This hand made custom banjo sports a simple decorative headstock — embedded with a vintage 25-cent coal scrip from the E.C. Minter Coal Company (founded in Rhodell, West Virginia in 1921).
The steam-bent rim is 3/8″ thick for lighter weight and a throatier tone, in keeping with its early 20th century roots. The whole banjo is built for playability and minimal simplicity, including an integrated Maple tone ring and scooped fingerboard.
This banjo shipped with two unique bone nuts: one slotted for Nylgut strings and the other slotted for steel strings. A railroad spike is installed on the 7th fret for easy tuning changes on the fly.
Custom Banjo Features
Cherry neck / 3-ply Cherry rim with maple core
Fretted Richlite fingerboard with frailing scoop / Richlite peghead veneer
Nickel hardware / Old-style round bracket shoes
Maple tone ring / Bone nut / Raw brass 5th string pip
No-knot tailpiece / Natural goatskin head / Aquila Nylgut strings
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
This traditional fretless banjo sports a simple minstrel style headstock with minimal ornamentation and raw brass hardware throughout.
The Deutsch Fretless is made from American black walnut with ebony fingerboard and peghead veneer. The rim is fitted with an integrated ebony tone ring for a warm, woody sound. And the natural goat hide head adds to the vintage aesthetic and tonal quality.
The steam-bent rim is 3/8″ thick for lighter weight and a throatier tone — also in keeping with its 19th century roots.
Custom Banjo Features
Walnut neck / 3-ply Walnut rim with Maple core
Fretless Ebony fingerboard with frailing scoop / Ebony peghead veneer
Raw brass hardware / Old-style round bracket shoes
Ebony tone ring / Ebony nut / Raw brass 5th string pip
No-knot tailpiece / Natural goatskin head / Aquila Nylgut strings
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
This handmade custom banjo is built with an 11-inch rim that is 3/8″ thick. The peghead sports a vintage 50-cent coal scrip coin from the historic Weyanoke Coal and Coke Company of Hiawatha, West Virginia.
The cherry rim is built with an integral matched cherry tone ring for a more rounded “woody” tone. Ebony is featured on the rim cap, heel cap, fingerboard and peghead.
Instead of a scooped neck, the last six frets are set flush with inlaid maple. This allows clearance for playing up the neck and the added ability to fret strings accurately at the highest points.
Custom Banjo Features
Cherry neck / 3-ply Cherry rim with Maple core
Fretted Ebony fingerboard with last 6 frets flush / Ebony peghead veneer
Nickel hardware / Old-style round bracket shoes
Integrated Cherry tone ring / Ebony nut / Raw brass 5th string pip
Ebony tailpiece / Natural goatskin head / Aquila Nylgut strings
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
This handmade fretless banjo is built with an 11-inch rim that is 3/8″ thick. The peghead is of simple, minimal design in keeping with its vintage 19th century roots.
The scooped fingerboard, peghead veneer and nut are each fashioned with Richlite, a sustainable alternative to Ebony. The hardware is raw brass, including the heel cap — which is stamped with the word “freedom.”
It is fitted with a natural goat skin head, Nylgut strings and a handmade vintage style Maple bridge.
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
These twin handmade banjos are built as a matched set. One peghead sports a vintage 25-cent cool scrip coin room the historic Wyatt Coal Company of Laing, West Virginia. The other is from the Southern Mining Company of Colmar, KY.
Both custom banjos have necks shaped from the same stock of American Black Walnut with Ebony fingerboards and peghead veneers. Each rim is fitted with a rolled brass tone ring for clarity and volume.
Other features include all brass hardware, Gotoh planetary tuners and old-style round bracket shoes.
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
This fretless handmade banjo captures a true vintage look with simple, well-placed ornamentation. A large one-dollar coal scrip coin adorns the peghead, and a matched one-cent piece sits in the ebony heel cap. Both are from the Avis Eagle Coal Company, which hailed from Logan County, West Virginia.
The mahogany tone wood provides a warm, rounded sound. And the hand-rubbed oil finish allows the character of the grain to show through. A custom-dyed natural skin head completes the vintage aesthetic with a golden hue that complements both the mahogany wood and the raw brass hardware.
