"Ah! Eph, what'll they think when they hear the old cremona speak like that!"
Tom Briggs (1824-1854)
I use original and reproduction banjos. My main minstrel-style axes are a James Hartel Ashborn reproduction and a Jeff Menzies tackhead. Both of those luthiers are well known for their "taste exact for faultless fact" when making banjos.
My classic-style banjoes are an 1892 Elias Howe "Superbo" and an S.S. Stewart "Imperial" Banjeaurine from 1894. All of my banjos have natural calf-skin heads and are strung with gut.
The goal of those of us in this little genre is to provide a "time-travel" experience through music. If you dig history you will hopefully enjoy my video's.
The wallpaper here is an 1855 painting by George Caleb Bingham entitled "The Verdict of the People."