Pickerpieter - Posted - 10/02/2022:  12:25:48

I confess to being a VERY new player of the bluegrass banjo, although I've appreciated the music for decades.
It appears fairly obvious that most players drool over pre-war Gibson Mastertones, something that I can understand; they are divine-sounding works of art.
I just wondered if players these days prefer some of the more modern banjos?
Whilst I love Gibsons, I also REALLY like the banjos made by Stelling, Ome, Deering, Bishline and a few others.
So...what do you love...and why?
Who are the real quality makers today?
I'm lamentably an English picker, without much real interaction with other players. (There aren't many other hillbillies in London).
So educate me.
Aaaand...go...!??

Jbo1 - Posted - 10/02/2022:  12:54:54

Pieter, welcome to the HO and the fun world of bluegrass music. You'll find there are several English hillbillies here. And to bring you up to speed, there ain't no new Gibsons being built. They stopped making them several years ago due to a disastrous flood that destroyed their shop (as well as internal management issues). Many players here love the other maker you mentioned, as well has Huber, Nechville, etc. Don't let a brand name steer you in one direction. Although it may be hard to try other banjos, if you have the chance, play different brands. There are great building out there filling the void that Gibson left. And great players playing those banjos.

beegee - Posted - 10/02/2022:  12:55:02

There are plenty of quality makers today. Most are selling variations of the Gibson banjo. There are those who revel in the Gibson Mystique. The psychological motivation for owning a "genuine" pre-war Gibson varies with each individual. I have a pw Granada, which is the only Gibson I own. I have 3 RH Lane banjos, 2 Fender Artists fom the 60's-70's, 3 Recording King Elites, and a Sullivan Festival Deluxe and a couple more Japanese banjos. I have options in my choice of a banjo to play regularly. My Lane Model D and my Sullivan and My RK-75 are my daily go-to banjos. I seldom play my PW Gibson these days. If I had to choose a new banjo today, it would be the one that "spoke" to me in playability, tone and design, and affordability no matter the maker.

RB3 - Posted - 10/02/2022:  13:00:10

For a new instrument, I'm a fan of Huber banjos.

Steve Huber has dedicated himself to trying to produce a banjo that reproduces the sound of the original, pre-war, flat-head Gibson banjos. I think he has come as close as anyone in achieving that goal, and the quality of workmanship of his instruments is second to none.

TN Time - Posted - 10/02/2022:  13:29:42

To answer your first question, "What do you love and why?" my answer is a 60's - 70's Fender Artist. Why? The quality (from what I have read) is as good as or better than the Gibsons made during that time. To my ear, the sound is really phenomenal, bright as a walnut banjo should be. I also like the narrow neck which fits my hands perfectly. Also, they are not extremely rare and they do come up for sale fairly often, and they are usually bargain priced.
Robert

Texasbanjo - Posted - 10/02/2022:  14:05:56

I'm a fan of Stelling, so I'll sing their praises: the ease of fretting and picking, stays pretty well in tune, even when you capo it up, sounds fantastic, is just a beautiful piece of work.

Gibson is a great banjo, however, it's sound is too in your face for my liking. Some prefer it and that's okay, personal preference is what it's all about.

I've played Hubers, Deering, Prucha (sp?), Recording King and several others and they all have their good points.

I think it comes down to what plays best and sounds best to you, that's the one you'll prefer.

Culloden - Posted - 10/02/2022:  14:06:18

Warren Yates, Tim Davis, Tom Nechville, Eric Sullivan, Arthur Hatfield, Frank Neat, Steve Huber, Chris Sorenson, Osborne Chief Banjos, as well as a number of fine banjo builders on here, Clancy Mullins, Ken LeVan, Randall Wyatt, Ron Coleman, Hunter Lemon, give you quite a list to choose from.
The one thing I see as a problem is most of the bluegrass banjo makers today want to continue the same old design instead of branching out and making something completely different. Most designs on the market are Gibson copies with flat head tone rings, one-piece flanges, double cut pegheads, and, for many, even the same old inlays that Gibson used. I realize that the makers are striving to recreate the sound of prewar Gibsons because that is the sound that most people prefer these days. But seeing the 7000th banjo with a flathead tone ring, double cut peghead and Flying Eagle inlays makes things seem a little repetitious.
Enough of this rant.

Alvin Conder - Posted - 10/02/2022:  14:23:54

I am a collector. Almost all of my instruments are Pre-WWII instruments.

