This is my fifth cello banjo, made from walnut with a multicolored ebony fretboard and peghead overlay. The scale length is 29 inches and the rim diameter is 16 inches. The nut width is 1-3/8″ and there is a two way truss rod in the neck. The head is a Remo Renaissance which the fine folks at Smakula Fretted Instruments kindly ordered for me. This banjo is set up with steel strings, the gauges are .022w, .036w, .028w, .026w .024w. It has Gotoh raw brass tuners, EVO fret wire and Corian nuts. The pot has 34 brackets. I made the brass Van Eps style tension hoop and the dowel stick yoke, the rest of the hardware came from Balsam Banjo Works except the tailpiece which is also from Smakula. This banjo weighs approximately 7 pounds 5 ounces, and is about 41″ in overall length.

To see a video of my attempt to play this banjo please follow the link below. I don’t have much idea of how the cello banjo is supposed to be played, but i hope the sound may come through anyway. I also have an older video on my YouTube channel of banjo #26 which was a cello banjo of the same size, but with nylon strings, if you’d like to compare the two string types’ sounds.