Pine Cone Says:
Friday, January 9, 2009 @2:47:52 PM

I found this post by David Sleeter, the designer and builder of this banjo... posted in 2006

"As a side comment, I'm 59 years old, and in the 1970s I built 5-string
banjos and repaired guitars for a living. At that time in my life I
developed a new kind of a banjo with a solid steel pot; it had a VERY nice
tone. Aiming at the high-end instrument market, I hand-crafted each one, and
designed my own distinctive peghead shape and inlay pattern for the peghead.
I built about 30 of those instruments before I moved on to other endeavors.

Today, with the rapid growth of the Internet, I'm amazed to see my inlay
designs being copied and sold in "kit"-form for people who want to inlay
their own instruments. I worked out the design in 1978 on the kitchen table
of my house in the mountains in Idyllwild, CA. I used to cut the patterns by
hand with a jeweler's saw from abalone and mother of pearl.

TODAY they are cut by a computer-controlled water-jet machine, and I feel a
distinct sense of regret as I note that craftsmen like I used to be have
been rendered obsolete by technology. If anyone's curious, here's the link
to the webpage of a company that sells these precut inlay patterns. You'll
find my D.G. Sleeter design about halfway down the page.
http://www.luthiersupply.com/pegheadinlaypage.html.

David Sleeter"

David McLaughlin Says:
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @8:11:27 AM

David Sleeter, indeed a wonderful designer and craftsman, used a Weymann inlay design for the peg head on this fine banjo pictured .

Pine Cone Says:
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @8:41:50 AM

Thanks for confirming that. Up until a couple of years ago I had never even heard of a Weymann inlay. Do you know of any pictures showing an original Weymann peghead? I have seen some builders like Bill Rickard use the Weymann-style inlays that are available now, but they are for a smaller peghead that my Sleeter.

The actual Sleeter-designed inlays (from banjos made sometime after mine) can be found here....
luthiersupply.com/pegheadinlay...page.html