5-String Banjos

John Hartford had always wanted a certain sound in a banjo.  He asked us if we would be willing to make a wood tone ring banjo. We said sure.

He cited that he had a couple of Farland banjos where the wooden rims were capped with a little ebony cap. He really liked the sound of them. Farlands were made about 1900.  So we made several maple rims and we glued one with Brazilian Rosewood, one with South American Rosewood, one with Ebony, and another with East Indian Rosewood as the tone ring. We put these banjos together and sent them to John Hartford.  He played them and evaluated them. Then we did one with Grenadillo, which is a Southern Mexican Rosewood, it comes from the jungles in Southern Mexico. It is very brittle, very hard, but it’s a very good tone wood. It is what marimbas are made out of. They also make clarinets out of it.

John instantly fell in love with the Grenadillo tone ring so that became the standard tone ring in the John Hartford model. 

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Capture the sound of Terry Baucom, nominated as the 2010 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year. Designed with Terry’s hard driving bluegrass style in mind, this incredible banjo has a slightly lighter weight -06- 20 hole Deering tone ring. Terry chose the traditional Deering neck shape because it is comfortable for the fast and accurate fretting demanded by his hard-driving playing style. Set up includes an 11/16” bridge with slightly wider string spacing and a head tuned to A. This magical banjo is loud and resonant, perfect for hard driving bluegrass music and any other style you wish to play on it! Learn More

You get two full scales on the 24 Fret John Hartford Banjo and the added length of the neck moves the bridge to the center of the head giving a more rounded full bodied tone!

The 24 Fret John Hartford model – a new sound in a full bodied banjo that gives you two full scales up the fingerboard. This Hartford has a big round tone that is full bodied with great bass and sweet highs. With the -06 tone ring and 24 frets it has a more distinct bell like ring to it, with the Grenadillo tone ring it has a more woody ringing tone.

Both choices of tone ring give that distinct round and fruity John Hartford style of sound.

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Played with a flat pick, and so called a "plectrum", The Bob Shane 50th Anniversary model celebrates the fact that the banjo music on the famous recording of the song, "Tom Dooley", was actually played by Bob Shane on a plectrum banjo that was tuned like the last four strings of a guitar! A Little known fact.

The Bob Shane Plectrum banjo is a professional grade banjo made beautifully figured natural koa wood buffed to a high gloss. It has a genuine Deering made Vega Tubaphone tone ring made of brass for outstanding quality of tone and projection. The precision Vega style 3-ply Maple Rim, hand fit with a genuine Vega Tubaphone Tone Ring, Brass Bracket Band, Frosted Top Head provides a crisp tone for all styles of music.

This is the perfect cross over banjo for guitar players who want that special banjo tone! Whether you play Kingston Trio style of popular folk music, classical, bluegrass, old fiddle tunes, blues, jazz or compose your own music with this wonderful plectrum banjo you get renowned craftsmanship, and classic tone. Learn More

Tuned in E or capoed in G, and great for deep singing voices, the Kingston Trio Long Neck celebrates the success of one of the longest living popular folk bands. If, like Greg Deering, you first found a love of the banjo from listening to the Kingston Trio, having one of these wonderful banjos makes you a part of something very special. You have a choice of color in selecting your Kingston Trio Long Neck banjo, you also get the beautiful Kingston Trio inlay in the fingerboard as a special commemorative model that celebrates their wonderful music. The curly maple of the neck can be stained according to your color preference like the Vega banjos of Kingston Trio banjoists: George Grove – Rich Brown, John Stewart – Blond, and Dave Guard- Vintage Yellow & Brown.

The Kingston Trio Long Neck is made with Deering's hand made, classic Tubaphone tone-ring. The solid brass bracket band is hand fitted to the three-ply rim. This pot design gives the Kingston Trio Long Neck Banjo a round full tone that sustains with a pure and clear sparkle.

Whether you want to re-create the folk music of the 1960's or musically travel into unexplored banjo territory or simply have a superb instrument to accompany vocals, the Vega Long Neck banjo will provide the versatile, sweet, beautiful banjo voice that has inspired generations of singers and players with its sparkling, deep and full sound; This banjo is one of the true classics of the 20th century and the new millennium. Learn More

An openback banjo with a deeper 4" rim, the depth of a minstrel banjo is what story teller and Grammy award-winner, David Holt has been playing since 1988. Requests for one like his inspired the David Holt Tree of Life model, an open-back banjo with a deeper 4" rim.

This banjo is lighter weight because it has the Grenadillo wood tone ring and no flange nor resonator and so is easy to perform with for hours standing up. The deep 3-ply violin grade maple rim and grenadillo tone ring create a warmth and richness all it's own. It’s great for singing and storytelling. Learn More

The Jens Kruger is the top model of the Tenbrooks line. It is made with violin grade maple because of the musical qualities of this wood and it features a radiused ebony fretboard. Jens prefers stainless steel frets because of the durability of the stainless steel. The frets wear longer before needing to be replaced. Before switching to stainless steel frets, Jens, who plays an average of 8 hours per day, was having his banjos re-fretted every 6 months. With stainless steel frets he has played for almost 2 years before having the banjo re-fretted; getting three times the playing life out of the frets!

The radiused fingerboard fits the curve of the fingers over the playing surface making it just that much more effortless to travel the fingerboard.

The Jens Kruger model has significant resonance and clarity, elevating it to the caliber of orchestral instruments. The Jens Kruger banjo is designed to unlock the creativity for the dedicated musician. Learn More

An Open Back with punch! With a wider neck, and a bronze -06- tone ring providing a banjo that can be played for bluegrass or frailing, or a blend called Clawgrass, named after the style created by Mark Johnson. For modern frailing style players, who enjoy jamming in any style of music this powerful clawhammer style banjo can hold it's own with a loud, clear bell like tone normally only found in resonator banjos. Black Nickel plated and engraved, with 24 Karat Gold accents, and a hand carved heel, abalone trim and ivoroid binding this is a show piece banjo that is as stunning as the beautiful sound it creates. Learn More