Though we have not been working on a
bass restoration project we have been busy working on upgrades to the workshop.
Lots of exciting things are coming. Having survived Hurricane Sandy with only
minor damage we decided to make changes in the workshop while we were cleaning
up. Lonnie has installed new UVC lamps to keep mold, mildew and smells out of
the workshop. We have basses shipped from all over the
USA, some have odors that are not
pleasant. Some are musty smelling old wood, while others smell like smoke from a 1,000 bar room gigs. To improve our health (we both suffer from allergies)
and the health of the basses the addition of air sterilizing light have been a
great improvement. All the basses are now getting daily light therapy, the workshop
and house has never smelled better.
Both Lonnie and
I are aging; our eyes are not what they used to be so Lonnie is in the process
of installing all new lighting in the workshop. We were fortuitous to be the
recipient of a dozen “free for the hauling” industrial overhead light fixtures.
Lonnie has taken down all the previous track lighting which he called “French
fry lights" and is installing the new florescence lights. They will be less
expensive to use and the workshop is now extremely well light. Every bass will
be viewable from any spot in the workshop. Lonnie has it so well lit you
could perform surgery, no more working in his own shadow. As my Father used to
say…”you can pick fly shit out of pepper” it is so well lit. Yeah…it is
really; really bright…which is a good thing.
1941 Gibson B-135 upright bass
The other exciting news is
I am motivated by a new bass acquisition to launch a Pre-war Gibson upright bass
page for the website. We get questions from time to time about Pre-war Gibson
basses because of their rivalry with Epiphone before WW2. Until now I had not
given much thought to doing research on these basses because there are so few of
them surviving. It is a small niche group of folks that are interested in the
pre-war Gibson basses. That was until now; we are now the privileged owners of
a rare 1941 Gibson B-135 upright bass,what a bass. The bass was
purchased with a complete family history, full documentation and a Gruhn
appraisal that confirms this bass is as pristine original as you will
find. I am so pleased and inspired by this bass that I want to share the
history and documentation. Look for a new page at our website that will feature
this bass and the Gibson history. As in past I don’t feel qualified to post
historical information unless I am confident in the accuracy. I am really
confident about this beautiful Gibson bass that has been christening “Mother
MayBelle”…she is a beauty!
Finally…we want to wish everyone a
wonderful holiday season. This year has been good for us, we feel blessed in so
many ways. We have enjoyed an increase of visitors to the workshop and acquired
some really special basses for our collection. There is no place like our
place and we are gratified to the folks that have shown their appreciation by
traveling hundreds of thousands of miles to visit. In 2013 we will be hosting a
visitor flying in from Australia to full fill a “bucket
list” dream bass.
Autumn is in the air, the days are getting shorter and the
nights are cool and refreshing.
Lonnie’s ready to get into the workshop for the next project
bass. This 1941 Epiphone B-5 #623, we have owned for a few years, it has
finally been moved to the front of the line. You know there is always a
back-story with our basses and this one does not disappoint. This
Epiphone journeyed across the USA
from California
in a lost flight case from a Greyhound bus shipping nightmare. The
gentleman who owned it did not know much about the bass and found us in an
internet search for Epiphone upright basses. He was an Antique dealer not
a bass player. I think the bass came to him through a couple of
“interceptions” by other antique dealers. The name of his business was
“Sanford & Son”; his name was Nate Wright (remember that name, more to come
on that later). Nate and I had conversation back and forth about the
bass. I was able to provide him with the Epiphone history, a positive ID,
along with the year of manufacture and model. The bass was not in
playable condition, I loved the patina of the wood and the over all character
of the bass. After some back and forth negotiations he agreed to sell us
the bass if I took care of all the packing and shipping arrangements, which of
course I did.
The bass as it was received
Nicely flamed wood.
When the bass arrived…WOW…it threw off an immediate vintage
vibe. This bass was a workhorse, a real pack mule, like a pure bred Belgium draft
horse. I have never seen a bass with grooves so deeply worn in the
fingerboard from playing. Not destructive wear, but genuine hard playing
wear. The back of the neck has ripples in it from the soft grain of the
wood being worn more deeply then the hard grain of the wood. Patina and
honest wear like this can only come from thousands of hours of playing
gigs. A real bass player’s bass…I love these kinds of basses, the history
and stories they have with in them are meant to be savored and appreciated.
