Paula_DHJ Says:
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 @12:28:57 PM

Hi Tim, is your Rickard a kit, or was it completed and finished by Bill? It is a really nice looking banjo by the way.

Pine Cone Says:
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 @10:52:20 PM

Nice inlay - pretty much a variant of the inlay on my Sleeter banjo scaled down some. Mine dates back to 1977 or 1978.

In 2006 I ran across a post by David Sleeter commenting on the inlay design...

"...in the 1970s I built 5-string banjos and repaired guitars for a living. At that time in my life I developed a new kind of a banjo with a solid steel pot; it had a VERY nice tone. Aiming at the high-end instrument market, I hand-crafted each one, and designed my own distinctive peghead shape and inlay pattern for the peghead.

I built about 30 of those instruments before I moved on to other endeavors. Today, with the rapid growth of the Internet, I'm amazed to see my inlay designs being copied and sold in "kit"-form for people who want to inlay their own instruments. I worked out the design in 1978 on the kitchen table of my house in the mountains in Idyllwild, CA. I used to cut the patterns by hand with a jeweler's saw from abalone and mother of pearl.

TODAY they are cut by a computer-controlled water-jet machine, and I feel a distinct sense of regret as I note that craftsmen like I used to be have been rendered obsolete by technology. If anyone's curious, here's the link to the webpage of a company that sells these precut inlay patterns. You'll find my D. G. Sleeter design about halfway down the page."

luthiersupply.com/pegheadinlaypage.html.

Sleeter made some great banjos, and I am glad to see the peghead design still in use. I've always liked it.

Bill Rickard's Tubaphones are great banjos, and it looks like mine is a twin or yours. Great sound, easy to play, and overall a great banjo. I'm sure you will like yours as much as I like mine. The Sleeter is great, but it is a very heavy banjo.

billings Says:
Thursday, March 17, 2011 @9:11:06 PM

The banjo was a kit but delivered completely assembled and unfinished. Upon arrival I disassembled and finished. It has a hand rubbed shellac finish. Seven coats sanding progressively finer between coats. I talked to Bill Rickard via email and phone for a couple of months about the design and materials. Things started by contacting Bill for brass hardware because I intended to build my own banjo sort of "a la carte" gathering parts from various vendors. I have wanted to put my own banjo together sort of in the style of J. Romero for a year or so. But Bill assured me he could supply all the parts and indeed he delivered. The peghead inlay was something Bill told me he had on hand. I had not seen one exactly like it but admired the contrast of maple in ebony so I requested he install it. I really like the way things turned out.