I am scheduling custom work for 2022 on a list rather than on a monthly basis as before. I’ve bought a little house in the Adirondacks that needs a lot of work and will be going back and forth for a while, and eventually moving up there in the spring or the summer if all goes according to plan. I will also need to build a workshop up there before I will be able to move my equipment in and start work again. Because of this I don’t know how much shop time I’ll be able to get each month. If you’re interested in having a banjo built send me an email and I’ll put you on the list. I’ll work through the list in order as time allows. I’m sorry about the unclear time frames. I hope to be back to normal scheduling by later 2022 or in 2023.
Base price for a custom banjo for 2022 is $1050 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 $976. I have built banjos with pot sizes from 8 to 16″. Feel free to send me an email for a quote, I know my 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 or pau ferro fretboard +$20
Persimmon, zebrawood, or granadillo 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
Tunneled 5th string +$30
Fretless -$20
EVO fretwire +$10
Another simple headstock shape +$10
Complicated headstock shape +$20
Slot head +$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 +$50
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
Internal resonator +$100
Aged brass hardware +$40 (this includes all of the pot hardware and the peghead tuners, the 5th string tuners can’t be aged due to the plating)
I have Superior bump cases that fit 11″ and 12″ banjos with a range of standard scale lengths for $150. I don’t have cases to fit A scale and C scale banjos or other rim sizes yet.
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