Custom Banjo Features
Mahogany neck / 3-ply Mahogony rim (12″) with Maple core
Raw brass hardware / Old-style round bracket shoes
Rolled brass tone ring / Raw brass 5th string pip / Brass side position markers
Custom Ebony tailpiece / Goat skin head / Nylgut strings
Handmade Maple bridge / Gotoh planetary tuners
Ebony heel cap / Matched coal scrip coins / Bad River shop rag
A note about sustainable materials
This banjo was made before I committed to using only domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
The Bad River name comes from a region of northern Wisconsin that played a significant role in my family history. If you look for it today, you’ll likely find it associated with a Native American settlement and reservation.
The Ojibwe indians, also known as the Lake Superior Chippewa or Bad River Band, migrated to the area during the seventeenth century. They were the first to give the river its name Mashkiziibi — or Swampy River — which French explorers translated as “Bad” River.
But during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the area became known more for its rapidly growing timber industry. Sawmills and lumber camps dotted the land, and waterways like Bad River became the backbone of numerous logging operations.
A family legacy
My grandfather George (1896-1981) worked as a logging man during this time — eventually running his own camps and owning his own timber company.
He saw firsthand the devastating impact that logging had on the land. In later years, George became one of the timber industry’s first conservationists, leading efforts to replace the trees that axes and saws had taken away.
My dad grew up working for his father George in the woods and on the family farm. He has told me many stories of what that life was like. When I was just a kid, Dad would take me along to trim branches with him in the Corrigan pines. And in recent years he showed me a path through the woods — hidden to most — that leads to a large stand of Maple that is still in the family name.
Pictured: George in Alaska / George’s office / George’s calendar, 1974 / Me with Dad at the cabin / Corrigan’s Lookout in Iron County, WI
In George’s office
A few years back, Dad and I were salvaging the modest building that grandpa George used to call his office. Back in the day, this shack was moved on skids to wherever George was working at the time (mostly in the woods). But more recently, it has settled in across the drive from our family’s summer cabin.
Over one of the long Wisconsin winters, the old chimney had given out, and nature was having her way with the rooms inside. As Dad worked to patch up the walls and ceiling, I cleaned up what was left of the office. I came across some personal stationery in George’s old desk that bore his signature and the mark of the Bad River Timber Company. I had always been drawn to that name, and it seemed like a perfect way to honor the past.
My dad still uses the Bad River name for the timber property he owns — land that had once been part of my grandfather’s logging operations. Part of that land still yields high quality Maple timber. And that Maple wood can still be found in banjos that bear the Bad River name.
More about George Corrigan
George Corrigan wrote his own first-hand account of the logging industry of northern Wisconsin in the early/mid 20th century, and had it published toward the end of his life in 1976. It’s a wonderful, meandering personal history of his life, the people he encountered and the livelihood he pursued. Pictured here is my own personal copy — a rare, signed first edition of Calked Boots and Cant Hooks.
When we were all kids, George used to take us on long walks in the deep woods. Along the way, he always had time to sit for a sandwich and tell a story. He always planned his hikes with the best spots in mind to stop; places he had known from decades of traveling by foot through the woods. One of these was a location he discovered on his own as a young man. And in the years since, countless visitors, hikers and locals have enjoyed its breathtaking views. For as long as I can remember, it’s been known as Corrigan’s Lookout.
It’s just a short hike from HWY 122 in Iron County, WI between the small towns of Saxon and Upson. Our family cabin (the one George built on the shore of Weber Lake) is located just a few miles away. On summer vacations, we always reserved time to make the trek on foot. And in keeping with George’s tradition, we always packed a lunch.
Here’s more information about Corrigan’s Lookout, along with a recent traveler’s photo essay of the experience. And if you’re interested in reading George’s book, a few used copies are still available.
This handmade walnut banjo is custom-built with a 12-inch rim for a deeper bass sound and greater volume. The peghead sports a large 50-cent coal scrip coin from the historic Laurel Creek Coal Company from West Virginia.
The walnut rim is built with an integral ebony tone ring and a matching ebony rim cap. An ogee-shaped scoop in the fingerboard allows for higher fretting on the bottom strings. The figured walnut neck was specially sourced from Oregon, and the hand-rubbed oil finish allows the character of the grain to show through.
I only use domestically harvested North American hardwoods (walnut, cherry and maple) along with sustainable fingerboard materials. I’ve replaced ebony with Richlite (a superior renewable alternative) in all of my newer banjos.
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