Ed Weber Banjos

 

 

I have been in the banjo building business for over twenty five years. I learned the trade at Gibson (1989-2009) eventually being promoted to Supervisor of the banjo department. After a twenty year career I decided to open my own shop in 2010 and began designing & building fine banjos. My shop is a full service shop which includes repairs, restorations setups, replacement necks, etc as well as building new instruments from the ground up. You name it, I can do it.

 

A lot of independent small shop banjo builders typically copy the Gibson banjo which has been the industry standard since the early 1930's. They use the same inlay patterns on the finger board and head veneer, and the same double cut headstock shape. About the only thing different is they will put their brand name on the headstock. I have never been keen on making just another copy so to that end I engineered and developed my "Ed Weber" banjo.

 

Tone, volume, and playability are key to a fine musical instrument and my banjo has everything the discerning banjo player wants and needs in a quality banjo whether playing at home in the den, on stage at a major event, or recording in the studio.

 

The cosmetics are an important factor. The Ed Weber banjo comes with a standard vintage tobacco brown sunburst finish for the maple model and a rich, mahagony stain/color finish for the mahogany banjo, mother of pearl or abalone inlays, and Nickel plated hardware. Of course, upgrades are certainly desireable and limited only to what you dream up - gold plated hardware, custom finishes, engraving, and scrimshawed truss rod covers & heel caps to name a few.

 

The model as shown here is my custom Blue Galaxy.

 

This model features a deep, translucent blue finish allowing the grain of the curly maple to really "pop" through. This effect works well with deep translucent red finishes too and in one instance I used a translucent orange finish - the school color for a Clemson football fan. These absolutely stunning banjos appeal to an ever-growing market that is craving something new and fresh.

 

The knowledge and skills I learned while employed at Gibson are utilized in the building of this finely crafted instrument. For more information click here and then scroll down to Banjo Builder.

 

 

Highlights include:

  • Curly Maple neck & resonator
  • Ebony finger board
  • Hard rock maple rim
  • Exclusive inlay pattern designed by Greg Rich
  • Singular new head stock shape
  • Dual action truss rod
  • Mammoth ivory inlays
  • Mammoth ivory heel cap
  • Ivory truss rod cover
  • Ivory 5th string guide nut
  • Ivory finger board nut
  • Recording King tone ring
  • Steinberger 40:1 geared tuners (not shown)
  • Figured tortoise shell side dots
  • Premium hardshell case

 

 

Blue Galaxy Banjo

Part of the building process is turning wood rims on a lathe to custom fit the Recording King tone ring and flange I use on all my banjos. A critical part of the sound is to insure a tight, solid fit where the tone ring touches the wood.

 

As a builder nothing is more important to me than building a quality instrument with quality parts - tuners, bridge, tone ring, tension hoop, flange, etc.

 

But a major issue with most banjo players is what is the best tone ring available. It seems practically every banjo player has his own idea of what that tone ring is so for those customers who want to use their own tone ring & flange I will accommodate them and turn a new wood rim to custom fit their tone ring and flange to. Keep in mind  though, if the flange is in poor shape, i.e., warped, bent, mis-shaped, cracked or broken, I will have to replace it with a new flange. I won't install damaged parts on my banjo no matter how slight the damage might be.

The overall price will be adjusted accordingly to each substitution made.

 

However, the neck and head veneer inlay pattern cannot be changed.

 

All upgrades will cause an upcharge to the overall price.

 

Upgrades include but are not limited to:

  • Gold plating
  • Engraving
  • Custom translucent finishes
  • Ivory appointments
  • Special tuners
  • Special tailpiece