Buzzard Mountain Blog

Awhile ago I did a post about an 83 year old Gibson Tenor banjo that was sent to me for a rework. You can see the original post here.

Here is how it arrived to me:


And here is the finished banjo:




This was a fun project and I'm glad I got the chance to restore this old rim to a playable condition, hopefully the owner will have many years of enjoyment out of this one!

Sorry it's been awhile since I have posted an update, but it's been a pretty busy summer here at Buzzard Mountain HQ. Upon the advice of Chris Via I ventured to West Virginia a few weeks ago to the Appalachian String Band Festival, affectionately known as Clifftop. Despite the fact that it rained nearly everyday I was there I had a great time! I got to hangout with some old friends and meet a few new ones too. I would recommend to anyone interested in Old Time music to make the pilgrimage next year.

Here are few videos from Clifftop:
Chris Via and Friends Jam (including yours truly)


James Reed and The Giles Mountain String Band playing at our canopy.


Lester McCombers on Fiddle and Kim Johnson on Banjo. I got to spend some time with these two and get to know them a little bit, both wonderful people and Old Time players. Kim has a new CD out of here banjo playing, it is highly recommended. You can reach her at banjowv@gmail.com to request a copy.


Jeremy Stevens and Kilby Spencer showed up at or canopy to play a few.


Here is Jeremy and Kilby during the competition playing Sail Away Ladies.


Here is Kilby and Jeremy during the fiddle competition playing Sally Goodin.


It was a great weekend!

There's been a lot going on around Buzzard HQ lately and today I started on a wonderful repair/restoration. I was sent this banjo and the owner really didn't know much about it, only that it has hung on his wall since the early 70's and had a Gibson tag on the inside. The banjo turns out to be an early 5 string conversion of a 1926 Gibson Tenor Banjo, this conversion was done sometime in the 60's I presume but may be earlier. The pot is stamped with a serial number 8257-30 and has a Tag that says "The Gibson, Gibson INC, Kalamazoo Mich.". A little research turned up that this pot was made in 1926 and was originally an open back tenor.

The current state of the banjo is pretty poor, the neck is bowed enough to make this banjo unplayable. So I am in the process of doing a restore on this thing, building a new neck, repairing the rim which was slightly mangled in the original conversion. The owner doesn't want a full reproduction of the original conversion or an original Gibson, he just wants a nice playable banjo. I'll post some more details and images as I progress, but for now here are some images of the banjo in the state it arrived in. The original banjo had coordinator rods if you look close you can see the holes for them.











This should be a very exciting build! I have some other repairs and new banjos going as well, and I will update the blog with other projects soon.

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.
BM09003_Sound.mp3

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.
BluegrassMachine_Sound.mp3

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!

Well I have finished up the S6 Prototype and I thought I would share some pictures before I ship it off to Pat & Patrick. This 6 String banjo has a wonderful voice! The Cocobolo Rosewood tone ring on a Mahogany rim with the Fiberskyn head gives it a wonderfully balanced tone. The Rim, Neck and Rim Cap are all Mahogany and the rim features a Herringbone inlay!

S6 Front


S6 Side View


S6 Back


S6 Pot Close up


I can't wait for Pat & Patrick to get this in there hands!

Well the owner of the BM09-002 Custom Banjo sent me 3 sound files again. This time the first time through on the song he is playing the banjo setup with a Fiberskyn Head, then the second time through with a Renaissance Head. The songs go from one version right into the next so that you can really hear the difference, and only thing that is different is the heads, everything else is exactly the same. Thanks to Pat for these!



His banjo is tuned to gCGCD.

Arkansas Traveler Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
ArkansasTrvlrFibervsRen.mp3

Soldiers Joy Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
SoldiersJoyFibervsRen.mp3

Country Blues Fiberskyn vs. Renaissance Heads
CountryBluesFibervsRen.mp3

I am currently working on a custom banjo for a client that I designed around his budget, my goal was to create a great banjo that will last for years and years, sound great and be affordable to us working class folks. I am planning on making this type of banjo a standard offering at Buzzard Mountain. It should retail for about $800 and be about the best banjo available in that price range. It will have the following features:
- 2 Ply Hard Maple Rim
- Bubinga Wood Tone Ring
- Bubinga Rim Overlay
- Standard square headstock profile with Rosewood overlay (The custom I am currently working on has a upgraded headstock profile)
- Rosewood finger board
- White Side dots
- Grooved Tension hoop with 14 brackets & shoes
- Fyberskin, Amber or Frosted head.
- Dobson style heel
- Bone nut & 5th Pip
- Planetary tuners with ebony knobs

Here are a couple of photos of the custom version I am working on now:

Here is the rim, it has been turned and the holes are drilled and it just needs to be sanded and finished.


Here is the neck blank in my jig getting the finger board glued on.


This banjo is turning out great! I will keep some progress photos going here. If your interested in one of these please contact me at the link above. I am still trying to think up a good name for the standard model, not sure yet but I am leaning towards the Buzzard Mountain "Road Kill" Banjo.

I am also working on the S6 Guitar banjo prototype, here is a sneak peek at what its shaping up to be.

A lot is going on here at Buzzard Mountain HQ. I am currently working on several banjos including the Somerset S6 Six String Banjo prototype which should be ready in a week or so. I am also working on a budget model banjo that I plan on making a standard offering at Buzzard Mountain, more to come later on that later.

Pat the Loafer has had a chance to get acquainted with his new banjo the BM09002 and was kind enough to send me some sound files of him playing it. I put the sound files in with some pictures and made a video slide show.



I am also attaching the 3 songs separately for everyone to listen too. Pat is playing in gCGCD tuning for these.
Arkansas Traveler
BM09002ArkansasTraveler.mp3
Soldier's Joy
BM09002SoldiersJoy.mp3

BM090023.mp3