Custom Banjos

I am currently scheduling custom banjo builds for January 2019.  I build 3 banjos per month, and during the winter I try to group them in monthly batches to make the finishing process more efficient since I have to warm up the finishing area with a woodstove when it’s time to work there.  The prices shown below are effective for 2019.  The banjos that are already scheduled to be built in 2018 will be built at 2018 prices.  If you have a build scheduled in 2018 and would like to see the 2018 pricing please send me an email to zachary_hoyt@yahoo.com

Base price for a custom banjo is $925 for a 12” block rim pot with 18 brackets and a Van Eps style tension hoop, a two or three layer neck, cherry, plain maple or ash wood with jatoba, hickory or hop-hornbeam fretboard.  Each inch added or subtracted from the pot size affects the base price by $25, and each bracket added or removed is $4, so for example a 10″ banjo with 12 brackets has a base price of $851, and a cello banjo with a 16″ pot and 34 brackets has a base price of $1089. If this is confusing please send me an email for a quote.

Other specs are:

Any scale length
Any nut width
Tru Oil finish
Gotoh brass or nickel tuners
Scoop or full fretboard
Two way truss rod
Paddle or figure-8 shaped headstock
Corian nut
Brass or nickel-plated hardware
Dowel stick neck
No-Knot tailpiece
Nickel-silver fretwire
Vega or Dobson style heel
Wood tone ring profile in top of rim
Renaissance head— Fiberskyn and top frosted also the same price
Brass fretboard dots

Options include:

Left handed neck-no charge
Walnut, mahogany or curly maple +$30
Ebony fretboard +$30
Rosewood fretboard +$20
Persimmon, granadillo or pau ferro fretboard +$10
Other woods please inquire
Rocklite Ebano or Sundari fretboard +$35
Bound fretboard +$30
Radiused fretboard +$30
Either side or front fretboard dots are included, to have both costs $10 extra
Wood fretboard dots made from any wood I have on hand, +$10
Pearl dots + cost from supplier
Other pre-cut inlay shapes + $10 each to install plus cost from supplier
Fretless -$20
EVO fretwire +$10
Another simple headstock shape +$10
Complicated headstock shape +$20
Bone nut and pip +$10
Other tuners and tailpieces—you pay whatever the price difference is from what I normally use.
Armrest +$30-35 depending on wood, for more information please see Parts page
Round brass tone hoop +$25
Rectangular brass tone hoop +$40
Brass Electric/Whyte Laydie style tone ring,(see banjo #59 for an example)+$90
Other metal tone rings and hoops: you pay the cost of the part from your preferred supplier.
5th string spikes $5 a spike

Please send an email if you’d like to get a quote on a custom banjo or to discuss the design you have in mind