That being said, the top builders today, those who make custom and top end instruments, those mentioned above by Mark Harper, and others, make instruments that are far superior in materials, fit and finish than any made by Gibson prior to WWII. Also, for a short while after the war, under the guidance of Greg Rich, Gibson put out some exceptionally fine banjos, guitars and mandolins.

You don’t need a Gibson, or a vintage instrument in order to have a top level, professional instrument. You mentioned some very fine instruments that would do perfectly for bluegrass and other styles no matter what your playing level.

It’s been said time and time again, 99.9% of an instruments sound comes from what is behind the instrument.

Get an instrument that you fall in love with and does not break your bank. Play the heck out of it and enjoy the journey.

beegee - Posted - 10/02/2022:  17:11:26

quote:

---

Originally posted by beegee

There are plenty of quality makers today. Most are selling variations of the Gibson banjo. There are those who revel in the Gibson Mystique. The psychological motivation for owning a "genuine" pre-war Gibson varies with each individual. I have a pw Granada, which is the only Gibson I own. I have 3 RH Lane banjos, 2 Fender Artists from the 60's-70's, 3 Recording King Elites, and a Sullivan Festival Deluxe and a couple more Japanese banjos. I have options in my choice of a banjo to play regularly. My Lane Model D and my Sullivan and My RK-75 are my daily go-to banjos. I seldom play my PW Gibson these days. If I had to choose a new banjo today, it would be the one that "spoke" to me in playability, tone and design, and affordability no matter the maker.

---

ChunoTheDog - Posted - 10/02/2022:  17:14:47

quote:

---

Originally posted by Culloden

Warren Yates, Tim Davis, Tom Nechville, Eric Sullivan, Arthur Hatfield, Frank Neat, Steve Huber, Chris Sorenson, Osborne Chief Banjos, as well as a number of fine banjo builders on here, Clancy Mullins, Ken LeVan, Randall Wyatt, Ron Coleman, Hunter Lemon, give you quite a list to choose from.

The one thing I see as a problem is most of the bluegrass banjo makers today want to continue the same old design instead of branching out and making something completely different. Most designs on the market are Gibson copies with flat head tone rings, one-piece flanges, double cut pegheads, and, for many, even the same old inlays that Gibson used. I realize that the makers are striving to recreate the sound of prewar Gibsons because that is the sound that most people prefer these days. But seeing the 7000th banjo with a flathead tone ring, double cut peghead and Flying Eagle inlays makes things seem a little repetitious.

Enough of this rant.

---

enter: the 2pf raised head, fiddle cut pegheads.... haha

Bill H - Posted - 10/03/2022:  02:38:36

I have a Vega VIP and a Vegaphone conversion that I love, but recently I mostly play my two Nechville banjos. Tom Nechville has re-invented the banjo by eliminating the hooks and creating a system that makes adjustments to neck angle and head tension super easy.

banjoman56 - Posted - 10/03/2022:  06:00:56

If I was looking to buy a banjo, It would be hard to pass this one up. I have a V-35 Sullivan and can truthfully say, it suits me better than any banjo I have played.

banjohangout.org/classified/95455

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 10/03/2022:  06:10:14

I've had several banjos over my lifetime playing bluegrass. A Fender Artist that was my go to banjo thru the 70's was great. Perhaps one I wish I hadn't let go. Later a Gibson parts banjo that was good, a Sullivan parts banjo with neck issues but great sound. Today I have a Gold Star which occasionally I use for teaching or scaring children. Mostly I play old time banjo, back to where I started out. Gibson is a name who's time has come and gone IMHO. There are great ones out ther but Huber makes the primo banjo today.

KCJones - Posted - 10/03/2022:  06:52:44

I'll be bold: The banjos being built by the top makers today are better than anything Gibson ever offered at any point in time in the history of the company, including the fabled pre-war mastertones.

Old Hickory - Posted - 10/03/2022:  07:38:52

Has Gibson been improved upon?

Seems to me very few builders are trying to do that. In pro-level bluegrass banjos only Nechville is doing something truly different. Nechville's pot assembly, head adjustment and neck attachment are nothing at all like the Mastertone standard. They are real improvements in how banjos are put together. Deering's flange fit improves on, and makes way more sense than, the Gibson 1-piece design, but that's a small detail.

