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I received my new Nechville Custom Galaxy Walnut Phantom

From briln on 9/3/2011 2:59:31 PM

Well I received my Phantom on Friday!  I have not called Tom to heap any praise as I wanted to put it through it's paces before I reported back.  It goes without saying it is wonderful and I am really enjoying it.  This entry, though,  will be frank and truthful, unclouded by receiving the new baby. 

The overall workmanship is excellent.  It is not perfect but it is about 99.99+ perfect.  The banjo comes in at about 7+ lbs which is a little bit heavier than I thought it would be (between 6-6/1/2 lbs. since I went with 1/2 Delrin and 1/2 Ceramic tone spheres and the Coco tone ring) but even at 7+ lbs. It is still so much lighter than my other banjos it is still very comfortable.  I think this will cure my shoulder pain!  The only other small negative comment is that the finish on the hel-mount is not perfectly smooth, however since it is a casting it would take a lot of finish work (cost) to make it smooth.  It still really looks great.(oops a compliment slipped out).

Now for the praise  .I had the heli-mount / tailpiece and resonator screws Coco bronzed and it looks terrific.  The tailpiece and resonator screws coated to match really great and quite unique. 

The bound peghead was a bit of an extravagance but it sure does finish it off.  The gold tuners are absolutely smooth and also look amazing.  The burl resonator just screams beauty.

The Galaxy inlay against the cocobolo fingerboard really is out of this world.  Since my hands are pretty small and I was concerned about the extra width of the normal Phantom,  I had Tom make the fretboard slimmer for me (he told me it was overall about 1/8 inch thinner and it really seems to makes a difference. It is easier to play than my other banjos and I can fret the 5th string much better.  I think it's because the radius brings it down just a bit.

As shipped, the sound lacked a bit of punch so I tightened the head about 2 or 3 inches on the heli-mount and voila it was perfect.  This of course took less that 5 minutes and was controllable. The helimount- is fantastic!!! 

It now has some punch with a beautiful 4th string that I can feel vibrating through the fingerboard.  And yet it has that mellow tone without that harsh shrill that banjos all too often have.  Kind of even gives me a headache and I love Banjo music.

It is so hard not to build up your expectations too high after waiting 10 weeks (which was about 3 weeks sooner than Tom had estimated).  Inevitably it is hard for the actual item to match your inflated expectations and I was preparing myself for a letdown.  This turned out to be pretty unnecessary.   It was worth the wait and is really one fantastic looking, playing and sounding instrument. 

Working with Tom on this banjo was a great experience.  As I stated above I can be a bit anal about these things.  I could definitely challenge the patience of most people.  Whenever I would call Tom with a new idea or change he was great.   He really gets excited about collaborating on a great instrument.

Thanks Tom and to all your skilled builders.  I will post some pictures later.

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