Just this past week, two major US banjo manufacturers have announced the availability of banjo hardware made to vintage specifications.
Both Huber Banjos and American Made Banjo Co. are now producing parts for sale to banjo builders – both professional and hobbyist – and as replacements in vintage, pre war banjos. In both cases, these are the parts used in the finished banjos these two companies offer, now available for the first time for sale as separate components.
The two catalogs of parts overlap for the most part, though Huber offers a mix of wooden and metal parts, and American Made has a more complete listing of machined components. In addition to tone rings, resonator hardware, arm rests and coordinator rods, Huber has their resonators and rims available for sale. American Made doesn’t have any wooden parts listed on their site, but has all the metal hardware for a flathead, Mastertone-style banjo.
Tom Mirisola of American Made Banjo acquired his own machine shop earlier this year to manufacture banjo parts, and installs them in his Kel Kroydon banjos. You can see the complete list of parts on their web site.
Steve Huber is continuing to work towards the point where all the components in his Huber Banjos are made in house, and has only a few parts left before that goal is reached. He will be announcing two new tone ring models and a new Huber engineered rim within the next few weeks.
See the list of Huber Vintage parts online.
Both companies also offer custom made heads, straps bridges and strings, and Huber makes a deluxe capo as well.
