Tom Nechville, of Nechville Musical Products, has created a DIY video showing how easily any Nechville tone ring banjo can be quickly converted into a solid body electric using the Nechville Turbo Module.
Nechville is fond of this sort of jet-age phraseology, calling his radical rim mounting system a Heli-Mount, and his equally radical neck adjustment system the Flex Capacitor. But he has always been about function over form, at least where traditional banjo building ways are concerned.
As you can see in the video, the Heli-Mount system allows the player to quickly adjust head tension, or even remove the tone ring and rim in just a few minutes, without having to loosen two dozen brackets. The aluminum frame holds the banjo together and the string in place, even with the head and pot assembly removed.
The Turbo Module is the guts of the Nechville Meteor model, solid-body banjo, which can then be inserted into the frame, converting your stock Heli-Mount banjo into a two pickup electric.
Easy as pie.
The Turbo Module can be ordered as an aftermarket item for $750.
