This was the busiest July I’ve ever had in the shop, with 6 banjos and a neck on the agenda.  The first one was #158, a walnut 12″ with a Dobson tone ring and John Balch head from Balsam Banjo Works and a radiused fretboard.

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Next was #159, a curly maple and hickory banjo uke with an 8″ pot, made to fit in one of Bob Smakula’s uke cases.  I made a banjo uke neck for an old pot way back in the dim past, but this was the first complete banjo uke I have gotten to make.  The customer requested any odd wood I had, so I used some curly maple with dark sections in it.

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My last custom banjo in July was #160, a 10″ walnut C scale with a persimmon fretboard and aged hardware.

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I also built a mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard for an existing pot that was mailed to me by the owner.

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Banjos 161 through 163 are shown on the Banjos page, they’re all 12″ and made from various woods.  In August I have three custom banjos to build and am planning to make two stock banjos.  The octave mandolin project is almost done, I just need to do final sanding, finishing and setup.  I’ve been moving pretty slowly on it, but the end is in sight.