BANJOS
WE HAVE BANJOS!!!!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BANJO IS JUST A DRUM WITH A STICK ATTACHED TO IT? SO ITS A PERCUSSIONISTS (DREAM.... NIGHTMARE????!!!!!)
DOWN BELOW ARE BANJOS FROM THE GOLD TONE COMPANY AND SOON ILL PUT IN SOME FROM RECORDING KING AND POSSIBLY SAVANAH.
The Gold Tone AC-12 is the latest addition to our ever-more complete lineup of clawhammer banjos. It has everything the new old-time banjo player could want: a generous 1 7/16" string nut width (our ZeroGlide nut comes standard), a separate rosewood fretboard on a nato mahogany neck with frailing scoop, an adjustable two-way truss rod with peghead-located adjuster, a durable and great-sounding 12-inch composite rim with coordinator rod for fine action adjustment, a good-looking and functional tailpiece for easy string-changes and proper down-pressure. Ultra-light at just FIVE POUNDS (!!!), this featherweight can save your back while you trudge around the festival grounds. All this and a serviceable gig bag for just chickenfeed.
Proclaimed "Best in Show / MUST Stock" instrument at the 2016 Summer NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show in Nashville, Tennessee, the Gold Tone AC-1 sets the bar for an economical, well-made, great-sounding and durable beginner banjo. No other maker on the planet offers so much to the novice banjoist for so little WITH gig bag! Our superior-sounding composite rim mated to a slim, playable neck, produces a banjo that weighs LESS THAN FOUR POUNDS. The AC-1 is the perfect choice for beginners, travel use or for a child's first banjo. Handsome, with its matching black neck, rim, Zero Glide nut and tuner buttons, the AC-1 is professionally set up in Gold Tone's Florida shop and comes with our FIVE YEAR transferrable warranty. Add a Resonator for even more versatility.
Our popular CC-50 has been the openback banjo of choice for thousands of beginning players for many years. The CC-50RP adds a full-walled resonator and high quality planetary-gear tuning machines to offer a value-packed first Bluegrass banjo for thousands more. Great sound emanates from the hard rock maple rim topped with a brass rod tone ring. The flangeless CC-50RP converts easily to an openback banjo for exploring clawhammer or folk style playing; just pop off the resonator and mounting brackets and you're done. Deluxe touches include a rosewood fretboard, Terminator tailpiece and a geared fifth-string tuning peg. Gold Tone's expert factory setup assures great playability sound right from the start. Available as left-handed model.
6.5 LBS
SCALE LENGTH 26-3/16ths INCHES
The Gold Tone AC-6 Mini Banjitar packs more punch than you might expect from an entry-level guitar banjo. The rim is molded from a composite material that is strong, consistent, and durable. The nato mahogany neck features a rosewood fingerboard and (like all of our banjos) a two-way adjustable truss rod. The composite construction of our AC pot means maximum power and projection for minimum cost and weight. All of this comes at a price that ANYONE can afford.
4 lbs
22.75in scale length
The Gold Tone AC-6 Banjitar packs a punch like no other entry-level banjo guitar. The rim and resonator are molded from a composite material that is strong, consistent, and durable. The AC-6+ includes our built-in SMP sliding magnetic pickup (with volume control). Plug it in, crank it up and let the good tones roll! Includes padded gig bag. Available as left-handed model.
A few years ago, Béla Fleck asked if we could build a baritone banjo for him. He desired an instrument that would slot in between the standard five-string and our CEB-5 cello banjo that he’d been using in performances with partner (and mate) Abigail Washburn. The ML-1 “Missing Link” C-tuned banjo (named by Béla) was born.
In the wake of the successful introduction of the ML-1, we then (at the request of and with input from Banjo Ben Clark) developed and issued the wonderful OB-3 “Twanger” professional-grade banjo.
We sent one of these to our friend Marc Horowitz (pro banjoist, musical instrument industry veteran, banjo tinkerer and Béla’s second banjo teacher) for him to check out. He was very taken with it and (after applying his setup mods and tweaks) began playing it in the “Andy’s Ramble” Bluegrass band, fronted by world-renowned mandolinist Andy Statman.
In late 2020, Marc suggested to Wayne that the Twanger’s pot assembly might make a fine platform on which to base a banjo modeled on Béla’s “Number 1” instrument, a 1937 Style 75 Mastertone pot that Marc (while working at Mandolin Bros. Ltd) had obtained for him in the early ‘80s. At that time, Marc asked the great luthier John Monteleone to build a neck to Béla’s specifications. This neck was to be heftier than a traditional banjo neck; a bit wider and thicker, with a radiused fretboard. Béla thought that the radius and the extra room on the fretboard would facilitate the single-string techniques he was developing, and that the additional mass would deepen the banjo’s tone and produce a voice more in line with his playing style. He was, of course, correct. The tone of Béla’s banjo has reverberated at the vanguard of acoustic music for over four decades, producing a distinctive full-spectrum and warm tone that is admired and coveted by many modern banjoists.
We sent an OB-3 to Béla for him to live with and tweak in any way he liked. Before long, he told us, “I think there may be something here; let’s keep messing with it.” Over the next months, Béla, Marc and Wayne worked together to produce something that Béla had wanted for years: a banjo close enough in sound and feel to serve as a performance-grade backup for “Number 1”. Initially this was to be a one-off instrument, but as the design progressed and the prototypes produced results that got closer and closer to a banjo that could serve as a worthy stand-in for his main banjo, the possibility of a Signature Model was raised and discussed.
The Gold Tone “Bluegrass Heart” Béla Fleck Signature Banjo is now a reality. Now YOU can play a professional-grade banjo that will provide the closest thing yet to the feel and the tone of Béla’s pre-war masterpiece. Every detail of this instrument is a result of personal, hands-on development by Béla, Marc and Wayne. The finest components available are used to optimize the sound and the playing experience. The Prucha Presto tailpiece, Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuning machines (with custom, red-anodized brass buttons for added peghead mass), custom bridge and Little Mountain armrest all do their part to enhance tuning ease and stability, full-bodied tone and playing comfort.
Gold Tone is very proud to offer this flagship instrument and we hope that you get as much pleasure from owning and playing it as we had in creating it.
11.5LBS
scale length 26.25 INCHES
Armrest