Clareen 8 String Banjo – A unique instrument!

This is a unique commissioned piece, made by Tom Cusson of Clareen banjos, Clarinbridge, Co Galway.

It is based on his ‘Elite’ design, mixing a Clareen Elite short scale 17 fret tenor banjo with a mandola-width neck and a Clareen banjo-mandolin head. It is a delight to play, with a sweet ringing tone. It can be used to play tunes, but, like a mandola, it can also be used for chord accompaniment. Available with a Fishman passive pickup if needed at cost. Name plate can be removed at no extra cost.

Price: 20% off!

£2500.00 £2000.00

COLLECTION ONLY

Gremlin Four String 19 Fret Tenor Banjo

This is a rare chance to acquire a beautiful – as new – Gremlin Tenor for a lot less than the current list price.
Gremlin was the precursor to Ashbury; the name changed in the late 1990s.
I know something of the history of this instrument, and that suggests it has never been played.

Every part has been cleaned. I have given it a professional setup.
I have set up the nut and a new bridge for a low action with great projection.
The head has been retorqued to the correct tension.
It is now capable of a stunning range of tones from ‘in your face’ to ‘I’m hiding here at the back’!

Product Features
Mahogany neck
Ovangkol fingerboard with 19 frets
Planetary pegs
Maple bridge with ebony top, plastic top nut
ABS binding, gloss finish
Kerschner style tailpiece
Irish GDAE tuned

Product Specifications
Top nut width: 30mm
Scale length: 576mm
Width at 12th fret: 38mm
Rim depth: 63mm
Rim width: 279mm
Resonator depth: 47mm
Resonator width: 350mm
Overall length: 865mm:

Price: 20% off!

Price: £490.00 £392 

COLLECTION ONLY

John Grey Hybrid 17 fret Open Back Tenor Banjo, Tuned Irish

Now, here’s an interesting one! I don’t usually go for hybrids, but the beautiful vintage John Grey neck, which another first rate luthier had very sympathetically matched with an lovely inlaid 22 hook pot of approximately the same age, definitely caught my attention.
And, I have to say, my interest has been rewarded by the emergence of this excellent instrument. You won’t easily find a banjo as good as this for this price. The very thing for a good Irish Trad session!

So, what have I done to improve it even further?
I have fitted a beautiful new Renaissance head. (Photos are of the previous clear head – new photos to come.)
It has a new Clamshell style tailpiece, a new Ebony-topped Maple bridge, original sound planetary tuners and original heavy brass Tone Ring.
I have dressed and polished the frets.
I have set up the neck angle, the nut and the bridge for a low action and the tone is strong and rounded.
All metal parts have been cleaned.

In the wooden parts, there are signs of its previous unknown life, but these have been minimised, and the audience will never know!

Hard Case or high quality Gig Bag available.

Price: 20% off!

Price: £420.00 £336

COLLECTION ONLY

Windsor “Whirle” Banjolele

This is a workhorse of a Banjolele. Its Archtop construction ensures a strong sound projection. You will not have to play this very hard to get heard!

Made by the famous Birmingham Windsor company to a high specification in the 1920’s, it was kept in one family until it came to me.

It is supplied with its own original hard case in really good condition.

I have worked on it to make it ready for its next 100 years. In several ways it exceeds its original factory specifications.

I have fitted new 6:1 ratio Graphtech Tune-a-lele planetary tuners to replaced the old unreliable friction straight-through pegs.
A new maple bridge with ebony top has been fitted.
All wood and metal parts have been cleaned and polished.
The frets are original, undamaged and accurate right up the neck. They have been dressed and repolished.
The neck heel to pot connection has been secured.
The neck heel to resonator slot has been felted.
The tuner head and fingerboard have been cleaned and re-blacked.
The original goatskin head was sound. It has been cleaned and correctly tensioned.
The action has been adjusted (neck angle, bridge, nut) to make playing very easy, without losing power.
New Black Nylon Strings have been fitted. This makes it look GREAT!

Price: 20% off!

Price: £220.00 £176

COLLECTION ONLY

George Formby Banjolele

This lovely tiny soprano was made by Dallas of London around the 1930s. Dallas made George Formby’s banjoleles and secured the rights to his name on a range of their instruments.

This one has a very distinctive walnut back with ‘f’ holes, which defines it as a ‘George Formby A Style’ Banjolele. It comes with the original hard case which has little wear and just one reinforcing repair.

