Banjos

Jubilee Gourde builds his banjos with great authenticity in look, feel and sound. All his materials are pine and cypress that were salvaged from 150 to 200 year old buildings. They also try to use only tools that were around in the eighteenth century so that they can mimic those styles. The finished products are scrapped smooth and finished with 18th century style beeswax and linseed oil finish. They offer six different models: the liberty, the old plantation, the didlake, the mande banza, the Haiti banza and the minstrel. All these models have substantial differences, but all look very authentic.

Bishline banjos are hand-made with extreme detail to the necks, the fretting and the fingerboards. Every neck is laminated and every banjo is made individually. He offers ten different models: the heirloom, the salty dog, the scissor tail, midnight moon, the classic, the cardinal, the blue bayou, the roc and the tree of life. Every model is made with the finest of materials and perfected for your needs. You can also customize you own banjo by picking from his different woods, tone rings, rims, necks, headstocks, fingerboards, hard wares, inlays and extras. Organized and informative website. Banjo picking on a Bishline banjo (video)

Bob Flesher banjos are all made to order. They offer many different models: the jublio, the fandango grandioso, the grand cotillion elite, the grand cotillion, the cotillion, the grand promenade, the tarantella, the quadrille, the buck dancer, the old Virginia and the plantation. Additional features are also available to these models: a carved heel, engraved metal parts, gold plating, backstaps, bound pegheads, shoebolt cover bands, fingerboard bindings, calfskin heads, inlays, additional railroad spikes and gut strings. Each banjo has very intricate designs and engravings. All metal parts are nickel plated and come with renaissance heads.  Sourwood Mountain played on a Flesher Banjo

Brooks banjos offer a variety of models: the Spartan, the 1500, the 30L, the 20L and the silverspun. The Spartan is bare bone, light and sturdy. They have a walnut neck, a clown or paddle peghead and ebony fingerboards. The 1500 model is the same as the Spartan but has 16 shoes instead of 14. The 30L model has a total of 30 hooks and the 20L model has 20 hooks. Besides that, they have the same features as the Spartan. The silverspun model comes with custom rims. Different hardware is available for these models such as: headstocks, shoes, fingerboards, nuts and hooks.

Cedar Mountain banjos are handcrafted in the mountains of North Carolina in an environment of tradition and innovation. Each banjo comes with a lifetime warranty. They offer two different lines of banjos: the Vintage Line and the J Line. The vintage line has three models: the L, A/FH, and S models. The J line has three models: the  J-100, J-200, and J-300."  Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine: Cedar Mt. demo  Cedar Mountain J-300 - Old Joe Clark (video)

Chuck Lee banjos are of old world craftsmanship. He has several inlay materials; shell, stone, metals, woods and woolly mammoth ivory to make each banjo unique. Also uses various veneers lamination with different neck woods and different woods. Some woods are: walnut, maple and cherry. He offers several different models: Custom, Chautauqua, Marble Falls, Bug Tussle, Chalk Mountain, Glen Rose, Cottonwood, Badger, Prairieville, Ovilla, Deep Hollow, Lone Star Deluxe and Rose Hill. All these models are the same in most of their features, but they differ in their uniquely designed pegheads. Last Chance on a Chuck Lee Deep Hollow Vintage 12  Liberty on a 12-inch Chuck Lee Tu-Ba-Phone  Sally Ann ona Chuck Lee

Clareen banjos come in many different models: the clarinbridge, special, celt, pearl, oyster, elite and setanta. Each one of these models is available in tenor, plectrum, and 5-string. However, variations and modifications can be made to any of these to suit each individual customers' needs. Maple, rosewood, walnut, mahogany and ebony are all available.  Chief O'Neills played on a Clareen

Cox banjos have been made for over forty years at the five string music studio. They offer seven different models: the Cumberland, the Kentucky-5, the Carolina, the Fairchild 50th, the redneck Kentucky-5, the Johnny Rebel and the Y2K. The Cumberland model has a maple neck and resonator, a 3-ply rock maple rim and a Cox tailpiece. The Kentucky-5 model has a curly maple, burl walnut or mahogany neck and resonator, either flat or raised head styles and a choice of three inlay patterns for the neck. The Carolina model is an all maple banjo. The Fairchild 50th model is a limited edition that has a curly maple neck, a quilted maple resonator, a Cox Kentucky-5 tone ring and an engraved Cox tailpiece. The redneck Kentucky-5 is also a limited edition and has a fully bound peghead, a timeless timber old wood rim and a mahogany neck. The Johnny rebel model has an engraved eagle inlaid peghead, a curly maple neck and resonator, a natural finish and a Confederate army field commander pictured on the resonator. The Y2K model has a Cox Y2K special alloy tone ring, a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and a one-piece flange.

Deering offers a wide variety of banjos. They have many different models such as: the banjosaurus, the goodtime 2, the Boston, the B-6 and the Tenbrooks Saratoga star. In addition to these, they also have many different types of banjos: five strings, Tenbrooks, vegas, longnecks, six strings, twelve strings, four strings, left handed, goodtimes and goodtime classics. They also have classic banjo cases available for purchase. Deering Banjo Promo  Somewhere Over the Rainbow on a Deering

Desert Rose banjos are hand crafted instruments that are of professional quality. They use old world craftsmanship techniques combined with the best innovations of the 21st century to produce banjos that are of the best quality and performance. Desert Rose selects from only the best materials, which meet strict criteria for strength, stability and beauty. They are very proud to be one of a limited group who is able to use the Tony Pass Lost Timbre wood rim and they are also very proud to be using their new and improved Desert Rose Z bridge. They offer three different models: Bluegrass ‘75, Salt Creek and Wildrose. Each model is unique in the materials that are used, their shape and their construction.

