Nechville makes some good banjos with a radius option: https://store.banjobenclark.com/pages/search-results-page?q=nechville
New banjo Help
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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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Good Question, why would anyone want to buy a Banksy Graffiti drawn on a piece of white photocopy paper for £1.4 Million just to see it shredded at the auction sake, I guess it’s because they have the means to do it.
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The same reason someone would buy a mandolin, violin, guitar, or any other instrument for that much I would guess
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@Dragonslayer Ya, I would think it is no different than any other high-end collectible. Just seems kind of crazy to me, maybe because I don’t have those kinds of funds. Don’t get me wrong, they are beautiful banjos by any means and there is a whole lot of work put into them. You know IF I did own one of those and when my end of days showed up, my kids would probably just take it to some pawn shop…lol.
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Nice
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Just saw this topic while doing a search for tunnel type 5th strings. Archie, one way to learn the abrasive properties of paper is to try cutting paper with someone else’s fabric scissors. Then you would also learn of the stabbing potential of scissors.
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Yeah my mom was one that if she caught you cutting a piece of paper with her sowing scissors you were going to be wearing tiger stripes from the switch she used on your legs LOL
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