Fretless mountain banjo, new, gotoh tuners, walnut, made in West Virginia!!

Finished this one today September 13, 2026. Measures 36” overall, 9 5/8” wide, 1 3/4” side height and I have the bridge 25” from the nut in the photos. The 5th string pip on top of the neck is ebony. If I remember correctly, I got this pattern directly out of the foxfire book. The old timers liked the smaller bodies but today people seem to want the 11” body for looks but I really like this smaller size and rounded neck profile. Walnut is so beautiful for these banjos but super expensive to buy the fully seasoned wood. I was lucky to acquire enough walnut to make the 4 walnut banjos I got listed here. I usually hold off and make one walnut banjo with gotoh tuners around Christmas but I don’t think that will happen this year so if you want one with gotoh tuners of walnut either get this one or the 11” wide one I got listed at the time I’m typing this description. Gotoh tuners set cost $97 so I have to raise the price some and the walnut cost me more than 4 times as much in some cases especially if it’s quarter sawn necks like I have on these which require the sawmill operator to cut the log in a much more complex process. I been making these off an on for over 20 years and lately been making more since I lost most of my summer to flood cleanup of my parents home and got 3 months behind on my work. I got banjos all over the world some in museums some musicians have several ribbons where they won at competitions. I’m not well known since my production is low & slow just one at a time in a very small cluttered space so if you buy one of my banjos you directly impact my life and help keep an Appalachian folk tradition going at a time that it’s fading so fast. Let me know if you have any questions and do look at my other banjos. Thank you!