Cedar Mountain Foothills Fretless FH Reviews

Cedar Mountain Foothills Fretless FH submitted 8/6/2004 Submitter mturc (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Cedar Mountian Year Purchased 2004 Price Paid Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound This banjo has a surprisingly bright sound. Surprising for a wooden tone rim. (Lo Gordon, the maker, calls it a "tone rim" rather than a "tone ring" because it is all one piece) The sound not piercing, but plenty loud enough to be heard in a crowd. I played recently at Swannanoa with 10-15 autoharps and another dozen guitars, banjos, and mandos. I had no trouble hearing myself, and a fellow across the circle said he could hear me just fine in the crowd. The Foothills model has slightly shorter neck than the standard Appalachian model, which I wanted for my fretless. I play in D and A mostly, so the shorter neck works better. But I can tune down to C or G just fine, too. All in all, this banjo has the sound I like for fretless. A lively ring, but not harsh, metallic, or even bell-like, if that makes sense. And it has a nice zip to the slides, which, of course, is part of the fun of a fretless. Sound Rating 10 Setup The banjo was set up by the maker, Lo Gordon. It played well right out of the box. It originally had a plastic head, but I swapped it out for a rennaissance head, which I like better. I had Lo scoop the neck. If I had my druthers, I'd have him come up the neck a little more with the scoop, or maybe do an S-shaped scoop. Update July 2008... I have found, though trial and error, that the head tension on this banjo is critical. Just a little tweak, like 1/8 turn all around, makes a HUGE difference. When you are close to the sweet spot you will know. Setup Rating 10 Appearance This is the FH model, which has no inlay (the FH-1 and FH-2 are the fancier models). For a fretless, I like the leaner, simpler approach and this is it, although the ginseng inlay in the headstock of the FH-1 is very nice. The neck and 11" rim are mahogany. The rim has a geometric inlay, which is very pretty and well done. The headstock shape is clean and simple. Lo makes pretty, clean banjos. This is his cleanest, in my opinion. Appearance Rating 10 Reliability Hardware seem reliable. This model has the less expensive tuners than the FH-2, but everything seems quite servicable. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service Lo is a real easy guy to deal with. He is responsive to emails. You deal directly with him. He makes the show circuit, so you can try out his wares here and there. At first, I struggled with playing fretless and he had good suggestions and encouragement. A good guy. Customer Service 10 Components It has a no-knot tailpiece, and looks like 5 star tuners. I'd stick with a ren head or a fiberskin for this model. No upgrades are needed, as you would expect for a custom-made banjo. Components Rating 10 Overall Comments Lo's banjos are not cheap. He has put a lot of effort into development and getting the sound he wants. For your money, you get a quality instrument made by a custom maker. I like this banjo a lot. For a fretless, I think a Cedar Mountian FH is the way to go. If I had to replace it, I'd get the same model, but I would get an S scoop. And I would probably give in to the temptation of that ginseng inlay in the headstock. Update June, 2006.... I sold this banjo. And replaced it with a matched pair of Foothills from Lo. One fretless and the other fretted. Lo worked tirelessly with me to get a custom inlay design that satisfied us both. He is a first class guy. He also did the S-scoop. Every clawhammer player should have banjos like these. Update July 2008... This banjo and its fretted sibling is my every day banjo. It is extremely comfortable and easy to play Overall Rating 10