The first job I completed in September was one I had begun toward the end of August but failed to finish on time. It’s a curly maple neck for a vintage pot.

Next came a custom banjo. #168 is my first semi-fretless with a brass plate instead of a wooden one in the fretless portion of the neck. It’s a cherry 11″ with walnut trim and a jatoba fretboard. The customer also wanted a “landing pad” for the thumb added to the side of the scoop. He said he’d been thinking about one for a while, and I made this one so that it can be sanded off if it is found to be undesirable after being tried for a while.

Next came another neck, this one a radiused fretless with a slot head. The fingerboard, heel cap and overlay are granadillo, and the rest is African mahogany.

My last banjo for September was #169, the smallest banjo I have ever built, and the shortest scale length of any instrument I’ve made, at 10.25″. It’s made from ash and hickory. The person who commissioned it described it as a piccolo tango banjo, which is new to me.

The last project for September (which I didn’t get completed till October 4) was an unfinished maple A scale neck for a vintage pot, with ebony trim. The customer is going to do the staining and finishing himself as I am colorblind and therefore unable to stain with any degree of confidence.

The agenda for October includes 3 custom banjos and 2 or 3 stock banjos. I have been pecking away at my version of a classic resonator banjo design for a few months now in between other things and I hope to get it done this month.