Jens
Kruger Banjo
- Paramount peghead
shape
- Ivanhoe inlay pattern
- Tenbrooks Tone Ring
- Custom pot design with tube and plate
flange
- 24K Gold plated hardware
- Red stained curly maple neck and resonator
- Deep resonator is single bound with
tapered sidewalls
- A special "V" shaped neck
- Machined, hardened steel T-bar truss
rod
- Radiused fingerboard
- 3-ply rock maple rim
- Deering Tailpiece, Tuners & Armrest
- New Deering Tuners
- Handmade in California, U.S.A.
- Lifetime Warranty
Saratoga
Star
- Paramount peghead shape
- Tenbrooks Tone Ring
- One Piece Zinc flange
- Dark red mahogany stained curly maple neck and resonator
- Deep resonator is double bound with tapered sidewalls
- Ornate, elegant Art-nouveau style inlays on ebony fingerboard and
peghead
- A special "V" shaped neck
- Two way adjustable truss rod
- 3-ply rock maple rim
- Deering Tailpiece, Tuners & Armrest
- Handmade in California, U.S.A.
- Lifetime Warranty
Legacy
- Paramount peghead shape
- Tenbrooks Tone Ring
- One Piece Zinc flange
- Dark red mahogany neck and resonator
- Deep resonator with tapered sidewalls
- Art nouveau inlays on ebony fingerboard and peghead
- A special "V" shaped neck
- Two way adjustable truss rod
- 3-ply rock maple rim
- Deering Tailpiece & Armrest
- Deering Tuners
- Handmade in California, U.S.A.
- Lifetime Warranty
The
Tenbrooks is a new breed of banjo named after the famed Kentucky Derby
winner who beat, by an overwhelming margin, the ever-popular Mollie
McCarthy in the most stirring and memorable race in the history of
the Kentucky Derby.
Like the banjo’s namesake who outdistanced all rivals, the Tenbrooks
banjos have a purity of tone, a deep, low bass that supports all the
other harmonics of the banjo --- a combination that makes a golden,
warm, sparkling sound with a foundational solidity that allows the
player the ultimate freedom of expression. Whether hard-driving bluegrass
or more delicate modern styles, the Tenbrooks gives the player an
unprecedented command of the music.
Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, immortalized the compelling,
memorable race between Tenbrooks and Mollie McCarthy in a song which
has now become a traditional favorite among bluegrass enthusiasts.
Like its namesake, the Deering Tenbrooks is the most memorable banjo
you will ever own.
Deering’s
new Tenbrooks technology elevates the banjo to a classical purity
of tone that historically has only been heard in the great concert
halls of the world! This quantum leap in the evolution of the banjo
is the culmination of a collaborative effort between Deering Banjo
Company, the internationally renowned banjoist Jens Krüger,
and the oldest bell foundry of Europe. By evaluating all the tonal
components of the banjo itself, improving and redesigning the key
elements and enhancing the way it all goes together, Deering has
created a banjo whose voice can blend with any combination of bluegrass
or classical instruments or stand alone beautifully.
Total versatility for the professional player is Greg Deering's
goal in creating the Tenbrooks banjo so that the player is not limited
by the banjo, but the banjo rises to meet the player at the peak
of their expertise and is as responsive as a race horse. The lively
bell tone with great sustain, the even tone from string to string
and all the way up the neck, and the active response of the banjo
to the players style come together to make this an awe inspiring
new evolution in banjo design.
Greg Deering and Jens Krüger combined forces with the goal
of raising the banjo as an instrument to a higher level of performance
musically so that banjoists are not limited in their scope of achievement.
This was the concept that motivated the design of the Tenbrooks
banjos. To accomplish this required a considerable amount of research
and a better understanding of tonering design. Banjo Virtuoso Jens
Krüger realized the need for a new tone ring that would enhance
the extreme low frequencies that support and compliment banjo tone.
This required a fresh approach to tone ring manufacturing.
Jens Krüger guided it along in working with the Swiss Rüetschi
Bell Foundry, having 600+ years of experience in metallurgy, and
drawing on that knowledge while also incorporating innovative techniques
they developed a tone ring with the evenly cyrstalized molecular
structure which is necessary to create this very exceptional tone.
This type of molecular structure is usually only able to be accomplished
in huge bell castings. But the breakthrough came when they discovered
how to accomplish this in a smaller casting for Deering's Tenbrooks
banjos with the Jens Krüger tone ring.
Bells cast in the 15th Century by the Rüetschi Bell Foundry
are still in use today. The foundry’s skill and knowledge
enables them to repair ancient bells with precision and mastery,
without loss of their original tonal integrity. Only a supreme mastery
of bronze casting can produce such success. Only this kind of mastery
bronze casting can produce the extraordinary Tenbrooks tonering.
The unprecedented extreme precision of both the casting and machining
process demands an unplated finish to prevent stifling the far-reaching
tonal spectrum that is completely unique to the Tenbrooks banjo.
The Tenbrooks tone ring is finished to a shimmering, lustrous high
polish and then treated with linseed oil. Like most thoroughbreds,
this does require special care.
Inspired by the expertise of his collaborators, Greg Deering designed
the elegant inlay patterns seen on these inaugural members of the
Tenbrooks line. Reminiscent of the art nouveau styles popular during
the 1920’s and 30’s these designs are classic and elegant,
giving the Tenbrooks banjo line a visual beauty, clarity, and purity
to match the extraordinary tonal character of each of these banjos.
Greg Deering created a new tailpiece for the Tenbrooks by blending
the features of one of the most popular tailpieces in bluegrass
with his own original design to make a tailpiece that is fully adjustable,
and utilizes a tone specific alloy that decreases weight and is
free of added tonal interference. Jens Kruger has hailed it as,
“The best tailpiece ever made.”
The Tenbrooks project also inspired Deering to improve its already
high quality tuning machines. The newly redesigned tuning pegs have
a marked improvement in smoothness, which will make difficult tuning
a thing of the past.
Greg Deering & Jens Krüger re-evaluated all of the components
of the Tenbrooks pot assembly. They redesigned the flange to a lighter
configuration. Even the armrest has been streamlined and re-sculpted
to create a profile that is both comfortable and elegant.
The Tenbrooks neck profile is more of a traditional neck shape enjoyed
by many of today’s top banjo performers. The subtle V-shape
gives the player an indexing surface that helps instantly locate
the center of the neck for playing efficiency and comfort. Incorporating
the traditional Paramount peghead profile, an ebony peghead overlay
and fingerboard, and bearing the Deering name in a mother of pearl
inlay, the neck has both traditional appeal and a fresh new look.
When you play one of the new Tenbrooks banjos you'll find a whole
new world of music opening up to you with expanding possibilities.
Order yours today!