Fretless Mountain banjo, new, handmade in West Virginia!

I finished this one today May 1, 2025. It measures 37” length, 11” wide, 2 3/8” side height and I got the bridge 25” from the nut in the pics. I really like the look of the sound hole in the back that I drew right in the wood and cut out one at a time so no two designs are ever exactly alike. I did do a V neck profile here which as far as I know I’m the only one doing but it feels a lot better but it requires use of antique hand tools which I use. The solid ebony violin pegs are set into holes reamed with two violin peg reamers with one special made for 5th peg. The reamers cut the same angle and taper to match the pegs so you get superior friction fit. I will include a set of guidelines I typed out last summer that will help and tell you more about me. When I’m making these I don’t mess around with different tunings, I bring them all up to standard tuning a few times to try an get the strings to settle in by the time you get it. I am starting to use a set of string depth gauge files that will cut a perfect notch into the nut and bridge for a better fit than my previous ones which I’m happy with at the expense of sacrificing some of the handmade charm but happy with the results. I been making these for over 20 years off an on and it just goes to show there is always room for learning to do things better. I have several musicians who are repeat customers and got a couple in Europe and even Japan of all places and would like to make a repeat customer out of you too! I had a man who lived with Frank Proffitt and Stanley Hicks approve of my banjos so that’s the best compliment I can ever get but recently had a customer whose wife got Frank Proffitt’s son years ago to make him a banjo and he sent me a photo of my banjo next to his. They looked really good together they had a few small differences but can tell they came from same family and he said they compliment each other very well when played together. Anyways, I need to get this other banjo listed so if you have any questions let me know and be sure to look at my other listings. I made 3 together this time and might be a while before I get some more made since outside spring chores are demanding more of my time and got to get the garden out. I will add that a lot of time and expense goes into me making boxes and packing these right so when you see UPS $14 shipping, that’s what it cost to send to you but doesn’t reflect my time and materials expenses so I have to eat that out of what eBay sends to my bank account. Thanks for reading!