That’s great news Lee
New banjo Help
Finally I can have a practice 
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@LG1 I think that’s why I would love to have a tunneled 5th string. wouldn’t have to worry about things like that 
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Congrats Gunnar! Now that’s thinking out of the box.
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As a former engineer, experience has taught me pretty much anything mechanical will at some point wear down or break due to usage. In the image shown, over time there is a potential for that brass piping forming the tunnel to wear due to the harder steel string rubbing against it. Like wise the fret wire pin securing the pulley has the potential to wear or break off with the tension from the string and the friction as the pulley rotates. It is fair to say that it may take years.
I worked in the print industry before I retired and I was amazed to see paper cut through steel conduit pipe over a period of six months. The pipe was being used to guide a continuous roll of paper exiting a printer and into a guillotine. Most people cant understand how this is possible until I explain that the fibers in the paper are abrasive and file away the metal.
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@Archie I agree with you, I used to do some Mechanical Fab. work eons ago and you are right EVERYTHING will eventually wear out. As for the photo, I cannot confirm/deny that that is a new(er) banjo, I just was googling 5th string tunneled banjos and that was one of the photos on there. I have never seen a tunneled 5th up close, so I am not really sure how it enters the hole. You are right, I couldn’t imagine paper doing that to steel, so you just kind of go…Hmmm, Ok.
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@5stringpreacher My next banjo is going to have some xtra things on it. I would really like to try a radiused fingerboard. All the info I have heard about it is they are easier to play, But unfortunately not a WHOLE LOT of banjo stores around here. I am pretty much leaning towards a Bishline, but there is a guy in Houston that also makes only 3 different banjos also, They are “Allen Banjos”. My former teacher had one of his banjos and swears by it. But got to have the $ first.
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Nechville makes some good banjos with a radius option: https://store.banjobenclark.com/pages/search-results-page?q=nechville
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@BanjoBen Definitely nice banjos for sure. They will be a consideration. I am a waaaays away from buying any new banjo. There lots of options and brands to consider. My only concern is that if I go with a radiused fingerboard on whatever one I decide to buy and don’t like it, that could be an issue. I would rather have “one and done”. This will probably be my last banjo unless of course I win/get a large sum of cash, so I want to be sure I am happy with my purchase. Ben, when the time comes, I will look at what you have in the store also, you are my teacher and inspiration for being better at the banjo and I will support you as much as I possibly can.
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Okay, thanks! We have a return policy and are quite committed to you finding the right instrument for you.
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Hi @_Tye_Stick In my experience most retailers don’t make this kind of commitment to their customers.
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@Archie I agree and disagree with you. There are definitely some retailers I wouldn’t even buy finger picks from. But the main thing is that when I’m ready to make that jump into “Hyperspace” I will look at all my options, do my homework on what is going to be the best value for my $. I am definitely not looking at anything really soon, it’s down the road and around the corner a bit. Now, if that Stelling RedFox ever got down to something reasonable, I might jump on that one…lol.
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I like your style Tye, I took a long time (four years) pondering over which banjo to upgrade to I had narrowed it down to just two. A Huber Lexington and a Stelling Bellflower I ended up buying the more expensive Stelling Masterflower. Not sure that @BanjoBen is in a position to reduce the price on a Stelling, they seem to be priced the same no matter which dealership you buy one from. If anything the price is more likely to increase over time rather than decrease certainly since I bought mine they have increased in value by about $1,300 But hey if you don’t ask you’ll never know.
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@Archie Ya I was just kidding about the Stelling, I had a friend that lived down the street from me when I was growing up and he had a Stelling banjo I don’t recall the model, but I do remember it had a ship engraved on the resonator. I bet he paid a pretty good price for that one and that was back in the early '70s.(crude getting old sux…). The dilemma is that there are sooooo many great banjos out there that it makes is MORE difficult to decide. And I don’t have anywhere I can go play different makes/model banjos to see which one I would like best.
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Isn’t it just great when you’ve got two options and then you pick the third? 
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I know, I know, I know, it was the same for me. Although I was fortunate enough to try out a few friends banjos.
Sounds like the Stelling with the Ship was a Scrimshaw these are Limited Edition Banjos and some of the most expensive ones ever built. Alan Munde has one and I believe it got damaged, He seems to favour the less expensive Crusader model a little less bling. I think if you could get to one of the big banjo festivals you would have a better opportunity to look at what’s on offer.
Check this out
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@Archie This guy has a bunch of Stellings for sale. So he bought his “First banjo” a Gibson RB100 for $100?. And now he has some banjos on there that sell for $15-17K each?.. Who is this guy? I can’t imagine buying, let alone playing, a $17k banjo, Holy Cow!!! Don’t you normally just put them in a room and charge admission for people to come to see them???. So, does a $17k banjo sound better than, oh say a $5K banjo?.. Probably not, you would seem just to get more “bling” for something like that.
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Opps I don’t know what happened there. The Scrimshaw I wanted you to see sold for $27500
A Stelling Archangel sold for $37500.
I have no idea who this guy is, I am assuming he is just a dealer and all the banjo on sale are second hand.
I found it an interesting resource to learn about different instruments but my main interest was the history behind Stelling Banjos.
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@Archie that’s nuts.,.
Seriously why would anyone buy a banjo for that much?. That’s a new car price right there.
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