A fellow Hangout member contacted me about the concerns brought about by an aging body and the difficulty hefting tonering mastertone style banjos. The simple question he asked was how light did I think a quality banjo could get?
The lightest high-end banjos I've owned and played were Ryan Navey's Carolina Banjo Co. absolutely amazing banjos but expensive openbacks with a long waiting list and I've never seen one without a scoop (although I'm sure Ryan can build anything). CBC banjos are also larger in the lap than some others due to the shoeless construction and rim design.
I also have always been impressed with the various Keller drum based openbacks ( Enoch, Ode and others) but most of these are also scooped.
I have a stack of Kalamazoo 14 hook pots awaiting something cool and I said this was probably the lightest pot I had because of the simple wood bead (no metal tonering) as well as the low number of hooks and very light hardware. I have a few Stew-Mac flat-heel kit necks lying around and the experiment was to see how these things would marry, how much they'd weigh and how they would sound.
Now I'm not saying someone couldn't build a lighter banjo - an 11" Keller based pot with 10 hooks would likely get even lighter and the neck could be made with lighter wood with a slimmer profile.
However, those who have enjoyed the lower end prewar Gibsons know that they often sound startlingly good. This one is no different. 4.5 pounds and a strong clawhammer banjo but an exceptional fingerpicked sound.
Check out the pictures and the video and enjoy!
youtu.be/o_xssK1Hxy0
Edited by - Pigeontown Banjo Co on 09/19/2026 14:17:02
Pics
Openbacks with full scale (no scoop) are a blast to have around and to keep next to the couch or La-Z-Boy. I think of mine as my eventual nursing home banjo.
Looks like a real one, sounds like a real one.
Good going!
3 lbs 8 oz including arm rest: mahogany neck (they're the lightest of standard woods), and 5/16" cherry (12-ply drum rim from nordicshells.com. Plucked: https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/rims/tunes/8mm-charlie-II.mp3 and frailed: https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/rims/tunes/8mm-susana-V.mp3.
Read all about it? Optional: https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/rims/rims.pdf .
Apologies. I just realized that those sound files were recorded with a maple neck on that thin cherry rim. It's heavier and stiffer than the mahogany. I couldn't find explicit weights in my notes, but piecing tidbits together (e.g., from https://www.its.caltech.edu/~politzer/rims/rims.pdf) suggests that the maple neck is about 5 oz heavier than the mahogany.
I installed a mandolin banjo tone hoop in my Kalamazoo. Due to its smaller diameter it sits in the wood bed and gives the Kalamazoo an archtop look. Amazing sound improvement!
I recently made a tack head fretless banjo that I donated to the Beverly West Virginia Heritage Center to raffle off as a fund raiser.
At two pounds, it is likely the lightest banjo I have ever had in my hands. Maybe not an ideal lightweight bluegrass banjo, but maybe good for a John Hartford or other low tuning playing style.
Bob Smakula
smakulafrettedinstruments.com
Last year, I added a rather minimal Corian ring to a 1929 Gibson with what appeared to be a block rim. It really sounded good. Customer liked it, too.
That got me messing with the vertical grain wood rims I posted about last year.
All progress came to a halt when we bought an 1860s house in January.
Last week I got two done that were just waiting for me to get back to them. One is a Gibson style with regular flange and tension hoop. A bit lighter than normal since it does not have the metal ring.
The other one is an attempt at a light weight banjo, using no traditional metal stuff other than Rickard tuners and some hardware. Tension hoop is wood. It is a little under four and a half pounds with a 3/4" walnut rim.
youtube.com/shorts/CoCRRZWXjS4
My lightest banjo is a Kalamazoo 5 string conversion, open back, that comes in at 5.5# on a bathroom scale that only has half pound increments. It could have been lighter, but I purposely put on a heavier Rickard tension hoop, a heavy tailpiece, and a Goodtime armrest to tighten up the sound to my preferences. One of my favorite banjos.
Another 5.5 pounder is an Oriole conversion. Has the 3/4" rim, and the brass hoop, but stripped of all the flange, reso, etc, for another open back. Sounds great too.
quote:
Originally posted by lazlotothLast year, I added a rather minimal Corian ring to a 1929 Gibson with what appeared to be a block rim. It really sounded good. Customer liked it, too.
That got me messing with the vertical grain wood rims I posted about last year.
All progress came to a halt when we bought an 1860s house in January.
Last week I got two done that were just waiting for me to get back to them. One is a Gibson style with regular flange and tension hoop. A bit lighter than normal since it does not have the metal ring.
The other one is an attempt at a light weight banjo, using no traditional metal stuff other than Rickard tuners and some hardware. Tension hoop is wood. It is a little under four and a half pounds with a 3/4" walnut rim.
youtube.com/shorts/CoCRRZWXjS4
I really like the wooden tension hoop. Gives it a new, unique look. Great work!
Some folks in the Harmony Bakelite cult appreciate the lightness of those. I have an alloy Star Sun that is very light. I am not much of a banjo player. I do like that mine are light.
I learned here in BHO that "A Wood Top Does Not A Banjo Make"
My wood top Irish tenor is remarkable light. It weighs about the same as a baritone Uke.
youtu.be/Pw91jEOqyys
Edited by - Maurice McMurry on 09/27/2026 06:35:09
quote:
Originally posted by Maurice McMurrySome folks in the Harmony Bakelite cult appreciate the lightness of those. I have an alloy Star Sun that is very light. I am not much of a banjo player. I do like that mine are light.
I learned here in BHO that "A Wood Top Does Not A Banjo Make"
My wood top Irish tenor is remarkable light. It weighs about the same as a baritone Uke.
youtu.be/Pw91jEOqyyshttps://photos.app.goo.gl/7m27YtuxQCHLpLXMA
Very nice instrument! You are right. It isn't a banjo, l would call it a tenor guitar or a tenor harp.
I made a tenor guitar recently with a top that is tensioned via the six bolts. It doesn’t have any bracing at all. The top is only 1.6mm thick (birch aircraft plywood) and the top behaves exactly like a banjo head which came as a surprise to me, but it still ain’t a banjo and doesn’t sound like a banjo.
quote:
Originally posted by martyjoequote:
Originally posted by Maurice McMurrySome folks in the Harmony Bakelite cult appreciate the lightness of those. I have an alloy Star Sun that is very light. I am not much of a banjo player. I do like that mine are light.
I learned here in BHO that "A Wood Top Does Not A Banjo Make"
My wood top Irish tenor is remarkable light. It weighs about the same as a baritone Uke.
youtu.be/Pw91jEOqyyshttps://photos.app.goo.gl/7m27YtuxQCHLpLXMA
Very nice instrument! You are right. It isn't a banjo, l would call it a tenor guitar or a tenor harp.
Thanks for the kind words!
Here is the StarSun. It is so bad that it creates its own novelty.
Edited by - Maurice McMurry on 09/27/2026 10:19:07
I have an Enoch Tradesman and found that the scoop (IMHO) was excessive. I sometime play right up the neck so I made and fitted an fretboard extension into the scoop area.
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