The grain in the back of the neck has high and low spots from playing the bass so much
Hard to see in this pictures but the name is Charles Smith
The bass has some petrified masking tape that was applied to
the outer edges. It did help protect the edges from chipping, it is so
dried out and brittle it turns to dust when you scrape it off. The next
hidden gem was a crude hand carved name in the bottom of the bass. In two
places is say “Charles Smith”. In the old days players would put marks or
their name in the bass for identification if it was lost or stolen. We
once had a bass that someone wrote their social security number at the neck
joint…that’s a no-no in today’s world. Upon arrival (before we saw the
name Charles) the bass was christen “Ruben” for the classic Earl Scruggs
bluegrass banjo tune, Ruben. He is all original right down to the
non-adjustable wooden end pin with the black rubber crutch tip. The original
finish is in tact with a beautiful deep, golden strawberry honey color.
The new shine is long gone but the finish is in great condition. It
should not take too much cosmetic work to make him a real looker.
The grooves in the fingerboard that remain AFTER all the scraping.
More work needs done to flatten the fingerboard and then get the right amount of scoop.
The previous player must have hung on that G & D strings...a lot!
The first thing Lonnie did was vacuum out the HUGE dust
bunnies and trash inside the bass. He said there was the Mother of all
dust bunnies inside the bass. He began to remove the taped edges, trying
to get it off and clean the surface…that will take some patience so he will
work on it a little at a time. The original rosewood fingerboard, it has
a lot of scoop and deep grooves in it. It will take some heavy scraping
to level the board and make it smooth again. I love all the little curled
shavings that come during this process. That old Brazilian rosewood is
priceless by today’s standards. As silly as it seems Lonnie saves the
shaving, who knows why, but he appreciates the value of this priceless exotic
wood. Maybe he will make a pressed laminated rosewood fingerboard some
day from all the collected scraps.
Brush them into a plastic bag and save them?
I am thinking this bass will wear gut strings to keep the
vintage mojo alive. I am certain gut strings are the only string this
bass has every worn. I have some special strings in the reserved for a bass
like this…Golden Spirals. The Kaplan strings have not been made for many
years, I happen to snag a new old stock G&D that were paired with a vintage
Spiro A&E. All the strings are brand new still sealed in the
package. A classified ad find a few years ago…the Internet is a beautiful
thing in many ways!
I’ll post updates as this project progresses. This is
one cool old bass. I can’t wait to make it swing once again.
Oh! Just one more thing…Nate Wright, the nice guy that
sold us the bass. He is a retired professional football player. He earned All-Pro honors at defensive back
in 1974 and 1976. His career consisted mostly of time as a defensive
back with the great Minnesota
Vikings teams of the 1970s. He totaled 34 interceptions and three
fumble recoveries in 156 professional games. He was the defensive player
who was covering Drew Pearson during the
1975 NFC Playoffs on the infamous Hail Mary
pass in the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoff Game between
the Dallas
Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, played on December 28, 1975.
Some observers and Viking players believed that Pearson pushed off on Wright,
causing him to fall down and thus allowing Pearson to catch the pass from Roger
Staubach and score the winning touchdown.
Small world…isn’t
it!?!
Monday, September 17, 2012
The 1949
Kay S-9 bass is completed, waiting for her trip to Nashville and the IBMA’s.If you see this pretty gal ask to give her a
swing!
Waiting for her ride to Nashville
All finished and looking good. See the new leather bumpers added to the G side bouts
Beautiful quilted maple back and sides
The real inlaid purfling and bound FF holes are the signature elements of a Kay Swingmaster
She has a
new end pin, tail gut, Zyex strings and cosmetic TLC that makes her sound and
look great.This bass is in excellent
condition with its beautiful flamed maple back.The new Zyex strings made her a bit more dark and thumpie.I being a gut string player the tension was stiffer
but I got used to it quickly.I do feel
these strings need some time to settle in; they felt a bit stiff and zingy.With a few hours play time they began to come
around, it felt like the bass began to open up and sing.Hopefully she gets some serious playing time
at the IBMA’s and she will come home tired and her strings broken in.
With this
project behind us we are looking towards the next project.I asked Lonnie to choose what bass inspires
him…a 1941 Epiphone B-2 with a crushed top.He wants to see if he can rebuild the top and make the bass playable
again.If the top can not be saved we have
a second 1941 Epiphone B-2 as a donor bass.We would much rather save both basses but one playable bass is better
then two broken basses.The Epiphone B-2’s
are very rare we want to try and save both basses.
