I've had the pleasure of knowing Chris for probably 4 years or more and he has worked on 3 of my banjos.  In fact I drove from California to his shop in Springfield, TN to meet him and drop off a special banjo on which he is currently working magic.  This review is for a Wreath banjo I own.  Here's a little background on my Wreath banjo and the work I had Chris do.

In August 2009 I purchased a wreath neck from Melvin Cumbee.   According to Melvin the neck was built by Arthur Hatfield and those of you who’ve had an opportunity to view or play Arthur’s banjos know his fine craftsmanship.  I was really impressed with the workmanship on this neck. It felt great in my hand; neither too wide or narrow.  One thing which bothered me, though, was the Mastertone block was at the 21st fret rather than the 15^th.   I decided to build a banjo around this fine neck and sent it off to a “prominent” banjo builder to fit my hardware to one of their rims.  When I received the banjo I played it in my band for a number of months.   While it sounded good it was not as good as I thought it could sound.  Hmmm….I thought.  There’s got to be some other things with setup that could make this banjo sound great, so I started researching my options.

Around this time Chris Cioffi (Tubeandplate on BHO) began posting his banjo thoughts and philosophy in the Building forum of BHO as well as his blog on his BHO homepage.  Chris, having several decades of studied experience with banjo study and work, and who previously worked at Huber Banjos for 4-5 years because of that, had recently set out on his own journey into banjo setup when he opened his own shop business.  After reading his knowledgeable posts and blogs I really liked his banjo construction knowledge and his thoughts on set up which go way beyond just changing bridges, head tension or strings.  I gave him a call.  After an hour or so of talking about banjos, setup and other things I asked if he'd be able to move the inlay block to the 15th fret.  I guess he liked a challenge because, he said "Sure! I can do that."  With that assurance I shipped my banjo to him in April 2010 and he went to work.

While looking it over, Chris discovered a number of issues which he believes keeps a banjo from sounding its best. Foremost he feels the neck heel must fit tightly against the rim.  Mine didn’t, even after been fitted by a “prominent” banjo builder.  Another item which Chris feels makes banjos sound better is that the fretboard needs to be level with the tone ring.  To Chris, the great sounding pre-war banjos have one common characteristic which is the tonering and fretboard line up on the same plane.   If you look closely at many banjos you’ll see fretboard heights all over the map relative to the tone ring. Mine was probably a 1/8 inch higher than the tone ring, so a neckset was needed.  Chris also inspected the work of the previous rim installation and noted a number of problems. Chris pointed out, via pictures that because the existing neck lags were off just a bit the rim lag holes had been drilled oval rather than round so they would need to be filled and re-drilled.  And because the lags were off a bit they, too, would need to be removed, filled and properly re-drilled.  (Chris doesn’t drill out the oval holes with a larger drill bit and slam in a dowel.  He shapes a dowel to fit perfectly in the oval hole.  That process is time consuming but is also a reflection of his setup philosophy.)  The misaligned neck lags further reinforced the need of a neckset. 

Doing a neckset on the surface looks to be a straightforward operation but to Chris it has to be done just right.  He gives it the attention it deserves.  Angles and rim fit have to be perfect for proper tone.  With my banjo he achieved perfect mating which is reflected in the wonderful tone it produces. 

Moving the Mastertone inlay block was more of a challenge. Inlaying the block at the 15^th fret is cake, but filling the vacated block space required that Chris find matching rosewood grain samples and cutting nearly a dozen small pieces to match the existing grain. The result was unbelievable!  (You can check photos out his work on my BHO homepage.) You have to look closely to see that a move had ever occurred.  This is the way it should be.  Bad work shouts aloud…artistic work makes nary a sound.  Chris’s work is that of an artist.

Another factor with moving the Mastertone block was Chris had to pull a number of frets for him to work.  The original frets were installed by Arthur Hatfield and they were very nice frets indeed.   Chris suggested and I agreed to refret the whole neck so they would match those he had to replace.  Chris’ frets differed from the original frets because he extends his further onto the binding, effectively providing more real estate for the strings.  I do recall occasionally pulling the 1^st string off the fret during my playing.  With Chris’ fret work this no longer happens.  Having extended frets may seem a trivial thing but it’s the small things which go the distance in determining how well a banjo sounds.  I also point out that Chris’ fret work is flawless.  No high frets; no hidden tangs to “getcha” when you move up the neck.  When he was doing the fret work we discussed using stainless steel frets but he was just beginning to work with stainless and I decided to use standard fret wire.  When I see Chris in later summer 2014 he’ll be doing a stainless steel fret job on this banjo.  As I understand stainless steel frets, they may impact tone for the better.  You’ll have to pick Chris’ brain on this item.  

When Chris finished the work on my banjo he packed it perfectly and properly and shipped it via USPS.  It arrived with no problem. To say I am pleased with the work is an understatement. Chris' work is impeccably good.  There are people who claim to be setup experts that go to Chris for the heavy lifting and the technical stuff they are unable to do.   You can do no better than have him work on your banjo. There are luthiers and then there are banjo luthiers. Chris is the latter.  If you want your banjo to sound its best trust it to Chris Cioffi.