New Old Banjo - looks familiar?

[Rob MacKillop]

This arrived in the post today, well packaged, and in its original leather case:

It's Carrie's CE Wood Hoop Special. 

It's my first CE banjo, and I'm very impressed. I'm pleased with the amount and quality of wood it has. The tone is warm and punchy, and the neck is superb. I read that Carrie preferred her other CE banjo which has a thinner neck or less-wide fingerboard, but this suits my big hands perfectly. 

Carrie was great to buy from, and the banjo was well packed and despatched quickly. 

I might make a couple of changes over time. For tone I think I'd prefer a calfskin top, and find the Remo head a bit noisy for pinkie movement. And I might eventually upgrade the tuners. They're okay, but I've always found old tuners a bit of a pain for very accurate tuning. But these are minor gripes, and I might be lazy and just keep it as is. 

I understand some work was done on it by a restorer close to Carrie. He or she did a great job. The frets are absolutely perfect, as is the whole neck/fingerboard. 

Thanks, Carrie!

[carrie horgan]

Glad you are pleased with the banjo, Rob.  It does have a warm sound with the wood tone-ring - I look forward to hearing some tunes! I'm also digging the vintage typewriter look....

[Rob MacKillop]

Ah, typewriters...I had many of them, now reduced to only four. They were an obsession for a while.