When people ask me where to buy a decent and affordable minstrel/early style banjo, I often recommend Gardener’s Dulcimer Shop in Grafton, Ohio. While I don’t own one, I have played them and I think they’re a great, basic, modern reproduction of those early instruments for those wanting that tone from their banjo.
I went to the website yesterday and I just got a page of code.
Did the shop shut its doors? Does anyone know what happened to the website?
Blaine
Website works for me. Maybe it was just a glitch in the system when you tried it. Try again and see if it works now.
quote:
Originally posted by TexasbanjoWebsite works for me. Maybe it was just a glitch in the system when you tried it. Try again and see if it works now.
Seems to work now. Yeah that was weird.
Blaine
Don Gardner bought 10 12” banjo heads from me on Sunday, so he is definitely still in business.
Bob Smakula
His website seems to be in and out. Suddenly I can’t get to it again, even using the link from banjomobob
Blaine
Regarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?
quote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?
Maybe it's like a disclaimer so that no one can nitpick them for not being perfect on their attempt? That's what I'd do, honestly. "Boucher inspired" rather than "Boucher replica".
And that's not a dig at the detail oriented.
Blaine
quote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?
I don't find it strange at all. Companies that go through the effort to make cars aren't making copies of the Model T, either. Not even Ford.
quote:
Originally posted by reubenstumpquote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?I don't find it strange at all. Companies that go through the effort to make cars aren't making copies of the Model T, either. Not even Ford.
Apples to oranges.
People like Gardner are specifically catering to musicians looking for "period type" early rimmed banjos. It would cost no more money, or take no extra effort, to copy extant period examples of early rimmed banjos.
quote:
Originally posted by tbchappequote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?Maybe it's like a disclaimer so that no one can nitpick them for not being perfect on their attempt? That's what I'd do, honestly. "Boucher inspired" rather than "Boucher replica".
And that's not a dig at the detail oriented.
Blaine
They can still make this disclaimer while duplicating extant examples of early rimmed banjos.
quote:
Originally posted by Joel Hooksquote:
Originally posted by tbchappequote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?Maybe it's like a disclaimer so that no one can nitpick them for not being perfect on their attempt? That's what I'd do, honestly. "Boucher inspired" rather than "Boucher replica".
And that's not a dig at the detail oriented.
Blaine
They can still make this disclaimer while duplicating extant examples of early rimmed banjos.
No disagreements from me on that. Maybe it's just a lack of caring.
He's kinda the only game in town under $1,000 as far as I can tell.
Hard to recommend him with a broken website.
Blaine
quote:
Originally posted by Joel Hooksquote:
Originally posted by reubenstumpquote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?I don't find it strange at all. Companies that go through the effort to make cars aren't making copies of the Model T, either. Not even Ford.
Apples to oranges.
People like Gardner are specifically catering to musicians looking for "period type" early rimmed banjos. It would cost no more money, or take no extra effort, to copy extant period examples of early rimmed banjos.
Lots of people like classic cars from all different eras. Ford could make some "period type" early cars, and they'd sell. If it would cost no more money, or take any extra effort, well, there's an opening for you to make and sell them.
quote:
Originally posted by reubenstumpquote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?I don't find it strange at all. Companies that go through the effort to make cars aren't making copies of the Model T, either. Not even Ford.
It's difficult to imagine the pushback Ford would get from from the safety lobby, the environmental lobby and a host of govt. agencies if they tried to market an exact replica of the Model T.
Fear of legal issues could also hinder someone from trying to reproduce a replica of anything that is or once was patented. The lawyers don't need a solid case to turn your life into a living hell.
Edited by - Jon Borcherding on 05/27/2026 12:26:54
US government agencies are pretty laissez faire these days, but your point is valid. On the other hand, patents expire, as drug companies and others are well aware.
We have driverless cars that sometimes self-combust or run over pedestrians, so I'm not sure that a Model T would be worse. But those are rare occurrences, and hopefully becoming more rare. But it's also true that cars with drivers occasionally run over pedestrians, cyclists, et al.
This is getting a little(?) carried away silly. No one here is looking for a car, and if you wanted a near replica kit car or dune buggy, OR BANJO, that's good enough. If they want the real thing that's what they would seek out. Kinda like; do you want to quote a real thought or is something made up by AI to resemble intelligence good enough?
Banjos are not cars. For some reason this is a difficult concept to understand on BHO.
quote:
Originally posted by stomapickerThis is getting a little(?) carried away silly. No one here is looking for a car, and if you wanted a near replica kit car or dune buggy, OR BANJO, that's good enough. If they want the real thing that's what they would seek out. Kinda like; do you want to quote a real thought or is something made up by AI to resemble intelligence good enough?
But the discussion wasn't about "near replicas" of cars or banjos. Joel asked why they didn't just build a full-on replica rather than near replicas. (or something like that.) I think you are very close to the real point though. If there was money in it, somebody would be doing it.
There's a difference between saying what another person or company should do, and doing it yourself. For some reason this is a difficult concept to understand on BHO.
I hope that he is OK. As long as he can enjoy doing what he loves is what I care about.
quote:
Originally posted by reubenstumpquote:
Originally posted by Joel Hooksquote:
Originally posted by reubenstumpquote:
Originally posted by Joel HooksRegarding early rimmed banjos in general. If I recall, Gardner (and others) will state that they are not attempting to copy or exactly reproduce period examples.
I find this a strange. They are going through the effort to make a banjo, how much more effort would it be to just make that banjo the same as an original example?I don't find it strange at all. Companies that go through the effort to make cars aren't making copies of the Model T, either. Not even Ford.
Apples to oranges.
People like Gardner are specifically catering to musicians looking for "period type" early rimmed banjos. It would cost no more money, or take no extra effort, to copy extant period examples of early rimmed banjos.
Lots of people like classic cars from all different eras. Ford could make some "period type" early cars, and they'd sell. If it would cost no more money, or take any extra effort, well, there's an opening for you to make and sell them.
Not that this is on topic, but it would be a lot harder than you might think. Retooling for all that is a lot more involved than most people might think. Most of the tooling for cars older than say 20 years is so worn out it's often scrapped.
OEMs barely take care of the tooling for current cars.
How do I know? Until 5 years ago, my career was in automotive as a manufacturing engineer.
Anyway, I too hope he's okay. I do recommend his banjos to folks that want an early style bank on a budget, and I've never heard a complaint about them from a playability and/or tone standpoint.
Blaine
Edited by - tbchappe on 05/27/2026 17:43:51
For you following this topic, I posted in Collector's Corner about a Don Gardner banjo that I bought used from Guitar Center.
His website hasn't been working for me either lately. He made me a custom order last fall loosely based on the Manly Reece banjo. I've been absolutely thrilled with it. I was contemplating ordering another different one, but wasn't sure if he was still building. He offers what he offers (yet reasonable with requests), and has a very quick turnaround.
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