BanjoDoctor has restored this to – probably – better playability than when it left the factory. The frets are original, undamaged and accurate right up the neck. They have been cleaned and polished. The fingerboard has been cleaned and re-blacked. All other metal parts are original and have been restored. The original calfskin head has been cleaned, restored and correctly tensioned. New 6:1 ratio Graphtech Tune-a-lele planetary tuners have replaced the old unreliable friction straight-through pegs. A new maple bridge has been fitted. The action has been adjusted (neck angle, bridge, nut) to make playing very easy, without losing power.

It has a sweet rounded tone with good projection and accurate tonality.

Price: £120.00 NOW SOLD

Ashbury Mandolin

A beautiful Ashbury A style mandolin, ‘used’ but never played due to a poor factory setup.
Professional setup has now been completed by BanjoDoctor and it plays like a dream.
A good volume and warm tone are obvious as you start to play.

Features:
Solid spruce top,
Maple body with oval soundhole.
Natural finish.
Mahogany neck with Ovangkol fingerboard
Arched top and back, rosewood bridge, ABS binding/purfling
Plastic top nut
Nut width: 28mm
Width at 12th fret: 38mm
Scale length: 350mm
Max body depth: 49mm
Body width: 267mm
No Frets: 20
Overall body length: 670mm

Price: 20% off!

Price: £190.00 £152

COLLECTION ONLY

Fender Squier Acoustic Guitar

Well, what can we say about this? Made to Fender’s Squier specification, it had been damaged and was unplayable. BanjoDoctor will gladly show you where the damage used to be, but you’ll have to squint to see it! His musician friends were surprised at the near-invisible repair.

It has had a full setup, including bridge and nut remodelling, resulting in a very low action with easy bar chords, but maintaining good volume. The playability is probably slightly better than when newly bought. It has a lovely narrow neck which fits neatly into the palm, allowing ‘thumb-over’ chords.

The tone is sweet with a good bass response. The frets are undamaged and – as one would expect, accurate.

There are a few signs of use on the body, mainly a few slight scratches in the black back and side finish. These have been left as is. They are part of the history with no effect on playability and minimal effect on appearance. If a buyer wishes, they can be tackled.

It’s a great guitar which, thanks to the Fender specification, compares favourably with other guitars in our stock costing ten to twenty times more.

Price: £140.00 NOW SOLD

Gold Tone SM Weissenborn Lap Slide Guitar

Haven’t you always wanted to migrate your guitar skills to that wonderful liquid slide sound?

This is Gold Tone’s SM version of the stunning Weissenborn design.

This top-of-the-range version has a Mahogany body and top, and stunning ‘Rope’ binding on body and sound hole. Comes with a Shubb slide guitar steel – one of the best around – so you can start straight in!

It’s used, of course, (though you will find it hard to detect any sign of use). It also has no case, and the price has been adjusted to reflect those minus points.

Price: £598.00 

Gremlin Algerian Mondol (Mandole)

OK, hands up if you have ever seen one of these before! I thought not!

Made by the respected name of Gremlin (the fore-runner of Ashbury) probably in the 1990s, It’s an “Algerian Mondol”. Mondols are sometimes called by the more French word “Mandole”, and they are the Algerian version of a Mandola. However, Mondols are nearer a Bouzouki size than a Mandola size. 

Its trademark is the eye-catching diamond-shaped soundhole, which is never seen on any other instrument.

So, right now, it is strung Bouzouki style, with the lower two courses in octaves, (G,G Dd AA, ee). However, it can be strung in a variety of ways, eg as an octave Mandola, or one of the four course Cittern tunings..

It has a deep and sonorous tone, with the octave courses ringing out well, giving a dense chordal sound. 

It’s had some remedial work on the unusual bridge, and the original damaged tuning pegs have been replaced; other than that, it’s as it was made. There are a few surface dings as would be expected, but no structural damage.

It comes with a well-padded soft case.

It’s offered at £275, and we think you’ll be hard pressed to find a sound like this anywhere else at that price.

Price: £275.00 

Recording King Mandolin

A very experienced luthier (not me!) took this good acoustic Recording King Mandolin and gave it a premium upgrade.

He fitted high quality tuners (very pretty!), did a twelve fret refret, fitted a good humbucker pickup with volume and tone controls and did a full setup.

This is a great buy for the price.

Price: £230.00