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Monday, July 5. 2010

A new Custom for an Irish Lad...

It's been awhile since I have updated my blog, I've been real busy this summer building banjos and doing repairs. Earlier this spring I finished up a custom long neck banjo for my buddy Kelly in Chicago and I am just getting around to posting some pictures of it.

It's a long neck open back with a maple neck and rim that features an ebony rim cap and heel cap, ebony fingerboard and headstock overlay, Nickel Silver Inlay and a mastertone style tone ring. I hand delivered this to Kelly at the Henry Reed Fiddlers Convention and he was in love at first site.









Kelly's going to be posting some more videos at his site, so head over to BanjoMania to see and hear this beast in action.



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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 09:10 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Monday, January 18. 2010

The "Road Kill" Fiver...

Here is a recent build from my shop, it is a customized version of the "Road Kill" budget model. The owner of this one wanted a full length 5th string which required a custom Minstrel style headstock to accommodate the added tunning peg. It features the Bubinga wood tone ring and rim cap, Dobson style heel and rosewood fretboard and overlay.











I love it when a customer challenges me to build something new! Although the concept for a long 5th has been around for a very long time, it's certainly something you don't see often these days.

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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 17:03 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Friday, December 18. 2009

The "Road Kill" with a twist!

Here are some pictures of my latest custom banjo I am working on. It is a custom Road Kill model with a full length 5th string. The rim is 2 play Maple with Bubinga Wood Integral Tone Ring and cap. The rim is completed and the neck is roughed shaped at this point, I'll be wrapping this one up before the new year. The headstock features a minstrel style headstock thats enlarged to handle the extra tunning peg and wider nut for the full length 5th string.






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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 15:36 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Sunday, December 13. 2009

New Sounds..

Here is a sound file of the latest custom banjo the BM09005.


Posted by
Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 17:16 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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Saturday, November 14. 2009

BM09005 A New Custom

This is the next custom to come out of my shop, BM09005 is truly a unique and outstanding banjo. It has a lot of great features. This custom banjo has a block form, yellow birch rim, with a Tubaphone tone ring. The rim has a Bloodwood cap that matches the Bloodwood heel cap on the neck. The neck has a center strip of Bloodwood surrounded by some beautiful curly maple. The fingerboard is Bloodwood with an underlay of white/red striping. The head stock is Bloodwood with the same white/red underlay and an overlay of veneer marquetry depicting a night scene in the mountains. The headstock and fingerboard feature inlays of white & gold MOP stars and moon completing the night scape theme of this custom banjo.

Here are some pictures of the finished banjo:

Front View


Back View


Headstock Marquetry & Inlay


Side Headstock profile showing striping


Bloodwood Fingerboard "Falling Star" Inlay


Rim Back


Side view showing strips and MOP side dots


This was a really challenging and fun build, the only thing negative about it is that I have to ship this beauty off to its new home! I'm sure it will be well taken care of.
Posted by
Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 15:48 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Thursday, October 22. 2009

Sounding Off

I got some request for a sound file of the Latest Custom Banjo to leave my shop. So I whipped up a quick sound file of me playing Lonesome John on it, you'll have to excuse the mistakes as my hands are cold and that's my story and I'm sticking too it. :-)

Lonesome John on the Buzzard Mountain BM09005




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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 18:07 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Sunday, October 18. 2009

Latest Custom Banjo

This is the latest custom banjo to leave my shop, it is a 11" maple rim with Rosewood Tone ring and cap and it features a short 24" scale length. The headstock design is a custom one designed around the customers love of Kayaking, so it is shaped after his favorite paddle. The headstock inlay is a Chakana or Inca Cross done in Abalone shell and gold MOP. The Rosewood in the picture is still very orange in color, over time (the next few months) it will naturally darken to a rich tobacco brown.

Here are a few pictures:









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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 16:22 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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Saturday, May 30. 2009

The "Road Kill" banjo - Sound file

The inspiration for the Road Kill, custom banjo BM09003 has been sent on it way to its new home. I hope the new owner gets many years of enjoyment out of it. In honor of shipping it off I took a few minuets and recorded a bit to share how wonderful this banjo sounds. With the Bubinga wood tone ring and Fiberskyn head this beauty has a wonderful, warm tone. The standard model will be nearly Identical to this one, with just a simpler head stock profile and will sell for $800.



My playing is a bit off on this, I was rushing too much to get it to the post office that day, but I think it gives you a good idea to how it sounds. Maybe I can get the new owner to send me a file or two once he gets it in his hands.
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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 17:39 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)
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The Bluegrass Machine - Completed

I have finished up another banjo project I would like to share, this one was dubbed "The Bluegrass Machine". This banjo features a Tony Pass Lost timber rim and Huber flat top tone ring. The neck and resonator are made from beautiful curly maple and stained with a vintage hand rubbed sunburst then finished with a Hard Oil. It has a custom pearl inlay design with a 5th fret star and a star and wings at the 12th fret. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the curly maple stained this way has a ton of depth to it and looks like it breaths as you move your eyes across it.







Here is quick sound sample, although I don't play 3 finger style I think it's a good representation of how this baby sounds.
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Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 17:25 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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Saturday, May 23. 2009

Introducing the BM09003 aka The Inspiration for the "Road Kill"

This banjo was a blast to design and build! The BM09003 features a simple design with a Bubinga Wood tone ring and rim cap, elegant Dobson style heal and clean rosewood fingerboard and headstock overlay. The Bubinga tone ring gives this banjo a wonderful, rich voice. This banjo has inspired me to create a Banjo on a Budget model, that I have dubbed the "Road Kill". The budget model will have a standard headstock shape vs. this traditional one, but be identical otherwise and will sell for $800. If your interested in such a banjo please contact me.

BM09003 Front


BM09003 Side


BM09003 Back


BM09003 Pot


It's hard to see in the pictures, but the Bubinga has a 3 dimensional iridescent quality about it that is just striking!
Posted by
Neil Turner
in Banjo Building at 18:31 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)
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