Russ Carson visited Chris and videoed a banjo that Chris had put together for his wife. It had a TB-00 thin rim, resonator and neck from Chris's days at Huber's shop. I was amazed by the tone that Russ got out of the banjo. I called Chris and we discussed the banjo. No tone ring, no tone hoop just the original 1/2" vintage rim with turned wood bead. I was sold.

I searched the 'net and found a pristine TB-00 at Intermountain Guitar and Banjo. The banjo didn't look like it had ever been out of the case. The finish was perfect and the flange was flat with no pull. I bought the banjo and had it dropped shipped to Chris. Then i had to notify Chris of our new project!!! He was gracious enough to take the job on. (I would suggest you call Chris first before sending a project, I took advantage of our friendship...a little).

Chris called one day and let me know that he had a lightly used Huber Workhorse Walnut neck become available. We decided to use that neck for this project. We also changed out the thin tension hoop to the pre was grooved version (still with flat hooks) and a Presto style tailpiece. 

Chris did his usual perfect job on the fit of all the banjo parts. He emailed me that I would be satisfied with the banjo. He had several professional musicians come up from Nashville and they were blown away by the banjo and couldn't believe that it had that tone without a tone ring.

I got the banjo in September and I do not know how I could be more satisfied. It seems that with every banjo Chris has done for me (and this makes the 4th) that he raises his "game" every time. This banjo has everything I have been looking for in a full flathead banjo. It has the "hollow deep" sound that flathead experts talk about that I never understood...until now. It's really responsive and punchy also. Chris commented that it turned out sounding better than his wife's banjo and it holds it's own.....tone ring or not.

I feel lucky to have run across Chris Cioffi and now have a long distance friend who happens to do some pretty awesome banjo work. 

Highly recommended.

This banjo was featured on one of Russ Carson's youtube videos featuring several of Chris' tone hoop banjo conversions.

I have been lucky enough to become long distance friends with Chris Cioffi while having him rebuild and setup several banjos. This review covers a late 20's Oriole (made by Gibson) 5 string conversion. This banjo is a shoe and plate, tone hoop banjo.. 

What we started with. Chris has been very patient with me on this banjo. We did not start with a complete Oriole tenor, but I built this one up from parts I bought here on the HO and through BBay. While the metal parts were pretty solid, the rim and resonator were not in the best of shape.

Rebuilding the pot. Chris cleaned the metal parts and even had some orphaned parts for the project. The rim had some delamination issues which he fixed and the lag bolt holes required rebuilding. Chris takes the time to make sure the tone hoop seats in the rim perfectly. The worst part was the resonator. While the finish had a great vintage look the sidewalls had delaminated and were warped. Chris figured out a way to fill the delaminations where if you do specifically look for them you would not notice.

5 String neck. Chris found a second hand un-used 5 string, gull inlayed, maple neck that was perfect for the project. The heel had not been cut so it would fit the shoe and plate rim perfect. The fretboard had already been bound in black binding that matched the Oriole resonator binding. Chris did one of his great stainless steel fret jobs. To match the binding we used ebony tuner buttons so the banjo would have a "old time" look to it. A little profiling and we were ready for finishing.

Finishing. Chris arranged with Robin Smith to do the finish work on the neck (the resonator has the original brown paint that has great vintage crazing). Mr. Smith's finish work is first rate and matches the resonator perfectly.

Finished product. This is one great banjo. These tone hoop banjos have their own sound. They don't sound like a full flathead or a raised head. They have a pure banjo sound (some would call it "dry") without overtones. This banjo has a growly, metallic 4th and 3rd string . The setup is fantastic as with all the banjos Chris does. This is a professional grade banjo.

This makes the 3rd banjo Chris has either built or rebuilt for me. The first was a Masterclone with a famous makers tonering. The second was a 1950's RB-100 all original and now this Oriole. This banjo holds a special place for me due to it's tone, response and simplicity.

I cannot think of any banjo luthier that would take any more time or care than Chris on a project like this. He is readily available to talk to and sends many photos of project progress. I highly recommended Mr. Cioffi for any of your banjo work.