Deering's Eagle II -- maybe popular among young players thanks to Mumford & Sons -- reflects older pre-Mastertone banjo design and delivers beautiful sound. It's more throw-back than improvement.

Stelling's wedge-fit construction was an improvement, in my non-expert opinion. But I don't know about his solid tone ring that lacked an underside air chamber. There will be no more Stellings, and unless someone buys Geoff's tooling there will be no more banjos built like Stellings. His patents ran out years ago, but no one ever chose to copy his design.

Most builders as far as I can tell are still trying to recapture or continue what Gibson started about 100 years ago. My guess is they believe that's what most buyers want.

bill53 - Posted - 10/03/2022:  07:48:39

Why do you think there are more Gibsons for sale this brand will never die out as some already have some that just dont sell.

Pickerpieter - Posted - 10/03/2022:  14:21:43

I really appreciate all the erudite replies I've received to my rather naive post.
Thank you all; I'm awed at the breadth and depth of knowledge contained within these forums.
As a greenhorn, it is very gratifying to be made so welcome here. You guys are amazing!
Thank you all!

Old Hickory - Posted - 10/03/2022:  17:44:40

quote:

---

Originally posted by bill53

Why do you think there are more Gibsons for sale this brand will never die out as some already have some that just dont sell.

---

Considering the Gibson banjos players still want were introduced just under 100 years ago,I assume there are more Gibsons for sale because there are more Gibson than any other brand of banjo. I'd count both factory originals and conversions of authentic pots.

Compare this to 7500 or so total Stellings over the life of the brand. It's my understanding Deering has made and sold over 100,000 banjos, but I'm pretty sure that number includes Goodtimes.

The Old Timer - Posted - 10/03/2022:  17:52:14

Well, the typical Gibson fret pattern/placement sure has been improved upon. Just about all Gibsons fret sharp on the 3rd and 4th string when you up to the 12th fret and above. Gibson lovers mostly learn to live with it.

I just spent the weekend at Monroe Mandolin Camp in Virginia and the banjo instructor there was the great Alan Munde. Such a great player, and nice guy. He was playing a complex piece on his Stelling, way up the neck, and when he got done, I asked him how he got such perfect intonation way up the neck. He said "Well, it's a Stelling..." The Baldwin/Ode banjos were popular with the melodic players back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s for the same reason. I have no experience with Deering. I have a 1967 Vega Earl Scruggs with near-perfect intonation up the neck.

Yet, the Greg Rich Era and later Gibson reissues all fret sharp up the neck on the middle strings. I guess they stuck with the old Gibson scale and fret placement.

I listened in on a conversation about Lloyd Loar mandolins and apparently nearly all of them suffered from poor fret placement and considered "impossible to tune" unless the fingerboard is replaced or whatever, with the "modern" fret placement used by all the current top luthiers. All I know about this is my 1988 Gibson F5-L mandolin is a pluperfect puzzlement to 1. tune and 2. get good intonation up the neck.

So, I would offer in reply to the OP's question, Gibson banjo fret placement has certainly been impoved upon!

(I am not a believer in "compensated" bridges and the like. The most I'll do is slant my bridge a little to help the 3rd and 4th strings a bit.)

rcc56 - Posted - 10/03/2022:  18:43:48

"Has Gibson been improved upon?"

It depends on your point of view. I know that there are some very fine banjos being built today. I also know that not all old Gibsons were created equal, and a few were much better than all the rest.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And Dick is right about intonation problems on pre-war Gibson instruments.  I've measured quite a few of them, and they apparently had some peculiar ideas about their fret layout, in conjunction with some problems with their tooling.  How far off they are depends partly on the period, and partly on the individual instrument.  The worst I ever encountered was a 1932 A-4 mandolin.  The fret placement on that one was so far out of tolerance that I had to scrap the original fingerboard and install a new one.

Martin has also produced many thousands of instruments with intonation problems since the 1970's, mostly due to mis-placed bridges.  They've finally straightened out at least some of their problems, although I'm not yet sure they fixed them all across the board.  Ask me again next year after I've played more of the brand new ones . . .

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry for the thread drift.

Anyway, I guess the answer to your question is that the best of the old Mastertones can be hard to beat, but some of the best modern banjos certainly give them a run for the money.

Most of us can't afford an original Gibson flathead anyway.  While Huber and the other best modern brands aren't exactly dirt cheap, most of us could find a way to get one sooner or later, even though we might have to squirrel away our pennies and eat peanut butter and potatoes for quite a long time.

