Fretless Mountain banjo, “the gambini” new, steel, poplar & cherry, made in West Virginia!!

This banjo has a story, a repeat customer emailed me for a custom order on May 29, which was two days after the flash flood that got in the basement and ruined so many things. I always gave him a good price he always wanted one that was 36 1-2” long, 10” wide, 25” nut to bridge centered on the hide, and 1 7/8” thick. Dark stained poplar body and cherry neck and steel strings. I never questioned where he got those measurements from maybe he had a Stanley hicks banjo that was exactly like that or he read it in a book somewhere but it’s very hard for me to make a banjo like this with such exact measurements; i can but it takes much more time. So anyways I accepted his order and explained the flood and two weeks later after working 90 hours or more from daylight to dark from flood cleanup, I bought the wood and the water had got into my vehicle and my waterpump broke so I was lucky to be close enough to a mechanic that I could make it and spend $500 to have it replaced, so I got home and made the banjo to those specs and when I finished he didn’t have the money, then a month later I got an email that he sold a guitar and had the money and was going to send me a check in the mail since I could give him a better deal than using PayPal to my business account but apparently he spent that money before he could get it mailed out then wasn’t working anymore or something then I told him I would give him a deadline of August 31st and he didn’t pay and here we are at September 20th and I’d like to find this banjo a home. It was an incredibly awkward time and really needed the money from that sale to help me get by while cleaning up the flood and rebuilding the bridge that washed away. I got 3 months behind my work from cleaning up and rebuilding after the flood and leaned heavily on credit cards to get me through but that money needs paid back so I need to sell this and my other banjos. In the future I will need money up front or else I will not take custom orders like that based on trusting that someone will pay. 
This banjo is super nice though with the steel strings, solid cherry neck, it really rings out great and a nice action. There is back angle to this neck so I was able to build the bridge taller and will include two bridges. The solid ebony violin pegs are set in holes made with two violin peg reamers with one special made for the 5th peg. What the reamers do is cut the same taper and thickness as the pegs so you get superior string hold tension. Originals often uses hand carved pegs that were carved straight like dowel pins and set into straight drilled holes and they still made them work. I even read one time an old timer used a pencil in a pinch when he needed a peg. I think these ebony violin pegs would have been around in the 1800’s in the hills because of all the fiddle players bringing them over from Europe and with the climate so extreme with the seasons the violins eventually wore out or fell apart but the pegs could be used for these banjos and I believe they kept anything they thought was still good even if they didn’t have a reason themselves they thought someone they know might need it so they kept stuff to give to people in need of something. I think that was a great thing to love and think of your neighbors like that and we need more of that today. I will include a set of guidelines that explains more about the instrument and myself. The 5th string pip is made of ebony from the cut off end I carve down from the tip of the 5th peg. Overall this is a really nice banjo and if I didn’t already have one I’d keep this for myself. I don’t hold any grudges I’ve forgiven that customer but that doesn’t change the fact that I still got money tied up in a banjo that I need to sell and I hope one of you all decide to adopt this one because I have only made two others to these specific measurements and they are owned by that guy in California and this one I feel is the best of the three. The back of the neck isn’t completely rounded or completely V shape but more of a hybrid of the two and I really like that too. Anyways; thank you for reading and let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to doing business with you!