Buzzard Mountain Blog

Shredin'

My buddy Tim from the band Shred Kelly sent me this video of his band and him playing the custom banjo I built for him.

Thanks Tim!

Recent Builds

I have updated my main site with some recent builds. There are 2 new banjos to view over at Latest Builds Page I've also added some videos and sound files to some of the older builds so check those out as well.

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1930's Vegaphone

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to repair a 1930's era Vegaphone for a gentleman from South Carolina. The banjo needed a neck reset as the action was way too high. The owner plays Scruggs 3-finger style banjo and wanted a fairly low action. After removing the dowel stick, I plugged the existing hole with a hardwood dowel, re-drilled a new hole at the proper angle, rested the dowel and reworked the heel angle. After getting it all back together it set-up perfectly with a 5/8" bridge and is probably one of the sweetest sounding banjos that I have ever had the pleasure to play.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of the banjo prior to completing my work, but I did manage to take a few shots with my phone before the owner picked it up.

Reworking a S1 Banjo

Sorry to all the folks that follow my blog, I have been a bit lazy lately in keeping up with the news and happings here at Buzzard Mountain.

I wanted to take a moment and share one of my latest projects. A little while ago I got a Somerset S1 sent to me for repairs and a few upgrades. As some of you may know I worked with the Somerset team for awhile and help to build and design their banjos, I no longer work directly with the Somerset Company but I am always happy to help a customer out when in need. On the S1's I primarily made rough neck blanks and turned a few rims, then sent the parts off to another builder to finish them up.

This particular S1 had a few issues that needed to be addressed. The fingerboard was not securely glued and was starting to de-laminate, the neck angle was just a hair off from side to side, the nut was a bit too high and the finish was worn off on the back of the neck and rim. In addition to fixing those things the owner also wanted some upgrades. So I installed a new fretboard with a frailing scoop, did a new custom headstock inlay, added MOP side dots, did a heel cap inlay, added wood binding to the rim and refinished the whole banjo with a Hard Oil finish. I also thinned the neck profile to my standard size as the original was left a little thick.

Here are a few images of the finished banjo:
Front view showing the new fingerboard and MOP headstock inlay of a Celtic Trinity.

Back View shows the refinished neck and rim, and an Abalone Shamrock inlay in the heel cap.

A closer look at the heel cap.

A side view of the rim with wood binding added and re-finished.

A closer look at the headstock.

All and all, this banjo turned out looking great and it plays great too.