C. Bruno & Son Manhattan 3 Reviews

C. Bruno & Son Manhattan 3 submitted 3/21/2005 Submitter BConk (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Ebay Year Purchased 2005 Price Paid $365 (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound To my ears, this banjo has a wonderful sound - LOUD, louder than my Wildwood Troubadour and it sounds great when played hard and fast. But it also sounds great when played softly. It reminds me more of the sound of the tubaphone ring in my Wildwood Troubadour but clearer, fuller and with slightly more sustain. I love the sounds I'm getting out of this banjo. Sound Rating 10 Setup I had a bit of work to do on the banjo when I got it off of Ebay.Total takedown and clean, polish, oil etc. I tossed the mylar head it had and made a new calfskin head for it, made a bone pip for the 5th string and filed the sharp tang ends down along the side of the neck. I had to shim the neck with a piece of piano key ivory to get the action just right. I put a Moon L 5/8" bridge on it, installed a vintage wire type armrest, left the Elite tailpiece on it and now it plays like butter and sings like a bird. I'll give my own set up a 10 'coz the banjo's just how I like it now. Setup Rating 10 Appearance This banjo is gorgeous - it has MOP inlays of crescent moons and stars on the peghead and an ornate crown MOP inlay above the nut on the peghead that is mirrored just below the nut in the fretboard - stars, dots, crescent moons and a ornate design at the 12th fret fill it out very nicely. I put vintage nut colored ivoroid knobs on the 5 Star Planet tuners and it looks brilliant! The neck finish color is throwing me off a bit but I think it has a walnut neck - ebony fretboard, nut and peghead overlay and a fully spun over nickel-clad maple rim that's painted gloss black on the inside - as is the dowel.This is truly one beautiful banjo Appearance Rating 10 Reliability This banjo has lasted 100 years or more so far - I've no reason to think it's going to die anytime soon. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service N/A Customer Service not rated Components The neck is very comfortable and has survived steel strings without bowing even though it is a one piece neck and has no truss rod. The banjo has a good weight and heft to it and a robust rim. It has a relatively robust tension hoop and 24 hooks. Some of the inlays are the tightest I've seen yet with virtually no fill visible despite being hand cut. The tone ring is very cool.Known as a James Morrison Patent Tone Ring - it is a chrome plated steel tube (of about 1/2" in diameter tubing) with two 1/2 inch vertical posts brazed into it. These posts key into holes drilled through the nickel cladding of the top of the rim to keep the hoop in place and aligned. This is needed because the tone hoop is supported by numerous dome headed nails that are driven in every 3/4" or so all the way around the rim top. This gives the rim slightly more than 2 1/2" of height and makes the hoop sit raised off the rim top so it can really ring. And it does just that. Components Rating 10 Overall Comments I got this beauty on Ebay where it was listed as a "REMO Weatherking banjo" The picture was so poor that I couldn't tell what it was exactly - but I suspected it was nice so I took the leap of faith and hit the BUY IT NOW button. I'm VERY glad I did. It's irreplaceable so if I lost it or if it was damaged beyond repair, I'd be heartbroken. I truly love it. It's just the right weight, it has just the right tone, just the right look, just the right feel, all the other banjos I own have been getting a vacation in their cases for the past few weeks since I've gotten this one singing again. Overall Rating 10