Howdy all…I have been stalking the forums since becoming a BanjoBen student a year or so ago but wanted to ask for opinions in this, my first post. My favorite banjo is a beautiful Huber Lexington that sounds quite good in its present state, but I have heard a lot of buzz about their Truetone system which seeks to approximate that elusive pre-war sound with a new rim and tone ring system. I wondered if any members have upgraded their Hubers from the Vintage ring and rim to the Truetone configuration and, if so, was there an appreciable difference in the banjo. Probably the best plan is…“if it ain’t broke etc” but I will appreciate any input.
Merry Christmas to all!
Catfishbob
Huber Truetone
You own the Huber Lex?
If you wanted to ship me both of them, I’d give 'em a try and reply with my honest opinion. 
ez2cy…I do own the Lexington. Bought it on eBay a few years back but didn’t really pick it until the last six months or so. I was playing a Stelling Sunflower, another beautiful maple banjo.
CatfishBob,
How old is your Lexington?
Unless it is modified by a previous owner with a different tone ring & rim, your rig should already have the HR30 Ring & Huber engineered rim in it which is what gives it the ‘Truetone’ designation. Perhaps the oldest Lexington model didn’t have the ‘Truetone’ setup, so I may be wrong, but I thought they have always had the HR30 Ring & Huber Rim installed.
A few years ago Steve did make an adjustment from his original ring based on very extensive research, resulting in the HR30 tone ring he uses now. It seems to me he now refers to his original tone ring as the ‘Vintage’ tone ring. Steve offers another tone ring, the Huber 844 in his Workhorse model. Depending upon your banjo model, Steve will upgrade and he offers a trade in on the other Huber rings toward the Truetone setup… this comes at a very reasonable price considering the tone difference you will enjoy.
Huber is fantastic about allowing each buyer a great selection of personal modifications or customization with the order of a banjo, so every Lexington is not the same in various options, but the Truetone should be consistent unless otherwise modified. If your Lexington is gold plated it will provide a great mellowing to the truetone setup… very nice.
I’d suggest firing an email off to Steve as he & his crew are great about answering questions.
http://www.huberbanjos.com/contact/ for the web-form email or straight to the team with customerservice@huberbanjos.com
Hope I am correct in the info I am sharing with you, and I also hope it is helpful.
T.O.M.
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T.O.M.
My Lexington is #403-15 so it is an older model, signed by Steve on 3/6/04 and I am pretty sure that it has the Vintage ring installed. I have actually spoken with him about the upgrade and he was very straight forward about it…no hard sale. On any banjo, the ultimate sound produced depends on what the player can get out of it. He invited me to play some Truetones at the IBMA which is held near my location, but I was unable to attend. Thanks for the reply.
Catfishbob
Catfishbob…
Just curious about what your situation is now. Since you had the vintage ring, have you upgraded to the HR30 now? My experience with Huber has been nothing short of outstanding and a pleasure so I hope you have been able to satisfy your need as well.
T.O.M.
T.O.M. I did indeed upgrade to the Truetone configuration around Christmas time and a very good banjo has become a GREAT banjo! I’ve been “playing it in” and am well pleased with the tone. I’m sure it also helps that it came back with the Huber set-up. I too had a great experience with Huber Banjos…a class act!