Submitted by Clawhamr (see all reviews from this person) on 12/16/2012

Where Purchased: Direct from maker

Year Purchased: 2012
Price Paid: Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound

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Setup

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Appearance

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Reliability

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Customer Service

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Components

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Overall Comments

This year, I bought two new banjos, both from Tom Nechville; an Atlas openback (custom scale and full scoop) and a Vintage bluegrass banjo. Here's why I think that Tom is a genius, and that the future of the five-string banjo resides in Minnesota.
Rather than issue yet another "masterclone", Tom embarked some twenty-five years ago on a quest to correct several design deficiencies inherent in existing banjo tech. Number one on his hit list: the inconsistent sound and setup stability caused by the hook-and-nut head tensioning scheme. If the Helimount system had been around in the 30s, skin heads might still be in wide use. The ease and simplicity with which the player can tune the banjo head on a Helimount instrument cannot be overstated; one can get PRECISELY the tone desired in seconds. Genius.
The second proprietary invention (but no less epoch-making) is the neck attachment scheme that's an integral part of the Helimount frame. The precisely curved surface at the neck heel matches the one machined into the frame, and enables the player to set the action to the desired height with ANY desired bridge of ANY height, from 1/2" to 3/4". This capability, coupled with the Helimount tensioning system, lets the player set up the banjo exactly as desired, without a trip to the luthier. Additionally, without the standard cuts in the contact surface of the neck heel inherent in the Mastertone paradigm, the mating surface of the neck to the frame is greater in area by far. This makes for more (and more efficient) transfer of vibratory energy from the neck to the pot. I believe that this is the primary reason for the Vintage's completely even timbre of tone from the first to the last fret. There is a purity of sound in the notes issuing from a Helimount banjo that seems to contain more apparent fundamental than distracting overtone.
Both of these banjos have re-invigorated my playing, even after fifty years of practice and professional experience. The Atlas, though not a Helimount, has the Nechville neck attachment block and the solid, woody tone I get from it inspires my clawhammer efforts. The Vintage gives me the combination I've been seeking for decades; even tonal response along the whole span of frets, ease of maintenance and adjustment, and (due in no small part to the wider-than-standard, compound-radius fretboard) an ease of playing the just pulls new music out of me. I strongly urge fellow five-stringers to make an effort to play a Nechville banjo, and to support Tom's effort to perfect the design of an instrument which had remained largely unchanged since the nineteen-twenties.

Overall Rating: 10