Doc’s Banjos are mostly open-backed banjos. Each banjo is custom built for each customer. You have a choice of your length, wood, pot size, tailpiece and hardware. Some woods include: bilinga, black walnut, wild Oregon cherry, ebony, granadilla, padouk, wenge, mahogany, cocobolo, maple, rosewood and guanacoste. You can also add a frailing scoop, a frailing platform, an internal resonator, or all three for an additional price.

Hopkins banjos come in three different models: mahogany with nickel hardware, walnut with chrome hardware and maple with gold hardware. These combinations were put together because they seem to sound the best together. All of his banjos are made with rims made from submerged wood by Tony Pass, the Hopkins tone ring, their holly leaf inlay pattern and their distinct headpiece. The Hopkins "Woodie" demo. Home Sweet Home (video)

Enoch banjos are designed for claw hammer playing. The standard features for their banjos are: 2-ply maple rims, 1/4" rolled brass tone rings, graphite reinforced necks, 25 1/2" scale necks, wood dowel sticks, geared tuners, no-knot tailpieces, fretted or fretless ebony fingerboards and ebony peghead overlays. Their models include: the 100, 200, 300, 400, and M-1. All these models come with the standard features plus some additional custom features. They also offer custom inlays, heel carvings and back strapping.  Kitchen Girl on an Enoch Walnut Tradesman Cuckoo on a Enoch Cherry Tradesman

Fielding banjos are hand carved and custom built one at a time. So each banjo can be customized to fit each artists' needs. However, they offer four different models: the Vermonter, the rooster, the Wiley and the catamount. Some of their standard features consist of maple or cherry rims, renaissance heads, two-way adjustable neck rods, geared tuning pegs, bone nuts and no-knot tailpieces. Some optional feature include: skin heads, gut strings and heel carvings. Their heel carvings are done individually by a master carver. They also offer custom inlays. Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine on a Fielding  Cluck Old Hen on a Rooster

Fitch banjos are hand-crafted one at a time and built only with the finest materials and workmanship. The top priorities for each banjo is fit, finish, tone and playability. Their mission is to provide you with a banjo that not only looks good, but has great tone and playability. Fitch offers three models: the master five, the firestorm, and the firestorm deluxe.

Florida banjos, made by Marty Spencer, all have solid block wood rims. He offers three distinct models: the Florida fretless, the maple workingman’s and the walnut workingman’s.

Gibson banjos come in nine different models in two different categories. Under the Earl Scruggs models there are: the golden deluxe, the standard and the Earl. Under the standard models there are: the Granada, the J.D. Crowe "Black Jack,” the limited edition vintage, the RB, the RB-250 and the RB-3 Wreath. Some woods for these models include: rosewood, maple, ebony and mahogany.  Gibson Banjo video  Banjo Test 6 - 2004 Gibson Earl Scruggs Golden Deluxe

Gold tone guitars offer you dozens of different models for affordable prices. Each model is built with quality parts, a professional design, a tight fitting assembly and an expert set up. They make many types of bluegrass banjos, open back banjos, six-string banjos (banjitars), travel banjos, children’s banjos, 4-string banjos, electric banjos, alternative banjos and cello banjos. Great website for finding exactly what you are looking for.  Banjo Test 4 - Gold Tone OB-250

Hartel Minstrel banjos are made after models from the 1800’s. each banjo is individually handcrafted using the dimensions and patterns from the originals. The models they offer are: the William E. Boucher Jr. c. 1850, the “no name” c. 1850, the James Ashborn c. 1852, the Henry Stichter c. 1848, the Reed Martin c. 1880 and the Joel W. Sweeney c. 1840. All these models are reproductions of the original banjos. Bill Evans: Henry Stichter Minstrel Banjo Made by Hartel (video)

Huber banjos are one of the finest in modern banjo construction, but are a reproduction of the great pre war flatheads of the 1930’s. They now offer eight models: the Lancaster, the Kalamazoo, the Roanoke, the Lexington, the Jim Mills model, the Berkshire, the Ron Block model and the Sammy Shelor model. Each banjo comes with the same standard features, but they differ in the materials used. Custom features are also available such as: a vintage lacquer finish, a speed neck, a wide fingerboard, a metal finish and much more. Banjo Test 8 - Huber Vintage

Romero banjos are uniquely handmade with just enough innovation to stand out from the rest. They offer many different types of models: 13” open backs, 12”open-backs, 11” open backs, specialty banjos and bluegrass banjos. The open back banjos come in all- wood rim types and traditional rim types. The specialty banjos include: banjo ukuleles, wood-top banjos, tenor banjos and mush more. There are over 15 models, all of which are different in many aspects. Some woods include: Honduras rosewood, walnut, babinga and cherry. Spotted Pony on a 13-inch Romero

Jeff Menzies’s banjos include old fashion minstrel banjos and gourd banjos. Each Gourd banjo varies from the last. They come in 5-string, 4-string and 3-string, but each one can also be built specific to the player so that the banjo meets the aesthetic and ergonomic preferences of that player.

JB offers three models of Fretted banjos: hairy goatskin, shaved goatskin and fiberskin. All their banjos have a hand crafted, special brass tone ring, modeled after an original "H.C.Dobson" from the 1880's. Their parts are handcrafted out of brass, the necks and rimsticks are made out of a single-piece well seasoned, high-quality walnut, the peghead is angled sharply backwards and the woods are not stained, only treated with virgin linseed oil and French turpentine