Pioneer Banjo

The Pioneer Banjo

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In January 2007 Bob and Lea were at the home of Ron and Arrena Raymer for a jam session. Ron has created the artwork on a number of custom banjos. We had seen a lot of pictures but he happened to be working on the "Jazz" theme banjo at that time and we were enthralled by the almost unbelievable detail of his work when we saw it on the actual instrument. On the way home when discussing the banjo we had just seen, Bob casually remarked that it would be nice to own a banjo with Ron's artwork. Lea immediately replied "Yes, let's do it!" and that was the beginning of the Pioneer banjo.

We sat down with Ron and the design work was completed by spring. We then went searching for a reputable luthier to build the instrument. Most luthiers wanted to build their banjo and let Ron craft the artwork after the fact. But we wanted someone to build our banjo in collaboration with Ron. The search ended when we sat down with Leo Posch in June 2007. Leo has a good reputation as a craftsman, and more importantly he was interested to listen to what we wanted in the instrument. Ron and Leo worked together very well and amazingly the banjo was in our hands in early 2008.

After a few attempts at plating we contacted Ron Satterfield at Nashville Plating Service who was able to get a good plating job on the banjo and it was finally ours to keep.

This banjo is a stunning work of art. It is also easy to play and has a marvelous rich tone. Most banjo players who have played the Pioneer Banjo are amazed that something this beautiful also sounds so good and plays so well.

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Follow this link to Ron's website to see even more pictures of the inlay and other features.