Description
Exceptional condition • Serial no. 820
All original antiqu’ed brass hardware • 1 3/8″ width at nut.
3/8″ rim with rolled brass tone ring
This Chuck Lee 12″ old time Maple banjo was beautiful constructed, and then well-upgraded by its previous owner. The beautiful amber stain really brings out the Maple figure.
Ebony peghead veneer and fingerboard show a tasteful stack of thin wood underneath. Decorative Ebony string along center of neck, continuing through dowel stick. Ebony heelcap shows same tasteful multiple wood stack. Ebony peghead veneer has inlays of large pearl smiling crescent moon and small abalone dots and medium-sized abalone stars. Bone scalloped nut. Flat Ebony fingerboard has medium-large frets and abalone dot inlays. Side dot abalone position markers. The neck is a round “V” profile. S-curve scallop carved into fingerboard after the 15th fret, to help with ease of playing clawhammer. Frets 16, 17, 18, and 19 are still usable on the treble side.
The tension hoop is a side-pull style, where hooks do not go all the way to the top, but rather come to a slot in the side to pull down (see photos). This makes the top of the banjo very smooth as the hooks are not poking out.
Stern-tanned John Balch mounted calf-skin head. Highly figured Ambrosia Maple construction. Gotoh tuners with black matching buttons. Rim is Maple-capped at bottom. Flamed Maple dowel stick has metal “Chuck Lee” plate and serial number 820 stamped. Eighteen hooks and nuts.
This banjo has a classic 12″ old-timey tone about it, with a special complexity from the head and rim.
I cannot stress enough how great this banjo is… It is in almost new condition; it sounds great and is very beautiful.
If ordered new from Chuck Lee, there is an exceedingly long wait list for this banjo. We recognize that our price is close to the price of a new one, but why wait when you can buy one today in exceptional condition, with a major head upgrade. The Stern is one of the finest heads you can find on a banjo.
Comes with brown hard shell case.
