Banjos

I make 5-string Bluegrass banjos usually using Prucha pots and hardware. The castings are heavy and clean with heavy plating. The banjos sound great and are easy to play. I do not build a banjo until someone orders one since there are so many options. it takes about 8 weeks from order to delivery. I have some other banjos that I have collected through the years that are also for sale. Check them out below.

This is a Cardinal inlay (peghead and pot) on my personal banjo. The shading around the body is provided by natural Tahatian pearl.

I mentioned that I don’t make a banjo until someone orders one because there are so many options. The basic cost is $2300. Inlay work is extra. It will take 6-8 weeks to build your banjo and as long as it is not too radical, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it. The banjos below are ones I have collected over the years. They are all for sale.

Ome 5-string Bluegrass Banjo. An Ome banjo made in Boulder, Colorado. All maple pot and neck (beautiful wood), Ebony fretboard and 2 Schaller D-Tuners. This is a really nice, professional banjo with great sound and volume, easy to play and nicely appointed. Comes with hard case. $2400

Stelling Red Fox Banjo. This is a fine banjo Stelling made for me. (#4207). It is about 25 years old. It has a maple body with spectacular figure, Ebony fretboard and peghead veneer with the Red Fox inlay. The red has faded so it is now a light brown fox. The fretboard inlay is primarily Maple leaves. Best commercially-made banjo on the market. Very loud and clear tone. Hard case and 2 Schaller D tuners. SOLD

This is another unusual banjo from my collection made by Bob Rock in Bedford. PA. I used to drive to Pittsburg from DC to visit my mother. I would stop in and talk to Bob every so often. I asked to be put on his waiting list to build me a banjo out of Walnut. He would not do it because he was getting old and didn’t want to disappoint me. One trip I stopped to see him and not only was he not there, his house was gone. I drove to the little music store in Bedford to find out what happened. it turns out he had sold his house and moved into an assisted living place. I told the owner that I had tried to get him to build me a banjo for the past 10 years or so but he would not put me on his list. The guy just stared at me. He said Bob had built a banjo for the wife of a man in town as a gift. The man had never learned to play it and had died the week before. His wife brought the banjo in to be sold the day before. The guy said, “That’s your banjo”. I bought it on the spot.

It is an arch top, hand-made resonator and neck from local Walnut with red stripes up the neck, Fleur de Lis peghead inlay and other nice appointments. I put a new head on with autographs of Bele Fleck, Pete Seeger, Tony Trishka, Bill Keith, Eddie Adcock and Bill Emerson. If someone wants to buy this, I will replace the head with a new one. There is even a Bob Rock blog and fan club you can join. He made 900 banjos. TKL hard case. SOLD

This is an old (100 years or so) Paramount top tension arch-top banjo I traded for many years ago. I have never been able to locate information about it. The tensioning fittings are not recessed into the tension hoop look later Paramount models. It is not in any Paramount catalog or advertisement. I think it must have been a prototype that was never produced. the banjo is Mahogany with lots of “gingerbread around the pot and resonator. It has not been refinished or repaired. I don’t know what it’s worth. Hard case. Make an offer.

This is a flat head Mahogany banjo with brass fittings made by a family in West Virginia. It’s a good banjo and would make an excellent instrument for someone moving from beginner to intermediate. It has a 2-piece flange that is not very heavy but it has excellent tone and volume and is easy to play. comes with a hard case. SOLD

This is a companion arch-top banjo made by the same folks as the banjo above. It is a little rougher but sounds good and plays well. I paid $800 and that’s what I will sell it for with a Gig bag.

This is a nearly new Flinthill Sonny Osborne model. it started out as a Recording King banjo in China but was rebranded because of a food fight between the manufacturer and the designer. A good banjo very playable. Maple pot and resonator (probably veneer) Rosewood peghead veneer and Ebony Fretboard. Good for intermediate player. Hard case included. $1300