Stay tuned…there
is always a story behind the story.
The Kay S-9
is coming along.Tonight was a good
night, lots of progress. All the hard work is completed. Its tweaking from this point forward.
Getting started on the end pin. Reaming the hole with a tapered end pin reamer.
End pin installed, Clef High Tec tail gut installed. The edges are detailed and the first layers of color have been applied.
The new strings are installed with the Realist pick up re-installed.
Beautiful flamed maple...can you see the edge repairs? Seamless!
A little seam repair at the neck for open plys.
The Bass Monkey speed neck treatment...smooth as a baby's butt.
If all goes well we plan to get a bit of jamming to fine tune the sound post and break in the new Zyex strings. She will be ready for the IBMA's before you know it.
Slowly but surely
activity is beginning to pick up in the Bass Monkey workshop as the pace slows
down in the Grease Monkey garage.
Lonnie leaving for work, a typical Friday morning commute...NOT!!!
Lonnie continues to fine tune the
Mustang, the more he drives the car the smoother it runs. Like any antique
sitting for a while it needs the kinks worked out and the lubrication to settle
in. For now he is pleased with the progress and he is satisfied to drive the car
daily to work when the weather is good. I like when we cruise the loop in town,
all the young kids stare and the old guys give us thumbs up and laugh. Last
night we cruised around laughing like two fools. The toy like foreign cars
pulls up beside us and rev their engine. As if to say “Lets race Grandpa”…we
just smile. We don’t need to prove anything. They would be waiting for the
light to change green when they see smoke and our tail lights. Its great when
age brings you wisdom and respect…you just don’t have to impress
anyone.
Now on to the workshop…we have a 1949 Kay S-9 in the workshop for a mini make over before the IBMA’s at the end of September. The bass is in beautiful original condition, a gorgeous blonde. She is getting a new ULSA ebony end pin, a Hi-Tech Clef tail gut, new Zyex strings, the Bass Monkey speed neck treatment, minor seam and edge repairs.
Detailing the edges by filling in the chips. Finishing and color matching to come
The saddle is pulling out of the pocket. Lonnie will clean up the saddle, re-glue with fresh hide glue and ream a new hole for the new ULSA ebony tapered end pin
The tapered end pin reamers. The smaller one on the left to start to hole and the larger one on the right to finish the job
The saddle is cleaned and glued. The next step is to start the end pin fitting
Come back soon. This project will move quickly to meet the deadline.
While the Bass Monkey workshop has
seen some light activity in the past week the Grease Monkey garage is still in
full swing. Yesterday marked a milestone, for the first time in 17 years and
three months I got to sit in the passenger seat for a ride in the Green Horsey.
It felt like a first date all over again…well almost…our real first date was on
a cold, snowy February day. It’s also difficult to remember what it felt like
20 years ago on our wedding day to be stuffed in the front seat of the Mustang
with my long, white wedding gown. I guess everything fit because it’s how we
got from the reception to our home.
The new license plate was a birthday present for Lonnie.
Needless to say Lonnie has continued
to work on the Mustang and it is now “on the road again”. He has been driving
it daily for a week back and forth to work. There were a few small kinks to
work out with the fuel pump and speedometer sensor but all is working fine. It
is funny to see him pull the car out of the garage in the morning and drive it
to work. His smile has never been bigger going to work. I guess it’s the
journey and not the destination that matters.
It’s funny what people observe and
say about the car. One comment from a co-worker that really made us both laugh,
they told Lonnie it really wasn’t his car. They know where we live and in 20
years they never saw that car parked in our drive way. We just laugh knowing we
have pictures of our wedding day from 1992 plus Lonnie’s Mom kept the receipt
from the purchase of the car on September 5th, 1974. So not only
does he have his first car, he still has the hand written agreement from the
seller with it marked “Paid balance”.
It really is his car…we have documented
proof.
The original bill of sale marked PAID
So as the summer continues this
Mustang has gone from a 16 year old boy’s daily driver to high school, to racing on
the drag strip, a show car and now back to being a daily driver once again…coming full
circle is the perfect title for his story.
I am starting to line up some
project basses (in my head) for when Lonnie gets back in the workshop. That
1941 Epiphone B-5 is calling my name; I need to answer the
call.
