Appalachian Mountain Fretless banjo, Cherry, New, made in West Virginia!!!

Finished this one today June 30, 2026. The neck and body are cherry. The neck is special because it was going to be an east Tennessee flintlock musket stock but I cut it down to make a banjo neck. The peg head has a much sharper angle than what I usually make because it’s right where the wrist of the stock would have been behind the barrel if that makes sense. This neck does have my signature V neck profile that is a very old style that as far as I know I’m the only one making them like this but I love how comfortable it feels in the hands. The super nylgut 1b strings give it a beautiful sound that takes you back in time when life was much more simple and you can feel what it must have been like for an old Appalachian up on the mountain sitting on the porch of their cabin with a cool breeze on a hot summer day sitting in an old handmade chair with hickory bark woven seat playing a banjo just like this. Anyways, the overall measurements of this is 36” overall, 10” width, 2 1/4” side height and I have the bridge a comfortable 24” from the nut in the photos. This is one of those one off banjos I make with that sharp angle of the peg head so I’d buy this one if I were you. I used solid ebony violin pegs set in holes reamed with two violin peg reamers with one special made for the 5th peg. The reamers cut the same taper and size of the pegs so the more you push in the more friction fit you get. Works just like tuning a violin. I will tune up these nylgut strings a couple of times before I ship but understand they will take about two weeks before they stop stretching and settle in but they will last longer than steel strings as long as you keep them clean. I been making these off an on for over 20 years and have repeat customers and would like to make one out of you as well. I did have a guy who lived with Frank Proffit and Stanley Hicks who played banjo compliment the historical correctness of my banjos so to me that’s the greatest compliment I can get. I have one gourd banjo in the Underground Railroad museum in Savannah Georgia and a few other museums but I make these to be used and played & help preserve a little bit of Appalachian mountain folk music that is fading all too quickly. So when you buy one of these banjos and show other people or perform you are doing your part to preserve our rich cultural heritage. I will include a set of guidelines that explains a lot more. Everything keeps going up so with this last batch of parts and materials I have no choice but to raise the price to $500 but even with shipping is still less than some of the other makers charge. I use the same hand tools that my ancestors used like you’d see at colonial Williamsburg. I need to get a few things done but if you have any questions please let me know and thank you!