Fretless Mountain Banjo, new, made in West Virginia!

*video sound sample uploaded*Just finished making this July 2024. I been making these in the Hicks family Watauga county North Carolina style off an on for 20 years. This one is absolutely beautiful tiger maple example. I got the bridge 24” from the nut in the picture so you can see it’s an inch shorter than what I normally do But I had people asking for something a little shorter. It measures 35” total and is 10 and a half inches wide and 2 1/4” side height. It’s all maple but the rim is solid cherry which compliments it well. It has a really bright sound. I will include a 5 page single space set of guidelines with this that gives detailed information on what you have and my favorite tuning. Will upload a sound sample in the next day or two if it’s still available. Let me know if you have any questions. I got a few musicians who are so happy with my instruments they have collections of them out of different types of wood and styles and I like building more repeat customers like that. If you practice and listen to YouTube videos of Frank Proffit and them you will be more than just another banjo player but a true ambassador of keeping our Appalachian folk traditions alive at a time they are fading out fast. I forgot to mention that the stain here was created with aqua fortis just like Wallace Gussler used in The colonial Williamsburg video thats now on YouTube even. So you won’t ever have to worry about the stain fading or leaching out on your clothes because it doesnt happen. I used tried and true original finish which is a food grade boiled linseed oil and beeswax mix which is historically correct so not only does it sound really good you feel like you are holding a piece of history in your hands and opening a window into the past.