carteru93 - Posted - 06/21/2020:  14:55:30

Hey all,

Sort of a phenomenon I suppose and Ive been out of the loop for a bit as some of you know but Ive noticed something on the BHO lately;

Talk of Sloan tone rings.

Up until a couple months ago I'd never even HEARD of one now it seems like half the conversions and older banjos up for sale have this ring and i'm hearing all about them all of a sudden.

Can someone give me a little backstory/history and maybe explain why they seem (to me) to be talked about so often lately?

Thanks!

GStump - Posted - 06/22/2020:  04:58:41

These tone rings are made by Jerry Sloan, who is a member here unless i'm mistaken, and if you scratch around a bit you can find out a lot of info about him and how to get in touch with him. the latest tone rings he is making are of VERY good quality and simply "have it." he's been fooling with banjos for years, and whether he actually came up with this latest formula by accident or intent, or a combination of both, they produce a scary replica of what many seek, in the never ending search for the elusive "prewar tone."

HuberTone - Posted - 06/22/2020:  08:17:40

^ I will second what Gregg said above.



I'll also make mention that these rings have been on the market for much longer than recent attention on a larger scale might indicate. Several friends of mine have excellent prewar conversions that have been fit with Sloan rings for well over a decade now, and I've long admired the tone they produce.



As for why Jerry's rings have been brought to light in the last several months, I have no clue. Jerry doesn't even have a website to the best of my knowledge; it may have been a combo of word of mouth, a higher rate of production, everyone being at home recently with more time to tinker/research, and it snowballed from there.

Edited by - HuberTone on 06/22/2020 08:18:34

carteru93 - Posted - 06/22/2020:  19:02:14

quote:

---

Originally posted by HuberTone

^ I will second what Gregg said above.



I'll also make mention that these rings have been on the market for much longer than recent attention on a larger scale might indicate. Several friends of mine have excellent prewar conversions that have been fit with Sloan rings for well over a decade now, and I've long admired the tone they produce.



As for why Jerry's rings have been brought to light in the last several months, I have no clue. Jerry doesn't even have a website to the best of my knowledge; it may have been a combo of word of mouth, a higher rate of production, everyone being at home recently with more time to tinker/research, and it snowballed from there.

---

Seems reasonable!

Thanks to you both!

I do realize they've been on the market for some time, I just find myself hearing a lot more about them here and more of them (conversions especially) on the marketplace.

Time and funds needed due to quarantrine may be to blame as you mentioned.

BobbyE - Posted - 06/23/2020:  12:13:36

I stumbled across a YouTube video just yesterday put up by John Boulding who reviewed one of these rings that he put in his personal KK prewar banjo should you want to get an idea of what it sounds like and what John has to say about it.

Bobby