Edited by - rcc56 on 10/03/2022 18:47:18

1935tb-11 - Posted - 10/05/2022:  08:07:59

the gibson one piece flange flathead banjo was the treadmill for sound that everyone wanted. so since then as private builders got up and going they always used that as the pattern (except for nechville,,tom is a genius) .
and basically its still the norm for banjo builders today,,,maple rim 3 ply. brass bronze alloy tone ring. your choice of maple, mahogany or walnut resonator and neck,,and choose you headstock and pattern. when you break it down to the basics ,,they are about the same build as they were 80 to 90 years ago.

monstertone - Posted - 10/06/2022:  14:29:05

Twenty some odd years ago, I had Gregg Deering build a neck & resonator to replace the Stelling's broken neck. From talking with Gregg & what I saw when there, I suspect he may have some CNC equipment, at least for cutting the fret slots. The neck he made for the Stelling notes true, all the way up the neck.

Edited by - monstertone on 10/06/2022 14:30:21

OldNavyGuy - Posted - 10/06/2022:  14:46:48

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Twenty some odd years ago, I had Gregg Deering build a neck & resonator to replace the Stelling's broken neck. From talking with Gregg & what I saw when there, I suspect he may have some CNC equipment, at least for cutting the fret slots. The neck he made for the Stelling notes true, all the way up the neck.

---

Greg started out with Geoff making necks.

monstertone - Posted - 10/06/2022:  17:37:38

quote:

---

Originally posted by OldNavyGuy

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Twenty some odd years ago, I had Gregg Deering build a neck & resonator to replace the Stelling's broken neck. From talking with Gregg & what I saw when there, I suspect he may have some CNC equipment, at least for cutting the fret slots. The neck he made for the Stelling notes true, all the way up the neck.

---

Greg started out with Geoff making necks.

 

---

Stelling had relocated to the East by then, which was why I went to Deering.

Johnny TooManyBanjos - Posted - 10/08/2022:  08:27:15

During the pandemic, I went a search for the best banjo for me, that I could afford. I've always had a Gold Tone White Laydie that I loved, but thought that's it's not a "premium" brand, so premium makers must be better, so off I went, buying, selling, trading my up to a Deering John Hartford. Beautiful banjo, not a million pounds, solid! I also really loved the Deering Eagle 2, the full throated tone ring is the best I've ever heard, but it was just too damn heavy (I stand when I play- sitting makes me feel crunched up and unable to move with the music). But you know what? I just had Gold tone put a radiused neck on my White Laydie, and it's become my number one again. Sometimes your first live is still your only love. Also, a musician friend whose not a banjo player, said the sound of the WL- pretty, warm, clear but not blasting, was my best sounding banjo- so there you go. Find the one for you!

monstertone - Posted - 10/08/2022:  17:18:43

Most banjos are most suitable for different styles of banjo music. Some will say no such thing as having too many banjos.  

FWIW: the radiused fretboard neck on the Stelling has a straight, non compensated nut, although I suspect the nut to be set forward a bit from theoretical true position to compensate for fretting. Be that as it may, that banjo has a radiused, compensated bridge, as well.

Edited by - monstertone on 10/08/2022 17:30:47

Helix - Posted - 10/09/2022:  03:50:20

Take a look at who plays what out on the road. How much do they weigh for the fabled "gain."

Even the ant casts a shadow

 

stanger - Posted - 10/14/2022:  14:15:43

Hi, Pieter...
I own both old and new banjos, and to tell the truth, I prefer buying a new one these days over any of the pre-war banjos.
There are several reasons:
- I'm dealing with a maker who's still alive when I buy new. If the banjo has a problem, it can go back to the maker and get fixed with less trouble.
- There's a deep wealth of banjo makers now, more now than at any other time in my life. That makes it much easier for me to buy exactly what I want in a new banjo that will arrive in perfect, brand-new condition.
- When I buy a new banjo, I'm getting the best part of its life span. The banjo will have new frets set into a new fingerboard, and the strings will be held by new tuners. I'll get to use all that, not someone else.
- It always takes a brand-new banjo about a year to fully settle in and have all its parts used to being together.
That year is the perfect time to tweak it until the action is just where I want it to be, and to swap bridges or other small parts for ones I think are better for it. If the new banjo sounds good when it's still new, it will only get better once everything settles down.

