Thanks to its walnut neck and resonator, this somewhat elusive banjo has a very striking presence and a sound to match. It sounds warm without being mushy and handles traditional and modern styles equally adeptly. Thanks to a resent neck reset from Bennie at the Huber shop, it’s ready for another twenty three years of kickoffs.
The banjo was definitely well cared for, though signs of use are very apparent through out. The first five frets on the rosewood fingerboard show some wear, but have plenty of life left. There is some patina on the nickel hardware and some rash around the front edge of the resonator near where the thrums screws are installed. The original tailpiece L bracket was cracked so I had a new one installed when the neck was being reset.
The tonering is a “Gibson USA” branded flathead from the esteemed Kulesh shop. The Kulesh stamp and serial number is on the bottom of the ring.
It appears that whoever drilled for the railroad spikes likely drilled through the neck at the 8th
fret (I promise it wasn’t me). This was competently remedied and is barely noticeable in person. It really could even be a dot in the woodgrain, but I doubt it. The dot in question lines up a little too well with the hole for the 8th fret spike. I just want to be upfront about that so it doesn’t surprise any one like it did me.
Only the 7th fret has a spike installed at the moment but I would be happy to put any more in at the purchasers request.
The banjo includes original paperwork and a well preserved Gibson hardshell case that thankfully no one ever set the lock on (I have strong feelings about those locks after having gone through 514 combinations to get into an Earl Scruggs Standard case recently).
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions and I do appreciate you looking at the listing.
