of the rim which cut downs on sustain and adds to the banjos plunkyness.  Additionally, it has a smaller peghead than normal, further reducing sustain, which is set at a 22 degree angle like some old Dobson banjos.  All of these features give this banjo a wonderful, deep, mellow tone, which is surprisingly punchy.

 Unlike other banjos that I have made which have either 18 or 26 hooks this one has only 14.  This was  done in order to reduce weight and mellow the tone slightly.  Since no suppliers offer 14 notch tension hoops I had to custom notch a blank tension hoop, which was kindly supplied by Sean at Rickard Banjos.  I added a large notch to the tension hoop at the scoop and lowered the hook to the left of the neck in order to allow more room for a clawhammer player's thumb.

Aesthetically, I stained the goat skin head with black tea which give the banjo an older vintage look which I love.  I also added a thin coat of shellac to the top of the head in order to seal the skin and help reduce changes due to humidity.  The shellac also gives a slight shine to the head which give it a  beautiful lively feel.  

This banjo has a 12" rim and a highly figured curly maple neck with a rich amber stain.  It has a rolled brass tone ring and a super cool spotted goat skin head, provided by Jeff Menzies.  These specs give it a nice balanced tone, with lots of punch and clarity.    

The most prominent ornamentation on this banjo is the Formica peghead overlay and heel cap - the white with gold fleck pattern was popular in the 60's and 70's, but has been discontinued.  It was used by Kyle Creed on the now famous fretless banjo he made for Fred Cockerham (see photo in slideshow).  Today this pattern is extremely rare, but fortunately Riley Baugus was kind enough to share a  bit of his personal stash with me.

Other features include an elegant backstrap, wide fingerboard, engraved Nautical star at the 5th, and engraved dot position markers.