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Instrument Archive
Prucha Banjos In Stock
*** Prucha - 30th Year Anniversary ***
1978 - 2008
1978 - 2008
Jaroslav Prucha (pronounced "Yarrow-slav Prooka"), has been building great banjos professionally for 30 years - and was even building 3 years before that as a hobby!
He has established high respect among players and collectors who recognize not only his use of highest grades of materials, but also his mastery of craftsmanship in the fitting of the parts, the shaping of the neck, the fretting, binding and inlays, and most importantly, the wonderful tones these banjos produce.
Prucha banjos are noted for producing that great "growl" in the first position, but also known for subtle nuance and expression. They are all hand built by Mr Prucha and his son, John in their shop in Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Jaroslav ("Yarda" to his friends), will only build a maximum of about 70 banjos per year for worldwide distribution to insure that his hands work on every instrument!
Over the years, these banjos have not only been recognized as some of the best banjos made, but have proven to be excellent investments, with their selling prices as "used" instruments staying very high.
ALL Prucha banjos come with LIFETIME WARRANTY.
ALL come w/ r.r. spikes installed at A, Bb, B, C positions for 5th string capo'ing.
ALL come with good hard cases.
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Price: Lowest | Highest Maker: Maker A-Z | Maker Z-A Availability: In Stock | On Order
Price: Lowest | Highest Maker: Maker A-Z | Maker Z-A Availability: In Stock | On Order
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2007 Prucha "Diamond Point" Custom Cherry Copper Patina Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Exceptional original condition. No player wear or sign of prior ownership. This banjo has many great appointments: Figured Cherry neck and resonator, radiused Ebony fingerboard with Mother of Pearl Diamond Point pattern, concentric circles in back of resonator, tortoise multiple bindings, and the unique Copper Patina hardware. Amber tuner buttons on Ptacek 2-band tuners.
The color of the finish really brings out the figure in the Cherry wood. The tortoise bindings, the copper parts and the amber tuner buttons blend in just wonderfully, to give the banjo a great look. And, as always, Mr Prucha's perfection of workmanship are stunning in the neck shaping, the inlays, bindings, fit of resonator - I could go on and on about it...
Cherry wood banjos from Mr Prucha are pretty rare. In the last 13 years we've only had about 8 of them.
This is a fine banjo, with only barely any evidence of being pre-owned.
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2003 Prucha "Fall-in-Love" Custom Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Exceptional original condition. Beautiful sunburst on nicely figured Maple neck and resonator. Ivoroid multiple bindings on resonator and neck, with tasteful wooden marquetry purflings. Flat Ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl inlays of 'falling leaves'. This banjo has been recently set-up here at our shop, and is all set to go. It plays nice and has no wear, or other problems, and sounds great. It has only slightest signs of being played. The current truss-rod cover is from an earlier Prucha 20th anniversary banjo, and reads "1978-1998". $3,995.00On Sale... $3,750.00 w/ OHC |
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New Prucha "Star" Open-back Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Maple neck and 3-ply rim. Ivoroid binding on neck. Beautiful engraved inlays in peghead and at scalloped fingerboard position. Double co-ordinator rod system for ease of adjustment into the future. Beaded bronze ring - it sounds great! The light ring sounds very close to a Whyte Laydie banjo with some dampener inside the rim. Ptacek 2-band tuners with vintage buttons. Excellent construction, excellent sound. $2,495.00On Sale... $2,150.00 w/ OHC. |
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2007 Prucha "Wreath" Custom Mahogany Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Exc (+) condition with almost no signs of prior use.
Mahogany banjo with subtle traditional appointments: High grade straight-grain Mahogany neck and resonator; Concentric rings in resonator back; Multiple Ivoroid/Black/Ivoroid bindings showing on upper and lower sides of resonator, top and back of resonator, and along fingerboard; Double-cut peghead with Wreath inlay; Rosewood radiused fingerboard with traditional Wreath inlays and "Mastertone" block at 15th fret; Offset 2-band vintage style tuners; Solid pearl truss-rod cover; Solid Ivoroid tuner buttons.
This banjo is set up and ready to play. The action is nice, frets are nice, etc. As far as values go, a new Wreath Custom banjo costs well over the price of this banjo. $3,950.00 w/ HC |
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New Prucha Bat Maple Custom Presentation w/ Massif Resonator Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Beautiful highly figured seasoned Maple. Another "presentation grade" custom banjo from Jaroslav Prucha, the master luthier from Prague, who is in his 31st year of building great professional banjos.
Elaborately engraved gold plated parts, with an extensive amount of deep-gouge hand engraving on tone ring, top and sides of tension hoop, top of Prucha 'Kirschner' tailpiece, top and sides of armrest, and on flange face.
Multiple bindings, with tortoise main outer bindings. Very pretty wooden marquetry below the multiple bindings on sides of resonator and neck.
