After a wild saga of selling my dad’s house, it was finally time for a new banjo day!
After perusing Rob Bishline’s website, I fell in love with the Blonde Autumn. I emailed Rob, and he told me that was the only model he had in his shop!! Someone ordered it and had to back out last minute.
I took a trip up to Tulsa on Monday, and spent the day hanging with Rob. We talked banjos, music, and life in general. What a great guy! He even added the banner inlay commemorating my dad, “Papa Root.” He swapped out the renaissance head that was on there for a frosted, threw on a Kershner tailpiece, and installed an 8th fret spike. All while I hung out at his shop!
We then picked some tunes, and I headed home. WOW do I love this banjo!!
Curly maple rim/resonator/neck, mahogany binding, mother of pearl/mahogany inlay
Veined copper flange (!)
Gotoh tuners
Bishline “Special Reserve” tone ring/rim
Head tensioned to somewhere between G#/A
Just set the Dotson 5/8" bridge I received from Banjo Ben today!
Yeeehawww!
Rob is just such a sweet, generous guy-- worth a visit to Tulsa just to meet him! I’m now a Bishline Believer.
Unfortunately, my video was too big too upload here, so anyone interested in hearing how it sounds can check it out here