Clifford Glenn Mountain Banjo 5 String Banjo (1964), black gig bag case.

Clifford Glenn Mountain Banjo Model 5 String Banjo (1964), made in Watauga County, North Carolina, natural finish, cherrywood neck and body with skin head, black gig bag case.

Watauga County, North Carolina was a cradle of culture as a renewed interest in traditional folk music swelled in the nation through the 1950s following WWII. Sugar Grove's Clifford Glenn learned the art of folk lutherie from his father Leonard Glenn who himself came from a lineage of dulcimer makers several generations deep. Clifford and his father's instruments grew to be in fairly high demand in the area and with traditional musicians all around Appalachia. Crucially, the Glenns are widely known to have built many historically significant Appalachian folk instruments for their neighbor, Frank Proffitt Sr. Proffitt is not only renowned as a builder, but as a folk performer who made a major contribution to American musical history including being featured in Alan Lomax's essential "Folk Songs of North America." Clifford and his "made to be played" instruments remained a constant in the community until his passing in 2015.

These "Mountain" banjos simple but ingenious design is far closer to the original African-influenced banjos made in the States by enslaved African-Americans than it is to the intricately factory engraved, complex and pearlescent offerings of companies like Gibson and Bacon and Day which were usually financially unattainable to many blue-collar pickers of rural Appalachia.

This very fine 60+ year old Mountain banjo is built and finished to a higher standard than many. It has a beautiful one-piece cherry neck with a lovely grain pattern and a deeper profile than most (think of a deep and very rounded "U-V" shape), a cherry body with cherry sides, and the original skin head. This superb mountain banjo has the typical plain, unmarked fretless fingerboard and a pointed headstock fitted with hand-carved cherrywood friction pegs. The underside of the head is hand-signed and dated by Glenn to March 12, 1964 showing this to be an earlier model, constructed before he began using labels or stamps.

There is a traditional school of playing that these banjos (some might say 'banjers!') excel at; the sound is more intimate than a more standard factory instrument, with less overring but surprising volume when played hard. Authentic examples of these banjos rarely come up for sale; this hand-wrought "Mountain banjo" is playable Americana at its most basic and beautiful.

Overall length is 35 5/8 in. (90.5 cm.), 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) width, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/16 in. (33 mm.).

This mountain banjo is in great playing condition, with some very minor wear from respectful use over the years. There are a few scuffs and dings here and there, most notable in the headstock almost as though it had been left in a bag with untrimmed strings at some point. The signed skin head is absolutely original and not in need of replacement (a somewhat arduous process for this species of banjo) anytime soon. There do not appear to be any cracks or repairs of note on this instrument.

The banjo plays very well to the standards of these instruments; it is relatively easy to tune despite the presence of hand-made friction pegs, and the effort is rewarded with a beautiful and uniquely evocative sound. Clifford's banjos are consistently among the nicest of these instruments we have had; this is one of his best. It has no original case (they came in a handmade bag, if anything at all) and resides in a simple modern gig bag. Overall Excellent Condition.