Take care all...enjoy the summer and
make some joyful music.
The Bass Monkey workshop remains QUIET and now I know
why.
There has been a storm brewing for a while. I could
not put my finger on it; earlier this year we were busy with a kitchen remodel
and spring festivals. By the end of May Lonnie was still not in the
workshop. I did not understand or question why. Maybe a mid life
crisis, maybe he needed a break from basses, maybe there was something going on
in that complex brain of his. The first weekend in June it all came
pouring out. Just like a light switch flipping on he declared…after 17
years…it was time to make his first love a priority again. NO! Not
another woman, his first love is his 1967 Mustang car.
This car is his first car bought for him at age 16 by his
Mom and Dad. He began to drive it a few days after he turned 16. The car was
his daily driver in high school with the original dark green metallic paint and
a black vinyl top. By his late teens he took it off the street to drag
race every weekend at the local US
30 drag strip. Lonnie was interested in cars morning, noon and
night. When he was not working in the garage on his car, he was working
overtime at his job to buy parts to make the car go faster.
1974-1975 as a daily driver
After some success at the drag strip he cranked it up a
notch with modification to the engine and frame, a new paint job of blue and
silver, custom graphics and a new custom matching car trailer. His car
was the bomb! It was smooth, fast and looked good going down the drag
strip. This car was a reflection of his craftsmanship, persistence and
endless hours of labor. And then the drag strip closed. Just
like that, no place to race. With the paint barely dry from the second
incarnation he tore it all down, AGAIN, right to the bare frame.
1979-1980 drag strip ready with tow bar installed
This time (the third time) it was to full fill a dream from
6th grade when the teacher asked the class to write a short story
about what they dreamed at night. Lonnie’s Mom still has the hand written
essay saved in a scrapbook. In brief it tells the story that some day
Lonnie wanted a fast car, with big tires, big hood scoop and a crazy bright
green paint job with pink and blue pin stripes. That is pretty exact for
a 12 year old boy, but he made his dream come true.
The begining of the dream car
New wheels, tires and roll cage installed
The first coats of color; 1979 Fiat Kent green
At the time we met in late 1984 the car was a bare
frame hanging from the garage rafters with new big tires and hours of blood,
sweat and agony to go. Meeting and dating Lonnie slowed the pace of the
project but he kept at it for seven years…seven LONG years of thousand of hours
spent lying on his back fussing over every small detail. Fabricating NOS
rear quarter panels for the new big tires, cutting the floor board to lower the
suspension, welding in a roll cage plus all that custom body and paint work.
He did everything himself. He has never paid a dime to have anything done
to the car, it is 100% his dream car, his efforts and his 38 year love/hate
relationship.
All Ford car show the Saturday BEFORE we got married, May 9th 1992.
Note the missing Mustang emblem in the grill. The car was not really finished.
May 16th, 1992
Lonnie did not want to marry until his dream car was
finished. He put the final window trim on the rear glass the day of our
wedding…that was cutting it a bit close. His car along with many other
cars from family and friends played an important part on our wedding day…which
was actually a wedding/car show. I come from a long line of car enthusiast
in my family so this was perfectly fine by me.
Lonnie's Mustang, My Father's Ford, Butch's Dodge truck, Mark's Mach I, Glenn's Buick GSX, Ricky's Mustang
The now Pro-Street Mustang named “Green Horsey” was lightly
used for car shows, trips around town and cruising for enjoyment. Until
that dark day in May, Memorial Day weekend 1995. We took a break from a
house project (36’x38’ brick driveway that we installed ourselves) and drove
the Mustang to attend a picnic at my oldest brother’s house in Virginia, 70 miles from
home. It was a good day, evening was upon us and we were getting ready to
drive home. As we were leaving in the Mustang my brother comes running
out into the quiet neighborhood street giving Lonnie the signal to light up the
tires, do a smoky burn out. Now my brother is a nerdy “Road and Track
magazine” type of gear head having never worked on, or raced a car in his
life. He was begging to see some smoke and rubber. Lonnie obliged
by smoking the tires and leaving rubber on the road. He stabbed second
gear and then it happen…CLUNK…for the third time since having this car on the
road he had broken the rear end.
The 351 Cleveland
engine is strong and hooks up big time to the tall, wide Mickey Thompson tires.
