Prucha Top Tensions

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Prucha Owners Club

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For those who own or fancy owning a Prucha. A World Class banjo.

59 Members, Created 12/22/2011 -

Administrators: TTreppa (owner)

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From stanger on 1/28/2012 5:52:57 PM

Have any of you had the opportunity to play one yet? Do any of you own one?

They are getting a lot of attention lately. I've played several over the years, and with the Euro currently as low as it is, I'm starting to think seriously about getting one.

A good friend here owns one, and it's a VERY impressive banjo!

5 Comments
	crsb says: 1/29/2012 7:51:12 AM All top tension I have played are really heavy, although they do sound great. I've only played one Gibson and One Stelling. Is Prucha considering making guitars? I would love to buy a Fall In Love, mandolin, & guitar from him. Has anybody invited Greg Boyd or the seller from Northern Mischigan?
	stanger says: 1/29/2012 10:30:10 AM I don't thing Prucha is interested in making guitars. There are already so many good makers, and his time is limited by his bread and butter banjo parts manufacturing. CSRB- yup, the top tensions are heavy, but I don't think they are all that much heavier than one of his regular banjos.
	klgera says: 1/31/2012 8:31:29 PM I have had the chance to play one of Prucha's top tensions, it was an excellent banjo, the workmanship was perfect, as you would expect. I have a top tension that I built using all Prucha parts and it sounds pretty good, just like I hoped it would!
	Chris Cooper says: 7/9/2012 6:13:33 AM I got to play a Diamond point TT yesterday owned by Prucha endorser Pavel Zicha. Sound was phenomenal. Feel was the best of any banjo I've ever had in my hands. If you have the cash, get one they're amazing!
	stanger says: 6/29/2013 10:37:51 AM Prucha recently made 2 banjos with extended 24 fret fingerboards. One is a Professional model, and still for sale at Greg Boyd's, and the other is a top tension that a friend bought as soon as it arrived. I played the TT, and it's very good- Prucha is really getting the top tension thing down. What was the most interesting to me was the extended board. It goes over the tension hoop and is over the head as well for about 2 1/2"- enough for 2 frets. Extensions like this were fairly common 100 years ago on some of the old banjo brands, especially the Lange-made banjos. Old Orpheums, A.A. Farlands, etc. Gibson also used them on early guitar banjos. I have played banjos with them, and all required high string action to prevent buzzing on the frets from the 12th up. On banjos that had lower actions, only the 24th fret didn't buzz from about the 14th up. Prucha made some radical changes to this banjo to keep the action low. The fingerboard is thicker than usual, and the extension is cantilevered over the head, much like a mandolin. The neck angle goes downward steeper than all his others, and the bridge is over 3/4" high. Amazingly, I didn't notice any of this when I played the banjo. It felt just like all the others I've played, and the extra-high bridge didn't bother me at all. Every note on the neck was clean sweet and clear as a bell and the action was splendid.
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