mountain banjo, fretless

Description

5 string fretless mountain banjo made by me here in West Virginia where I grew up & been making these since the 1990’s. Foxfire books with great men like Frank Proffit, Leonard Glenn and Stanley Hicks as my inspiration. The neck is solid brass and the head is 10” wide popular with groundhog rawhide head snuggled over a heavy gauge 6” stovepipe. All native local WV wood except for the pegs which are ebony 4/4 violin pegs fit into holes that I reamed with a violin reamer for maximum friction hold. I can make pegs out of local woods but I find ebony to be superior in every way and the only realistic option for someone who really wants to play this instrument, the strings are ball end d’addrio banjo strings that you can get replacements for on Amazon. I haven’t had an unhappy customer yet and even sold one to a native North Carolina family who was kin to Leonard Glen and they was happy with it. I will say that in years to come if the pegs start to slip put chalk dust on them. I often get asked what is the scale length and I usually set these at 25” but the truth is the scale length on a fretless banjo is relatively unimportant because you have to find what works for you. I also find it important to mention that this instrument was not built to be played past the 5th string peg because all the notes you need are between the nut and 5th peg. I use flat head screws to keep with tradition and use a traditional non toxic shellac varnish. Some people rub beeswax on the hide to keep humidity from affecting it and if the hide does get extremely humid or wet and you have to play, keep a wood popsicle stick with you to slide under the bridge to elevate strings above the neck but so far I never had that to happen but it’s important to know these things. The back of the instrument is made to screw off incase you ever need to replace the rawhide in years to come. The bridge on this is a nice river stripe maple. I used the old tools like draw knife and spokeshave to make the neck. This is the second banjo I have made this year and just finished today October 8, 2022. I am slowing down some but enjoy making these. With shipping I can do usps, ups, fedex just whatever you want or saves you the most money. I would sell these a little cheaper but eBay takes so much and still don’t know about these 1099k forms with taxes at end of year but I think I have my prices set fair and below other makers who use more modern machines and jigs.