Lonnie knows how to shift the manual
five speed Doug Nash transmission…maybe a little too well. As we raced
off in a cloud of smoke we knew something was wrong. The panic began to
set in. We were 70 miles from home on a holiday weekend and this was
before we owned a cell phone. Lonnie with his stubborn persistence’s
tried to limp the car towards home. The clunk, clunk, clunk got
louder. Then the Mustang gave in, totally broke down, leaving us sitting
along the side of the road with day light fading fast. Neither Lonnie nor
I have ever been broken down sitting on the side of the road 50 miles from
home. What do we do now? We walked to an old fashion minimart and
called a close friend from a pay phone. Mark was generous to drive and
meet us with his truck and car trailer in tow. We are still thankful to
this day for his help…but that dark day got even darker.
The rear tires on the car are huge and the lock down straps
in the trailer would not go around the rear tires. Mark and Lonnie did
the best they could to secure the car and we headed for home. About half
way home we heard a bumping sound coming from the car trailer. We kept
going (male pride and testosterone at work again). We got closer to home
and the bumping turned into a banging noise. We pulled off the road to
see what has happened and…here it is, the darkest of night before the dawn…the car
was loose in the trailer and has suffered body damage on all four
corners. At that moment I don’t remember what they did but we got the car
home, drug it into the garage and there it has been for 17 years and four
weeks. Lonnie was deeply distraught. His dream car, his pride and
joy, his thousands of hours of effort were mechanically broken and the body
damage was done.
For years the car was covered sitting in the garage,
occasionally Lonnie started the engine to keep the gas fresh and the internal
parts moving. For 17 years we put every other priority in front of that
car. We finished house projects, bicycled across the south while putting
12,000 miles on our tandem bicycle in 5 years, traveled to festivals, played
bluegrass music and began to collect and restore upright basses. Until
now, when the light switched flipped on Sunday, 6/3/12 and Lonnie said “What
the hell am I waiting for!” The last four weeks he has dedicated himself
to getting his childhood dream car back on the road. I support his
efforts 100%. He has the body work finished. The fenders and
bumpers are re-painted. The new rear end is installed and the car is
sitting on all four wheels once again. There is more work to be completed
with a new drive shaft, air filters and other minor items. Now when
Lonnie goes out to the garage, you can find him leaning against the workbench
just staring at the car. A vision he has never grown tire of, after 38
years he still loves that car.
The rear end work begins
The body work and new touch up paint. Lonnie still had the original paint from 25 years ago
For now the basses will wait while the Grease Monkey garage
is in full swing instead of the Bass Monkey workshop. When Lonnie has his
dream car back on the road and that boyish grin on his face the Bass Monkey
workshop will resume…full swing, totally content.
This is more information then you probably wanted to know about
a boyhood dream. I wanted to document these memories in our life while I
can still remember the details and the emotion is fresh. I admire Lonnie
for his persistence, never ending patience and the passion to not lose focus on
what makes us happy. Very few of us still have our first car, mine was a
1969 Buick and not worth remembering. Getting Lonnie’s Mustang back on the road
will complete a missing part of him. A part that was there before I came
into his life, before music and basses inspired a different passion for us to
explore.
We have
been engulfed in a series of house renovation projects and spring
festivals. The workshop has been quiet…much too quiet. We hope that
changes soon, of course that is after we get the garden and flowers planted by
Mothers Day.
Since I
really have nothing new to report from the Bass Monkey workshop (though there
are plenty of projects piling up) I thought I would share a short video from a
recent festival where we were in the presents of seven Lloyd Loar
mandolins. Our love of vintage instruments does not stop at basses.
The more I
know about the other instruments in bluegrass and jazz music the more I want to
know. I love learning about the iconic instruments of the early bluegrass
origins. The Martin guitar, Gibson banjo, Gibson mandolin and of course
Kay basses are “THEE” instruments that are highly sought after by bluegrass
musician for the classic sound of the early days.
Lonnie has
been watching the resurgence in arch top banjos…which of course, he is totally
in love with his Stanleytone arch top banjo…as the arch top has that high
treble ring for that classic bluegrass sound. Extensive research has been
completed on the classic Gibson banjo tone ring. Well known banjo maker Steve
Huber has spent thousands of hours testing and document the tone rings of
pre-war Gibson banjos.
