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The banjo reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
7232 reviews in the archive.
I met Chris Cioffi at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I teach. He and Robin Smith came up to get our students' banjos set up at the beginning of the Fall semester. Well, my own banjo had been played every day since 1981 with almost zero maintenance, and was in real need of TLC! The metal in the tailpiece was so fatigued it was about to break off, and the frets and fingerboard were gouged out with years of wear.
The banjo was made especially for me in my home town of Ithaca, NY by the late Doug Knowles. It was dubbed Ithaca #2, since we settled on Orpheum-style inlays, after I said dots would be fine if it sounded any good, and Doug wanted to go crazy with some kind of vines... I hadn't had any work done since, because I didn't know who I could trust with it. Talking with Chris, I found someone with a deep understanding, and I let him take it home with him to Nashville.
Well, I'm late writing this because I've just been absorbed in playing it since I got it back :-) It always was a pretty good banjo, but it came back great! It plays really easily, notes true, looks great, and is so loud and responsive I'm having to learn to play all over again. Chris and I had several conversations about what was best to do while he had it. He listened carefully to what I was after while opening up vistas of understanding about banjos I had no idea even existed. These days I can proudly say that this banjo was made FOR ME by Doug Knowles AND Chris Cioffi. I can't say enough about how much I esteem Chris's work - he is truly one of the very best.
Thank you Chris!!
Cheers,
Lauck Benson
Overall Rating: 10
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