The vintage banjos are what they are. The older they are, the more problems, large and small, will be there. I have to really like an old banjo a lot these days to think of buying it, because age alone is no advantage to me these days.

The pre-wars were definitely much better banjos than any new ones made in the 1960s through most of the 1970s and well into the 1980s. But ever since the late 1980s, new banjos have just gotten better and better since then. At all price levels.

To me, we are living in the real Golden Age of the banjo. A few years ago, a friend and I once spent an evening playing several good new banjos, all built on the Mastertone design, against an original 1937 RB-75, a superb pre-war that's the cleanest I've ever seen.
We took turns listening to them with our eyes closed so we wouldn't know which was old or new.

Honestly, it was so hard to tell the new ones from the old one that we were constantly fooled as to which was which. But by the time we ended the experiment, we both knew the sound of them all. Tonally, they varied a little, of course, but there was nothing in the RB-75 that made it immediately superior to the others in its tone.

I'm not knocking the pre-wars at all. They just don't interest me as much now as they once did, but that's most me.
regards,
stanger

OldNavyGuy - Posted - 10/14/2022:  14:38:18

quote:

---

Originally posted by stanger

To me, we are living in the real Golden Age of the banjo.

---

This ^^^

Aradobanjo - Posted - 10/15/2022:  05:00:08

Hello,

I desired a TT because Bela Fleck played his RB75 TT conversion on his video. I really liked the looks of the RB-12 new. When one became available here, I was ready.

Now, when I got it, it was new and was an unwanted duckling that was orphaned in a store that went belly up. Untouched was how it was described.

As for fit and finish, my first complaint was neck relief. It buzzed every where and muted in some places. I called the “warranty number” and was told to adjust the truss rod to relieve the issues I was having. I did and the problems subsided away.

I certainly enjoyed the Fults tailpiece system on my GoldStar. I wanted the same experience on the Gibson. I contacted Bob Fults. He advised me what to specifically order for the platform. I picked the parallel model.

I played this way until the second and third strings began to get gouged away. I was looking for root cause. To me, the nut was level cut on a 12” radii board. This kept strings four and one high and lowered three and two to very low. The first three frets where severely gouged.

So, post Greg Rich production had design problems like prewar. Shortcuts to get product out like fret leveling and design mismatches seem to suggest the neither era of product moved like guitars did. Every guitar with radius fretboard has a radius nut.

When I refretted with EVO Gold frets, I replaced the level nut with a radius nut. I also took a compound radii fretboard and standardized to 7.25” radius. Now, I was at the same specs as Bela Flecks banjo.

As for inconsistency in the fret placement, I have found 0 problems. I use the Fults system that is parallel out of the tailpiece. When I go to open C tuning or D tuning, I do not have to retune.

Before, every tune down would allow the bridge to move right. This caused the third string to be out of line. All other strings had to be retuned also.

So, yes. Gibson banjos have to be improved upon before they become stellar instruments. Especially those custom ones from the custom shop.

HSmith - Posted - 10/18/2022:  00:10:27

Hi Pieter

I see you've had a lot of replies already, and I'm sure you'll get more. You feel there aren't too many 'hillbillies' in London, well there may be more than you think! A quick check of the Hangout members in London lists no less than 445. Here's a link to the list banjohangout.org/myhangout/def...it=Search
Why not contact a few and get some answers to your question direct.

Regards

Harry

steve davis - Posted - 10/21/2022:  09:24:57

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Old Timer

Well, the typical Gibson fret pattern/placement sure has been improved upon. Just about all Gibsons fret sharp on the 3rd and 4th string when you up to the 12th fret and above. Gibson lovers mostly learn to live with it.



I just spent the weekend at Monroe Mandolin Camp in Virginia and the banjo instructor there was the great Alan Munde. Such a great player, and nice guy. He was playing a complex piece on his Stelling, way up the neck, and when he got done, I asked him how he got such perfect intonation way up the neck. He said "Well, it's a Stelling..." The Baldwin/Ode banjos were popular with the melodic players back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s for the same reason. I have no experience with Deering. I have a 1967 Vega Earl Scruggs with near-perfect intonation up the neck.



Yet, the Greg Rich Era and later Gibson reissues all fret sharp up the neck on the middle strings. I guess they stuck with the old Gibson scale and fret placement.



