Custom Banjos

I am currently scheduling custom banjo builds for February 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.

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.  Each bracket added or removed is $4, so for example a 10″ banjo with 12 brackets has a base price of $851.   I have built banjos with pot sizes from 8 to 16″. If you have a pot size and number of brackets in mind feel free to send me an email for a quote, I know the system can be confusing.

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