This past
weekend we sat in a workshop for Lloyd Loar mandolins with Tony Williamson of Siler City, NC
an authority on Loar's. It was totally fascinating to have seven Loar’s
spread around in a circle and to hear Tony play and explain the differences in
each mandolin. While it was hard to not be overwhelmed by the potential
of $100,000’s of thousands of dollars that lay before us, I really listen closely
to the differences in the tone of the mandolins. The back stories that go
with each instrument were thoughtfully told by Tony and were just as
fascinating. While my research has been focused on the upright bass I am
beginning to broaden my horizons to better understand the big picture of
bluegrass music and the important role each instrument makes with every other
instrument.
I hope you
enjoy the seven minute video which is a very short portion of the hour long
workshop. Enjoy and we will get back to basses real soon. We have
acquired some interesting project basses in the past few months. Some are
quite rare and from the pre-war era of 1937-1941.
Here we are half way through February all ready, where does the time go.No real snow this winter so we have been keeping busy.
With the Stanleytone banjo project behind us we took on a small repair project.An 1800’s fully carved German blockless wonder bass that belongs to a local man.His wife had the bass completely restored for him in 1996 by a local luthier David Waltersdorf.Mr. Waltersdorf was a well known violin maker and repair basses on occasion.He passed away a few years ago and there really has not been anyone locally to pick up bass luthier trade, so we agreed to help out.
Cleaning out the old hide glue with hot water and a palette knife
This bass has had major work with lots of cleats on the inside, a new neck block and new oil finish.It is lightly used and the top had begun to pop off.Lonnie is going to clean out the old hide glue and re-glue the top in place with fresh hide glue.Hopefully this will bring the bass back to fine playing condition.These old “German Joe” basses are known to be great basses and the popular choice before American made plywood basses became available in the late 1930’s.
The lower bout is wavey, this bass has some intresting curves
Big carved scroll and hat peg tuners. Classic German shop bass
This bass looks pretty good and I am anxious to hear it in top playing form.Curiously the neck block shape is the bell shoulder that closely resembles the early American Standard basses.We own a German blockless wonder bass but it does not have the bell shoulders…I love that look.When Lonnie is finished with this small project I look forward to putting in some playing time before we return the bass to its owner.It’s a rare opportunity for me to play a fully carved bass.A real treat, hopefully the other basses won’t get jealous.In the mean time we need to select the next bass for restoration…hummmmm.Too many choices.I would really like to get the 1941 Epiphone B-5 named Rubin in playing condition…he is going to be an awesome bass with such a colorful past.
Time is flying by, January is half over and we have yet to see any real snow but that is about to change.
Lots has been going on between some home improvement projects, banjo project, shipping a bass and taking in an old German bass for repairs.The New Year is off to a busy start…and that’s a good thing.
We left off with Alan flying his American Standard bass back to Nashville. Next completed venture was the safe shipping and arrival of the divine Miss “M” Martha, the 1942 Kay S-9 which is now living in wine country in California.
Miss Martha packed and ready for her journey to wine country
Our basses are making out pretty darn good…California, Hawaii, Tennessee all nice spots for vacation or retirement.We need get about 12 weeks off to drive around the country and visit our bass family.
The most recent completed project is the Stanleytone banjo.Lonnie thoroughly enjoyed this project and was thrilled to have two Stanleytone banjos in the workshop for side by side comparison.The finished banjo looked really great.It cleaned up well, the new Five star head made it look fresh and clean while the new bridge and strings settled in nicely.Lonnie took great care to let the head settle in over the course of several days.It ended up at about a 92 on the drum scale which mirrors his head tension on his Stanleytone.
Lonnie likes to modify the SnuffyBridge and ended up thinning it out to 1.91 grams.On the gram scale it takes a small amount of the wood to be removed to make a difference.He pushed the set up as far as he could go to get that sharp Ralph Stanley mountain sound.The difference in tone between Stanleytone #9 and #25 are very slight.Number 9 is a nickel plated with a no hole tone ring while #25 is gold plated, more fancy, a little heavier with embellishments and has a 40 hole tone ring.
Both banjos were made by Frank Neat and both banjos are about a year a part in manufacture date.Each banjo being the first of the first fifty Ralph had made for sale.If you like that mountain sound you will like these banjos.If you like a more low basses sounding banjo these will sound very twanging.You either like the sound or you don’t.
Click on the photo for a complete picture slide show
Here is a side by side listen.Pick your favorite and post which one you like the most!
