This beauty of a banjo has the wonderful rarity of figure in local Ozarks Black Walnut. You have to see it in person to see the depth of the figure. This banjo was originally a custom order but because of Covid, they cancelled their order. Here are the specifications of this new model we are calling The Barn Owl.
Neck
The neck is comprised of the standard 7 piece design which includes Walnut as the primary wood with veneers of ebony and strips of Maple. The fretboard is made of Richlite on this banjo, but future banjos will have ebony most likely or some other “black colored” fretboard. The Ivoroid celluloid bound fretboard is a 25.5″ old-time scale length and in the fretboard is inlaid dots and a star on the 5th fret for place markers. The head stock is the standard Snowbird banjo head stock design. The tuners are Nickel plated Gotoh Tuners.
Rim
The Rim is a 11″ three ply steam bent rim with a rolled brass tone ring. The Nickel hardware are Made in the USA. The double pointed, L style bracket shoe is considered to be the strongest bracket shoe style, allowing for great tension without any “lift” on the bottom of the shoe. The head will come standard with the Elite Amber heads.
Finish
The finish is one of the key component differences. The Barn Owl has zero stain. It is clear coated with General Finishes Resin based gloss finish.
This banjo has a great tone perfect for playing behind a fiddler!