Radiused Ebony fingerboard with "Bat" mother of pearl inlays. Matching inlays in the headstock. Solid pearl truss-rod cover. Vintage style "pancake" tuners with amber buttons. Schaller 5th string tuner with matching amber button.
Resonator is carved solid wood "Massif resonator", made with bookmatched blocks of high grade Maple turned and then carved and voiced. This solid wood adds a satisfying "pop" and presence when playing. $8,450.00 w/ OHC |
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New Prucha Diamond Point Custom Banjo 'In Stock' |
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A new look from Prucha! Highly figured Burl Walnut resonator with highly figured Walnut neck. Radiused Ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl inlays. Multiple bindings showing multiple lines on all quarters of neck and resonator, with tortoise main binding.
The hardware is mixed "Black Nickel" and Gold, with engraving on 2-hump gold clamshell tailpiece. Vintage style 2-band tuners with very cool iridescent amber buttons. The black Remo banjo head completes the look of this banjo - it really is quite a nice effect.
Comes with great 5-ply TKL American Vintage hard case and lifetime warranty, and... r.r. spikes already installed at A, Bb, B & C, for 5th string capo'ing.
Plays great, sounds great and is set-up for nice med-low action.
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2007 Prucha Fall-in-Love Custom Maple Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Exceptional original condition. No player wear. Strongly figured Maple neck and resonator. Solid carved "Massif" resonator and neck. Radiused Ebony fingerboard with 'Falling Leaves' inlay pattern in abalone. Ebony peghead veneer with abalone inlays.
Multiple ivoroid/black/ivoroid bindings on resonator. Ivoroid fingerboard bindings. Colorful wood marquetry purflings below bindings on sides of resonator and neck. Hardware is a tasteful mixture of Black Nickel and Gold plating. This hardware blend is well thought out and adds quite a bit to the overall look of the instrument. Even the tuners have been assembled to show off this effect.
There aren't many Prucha banjos with the solid "Massif" resonators. These are made using solid blocks of Maple that are bookmatched, then turned inside and out with a recurve showing along edges (like a good mandolin back). Then they are hand scraped and tuned by Mr Prucha. The final effect is quite good. The player enjoys a satisfying subtle "knock" to the attack.
This is a fine example of Prucha's high grade materials and craftsmanship and would be a fine playing tool for any serious player, or a fine investment for a collector. $6,250.00 w/ OHC |
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2008 Prucha Legend Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Exceptional original condition. Select Mahogany neck and resonator. White bindings on resonator and neck. Flat Ebony fingerboard. Hearts & Flowers inlay pattern in fingerboard and peghead. Vintage style tuners. R.R. spikes installed by Prucha at A, Bb, B & C positions for 5th-string capo'ing.
Like all of the Prucha instruments, this banjo shows off his skill in the elegant neck shaping, the perfect binding, the frets, the nice inlay, as well as the fit of all the high grade parts and the beautiful finish.
Frets show slightest bit of previous playing and resonator has one slight indented mar on back near binding... otherwise it is no different than a new one. It is freshly set-up to play and sound great. And... of course it comes with a great TKL American Vintage Hard Case. $2,950.00 w/ OHC |
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New Prucha Pioneer Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Mahogany banjo with simple, yet tasteful inlays. Good straight-grained Mahogany neck and resonator, with flat Rosewood fingerboard. Nice mother of pearl inlay pattern in peghead. Cut diamond inlays in fingerboard. Black bindings on resonator and along fingerboard. Matte finish.
These Pioneer banjos are, of course, made with the same high grade rims and hardware used in the higher priced models, so you get a real professional tone.
This banjo is set up very well and comes complete with r.r. spikes installed at A, Bb, B & C for 5th string capo'ing.
And... they all come with good hard case and lifetime warranty. $1,995.00 w/ OHC |
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New Prucha Top Tension Banjo 'In Stock' |
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Black Walnut. Beautiful bookmatch solid carved Walnut "massif" resonator. Straight grain Walnut neck. Rosewood radiused fingerboard. Multiple ivoroid bindings on resonator and neck.
Pearl traditional inlay pattern in fingerboard. Fleur d' Lis inlaid in peghead. Pre-war style Krishot pancake tuners and Schaller 5th peg - all with matching ivoroid buttons.
Nickle hardware, with variation Top Tension armrest. Instead of having to release and remove the normal armrest to adjust the head, this armrest has holes positioned above the individual bolt heads for easy access.
This is a fine banjo. The "thump" and presence are great. So great, in fact, that it has me wondering if I should sell one of my own banjos and buy this one.
* Or maybe I should say its just "ok", so that it would be more likely that I can buy it before someone else does... $6,250.00 w/ Orig Cloth Tweed Case |
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