I listened in on a conversation about Lloyd Loar mandolins and apparently nearly all of them suffered from poor fret placement and considered "impossible to tune" unless the fingerboard is replaced or whatever, with the "modern" fret placement used by all the current top luthiers. All I know about this is my 1988 Gibson F5-L mandolin is a pluperfect puzzlement to 1. tune and 2. get good intonation up the neck.



So, I would offer in reply to the OP's question, Gibson banjo fret placement has certainly been impoved upon!



(I am not a believer in "compensated" bridges and the like. The most I'll do is slant my bridge a little to help the 3rd and 4th strings a bit.)

---

My compensated bridge corrects most intonation iussues,especially up the neck.

Very in tune to the point of not needing to retune any string after capoing or spiking the 5th string.

jwold - Posted - 10/25/2022:  13:01:08

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Most banjos are most suitable for different styles of banjo music. Some will say no such thing as having too many banjos.  

FWIW: the radiused fretboard neck on the Stelling has a straight, non compensated nut, although I suspect the nut to be set forward a bit from theoretical true position to compensate for fretting. Be that as it may, that banjo has a radiused, compensated bridge, as well.

---

I thought I had read somewhere in the murky past that the nuts on Stelling banjos were indeed compensated to allow for proper intonation on that third string.  I could be in error.  I played a friend's Stelling I couldn't believe how effortless it was to play. 

OldNavyGuy - Posted - 10/25/2022:  14:07:24

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwold

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Most banjos are most suitable for different styles of banjo music. Some will say no such thing as having too many banjos.  

FWIW: the radiused fretboard neck on the Stelling has a straight, non compensated nut, although I suspect the nut to be set forward a bit from theoretical true position to compensate for fretting. Be that as it may, that banjo has a radiused, compensated bridge, as well.

---

I thought I had read somewhere in the murky past that the nuts on Stelling banjos were indeed compensated to allow for proper intonation on that third string.  I could be in error.  I played a friend's Stelling I couldn't believe how effortless it was to play. 

---

Geoff did put compensated nuts on his banjos.

banjonews.com/2020-08/compensation.html

Edited by - OldNavyGuy on 10/25/2022 14:13:14

Toothless in Kentucky - Posted - 10/25/2022:  14:22:29

I like Recording Kings for their value. So one might say a cheaper option of a Masterclone banjo is an improvement. But you asked about Gibson...

I also have a 1988 RB250 that sounds just like my Recording King banjos. Personaly Im good with the typical pre war Gibson design and sound.

arnie fleischer - Posted - 10/25/2022:  17:56:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by OldNavyGuy

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwold

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Most banjos are most suitable for different styles of banjo music. Some will say no such thing as having too many banjos.  

FWIW: the radiused fretboard neck on the Stelling has a straight, non compensated nut, although I suspect the nut to be set forward a bit from theoretical true position to compensate for fretting. Be that as it may, that banjo has a radiused, compensated bridge, as well.

---

I thought I had read somewhere in the murky past that the nuts on Stelling banjos were indeed compensated to allow for proper intonation on that third string.  I could be in error.  I played a friend's Stelling I couldn't believe how effortless it was to play. 

---

Geoff did put compensated nuts on his banjos.

banjonews.com/2020-08/compensation.html

 

---

Except for the Crusader, which has a longer scale than other Stelling models.

monstertone - Posted - 10/26/2022:  08:24:47

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwold

quote:

---

Originally posted by monstertone

Most banjos are most suitable for different styles of banjo music. Some will say no such thing as having too many banjos.  

FWIW: the radiused fretboard neck on the Stelling has a straight, non compensated nut, although I suspect the nut to be set forward a bit from theoretical true position to compensate for fretting. Be that as it may, that banjo has a radiused, compensated bridge, as well.

---

I thought I had read somewhere in the murky past that the nuts on Stelling banjos were indeed compensated to allow for proper intonation on that third string.  I could be in error.  I played a friend's , Stelling I couldn't believe how effortless it was to play. 

---

My bad, I should have been more specific. The original neck on my Stelling had been broken at the heel & repaired, twice!. The radiused fretboard replacement neck was built by Greg Deering after Stelling had relocated to Virginia. It lacks the Stelling compensated nut. Although flat across the top, the slots are cut to match the fretboard.

You are  indeed correct, due to their contour, Stelling necks are incredibly pleasant to play.

Aradobanjo - Posted - 10/26/2022:  13:12:15

Hello,

I have yet to see the need for a compensated bridge. I went through a phase thinking I needed one. I found them to be more demanding than easy. Straight works great for me.