Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Let's see em!

These are my wonderful banjos! My first banjo is the one on the right, the Deering Goodtime Special. I got it for Christmas when I was 12. I played it so much that I wore the frets out. When we took it to see how much it would cost to get them replaced it was almost more than the banjo was worth. I had just been recruited by a band and I needed to upgrade anyway so I bought the Prucha - Fall in Love with all my spending money and then some. I did finally get it paid off and she’s the best.

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Nice! I’ve got a guitar that needs frets but isn’t worth the price of them :grimacing: that prucha is really pretty!

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Yes, both are Gretschs. The red one is a 1997 Red Sparkle Jet and the orange one is a 2005 Roundup with Dynasonics.

It’s funny, I have loads of guitars which I don’t play very often any more but I have only two banjos which I play just about every day.

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It’s gorgeous daaaaallllling

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I want a Prucha!

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Well, here is mine. It is a Recording King RK-77 Elite Gold Limited Edition (#14). I know they only made 21 of these. I read somewhere a while back that they were made in the USA, not overseas.
I have had this one for over 5 years, bought it used when I was looking to upgrade my starter banjo. Now I am looking to move up one more step. Hopefully, I can purchase one more that will be my (cross my fingers) last one. I am looking at either a Bishline or Allen banjo, both are independent banjo makers. RK77

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I would love to have a Kel Kryoden. That is the one that Casey Murphy plays.

@BanjoBen When I was looking at an upgrade I must have played over 100 banjos (Think Elderly Instruments in MI) and nothing came close to the feel and tone of the Prucha. I picked this particular one because it has the speed neck and the radiused fret board. My brother bought a car with his saved money, I bought a banjo! LOL

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What’s a speed neck?

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A speed neck is unfinished but has a sealer on it that allows my hand to move up and down the neck with very little drag. The reason it is a different color is because it hasn’t even been stained. This was a VERY important feature for me because I love to play the fast songs and I really love to play up the neck. :grin:

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Ok, sort of like a fiddle neck, that would be something I’d find handy too. Just curious how much did it cost? :money_mouth_face:

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@banjoboyk, how do you like that radiused fingerboard? I have heard they are much easier to play. I am thinking of having one on my next banjo, I would like to play one first to be sure, but there are not a lot of banjo dealers in S. Texas. At least not that I am aware of.

Actually Casey Murphy’s signature banjo is a fairly new banjo. The AMB banjo company bought the copyright for the Kel Kroydon name a few years ago and so made a whole new series of Kel Krodon banjos. Some, like Casey Murphy’s were based on the old, original models from the 30s (hers was based on the more expensive KK 11, a $55 banjo. MIne was $40 in 1931).

Robin Smith of Heartland Banjos did a lot of the work on this line so when I got mine, I had him make my conversion neck (which is why it looks so nice!)

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@tye705 it’s Casey Henry, Murphy is her Mom

Ouch! So right Archie! Thanks.

I love it! It is definitely easier to play especially when I use a barred position. (I don’t know if that is the actual name of it but it is when you bar at a fret and play above it)

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Well, I’m the third owner of this particular Prucha and lets just say a LOT. If you look at the Prucha website it was darn near MSRP for a base model Fall In Love and I added Keith tuners and railroad spikes. :money_mouth_face:

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Wow, ok, that’s quite a pretty penny there! But Keith tuners cost well nigh as much as my banjo did so what do I know? :joy: :money_mouth_face:

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and i knew that too, not sure why i wrote it that way. I stand corrected. thank you.

he definitely has beautiful banjos for sure. But, If I had the money to upgrade, I would rather buy close to home (USA) and look at some Bishlines and there is Allen Banjos, he only makes 3 diffs. ones and he is in Houston (he is an independent maker). Which is only about 4-hour drive from me. The problem I have is that I can’t go play one because no one around here sells new banjos.