When this banjo came into my life, my intent was to part it out as it was clearly a bunch of good banjo pieces cobbled together. After playing it a little bit though, I realized it sounded particularly good and with a little setup tweaking, a neck set from Bennie Boling, and some fret work from Casey Sullivan, this turned into a great deal on a radius neck banjo for someone.
Best I can tell, this is what this banjo is made of:
Neck: Maple with ebony radius board made by Ritchie Dotson. I have an email from him confirming that he made it. Neck appears to be cut for a two piece flange and has some finish damage on the heel area. Oddly, the fret ends were filed in a way that cut into the binding.
Rim: three ply maple marked by both Liberty and Intermountain Guitar and Banjo. Has been drilled extensively to accommodate various necks.
Tonering: Five Star No Hole, likely made by Steve Ryan
Resonator: very nice maple Granada style from unknown maker
Hardware: mostly Five Star
A little chaotic but a great sounding instrument and would be a great, relatively inexpensive way to try an instrument with a radius neck.
Comes shipped in an Access brand hardshell case.
Thanks for looking and please reach out with any questions.
