so. banjo kit. i am going to build a 6-string banjo. (someday. when my elbows cooperate.) i decided the best way to fit 6 strings onto what would have been a 5-string banjo was to simply replace the kit neck with a slightly wider neck.
so, i bought the goldtone orange blossom special banjo in kit form.
the neck accounts for the bulk of the cost of the $600 kit; the unfinished neck is a $200 item, and the finished neck sells for $300. so, i bought the wide neck (goldtone BC-350), which also sells for $300 finished; i’ll finish the original neck and ebay it for just under $300, making the upgrade pretty cheap. unfortunately, goldtone screwed up and what they sent me instead was the BC-350+, which sells for $500 finished.
yeah. that extra $200 buys you the same neck made of the same wood with the same fingerboard, nut, etc. the only difference is the fancy inlay. and by “fancy,” i mean, “not my style.” i recognize that it’s well done, attractive, and took a lot more effort. but i just couldn’t bring myself to do follow the american consumer code of conduct and keep the accidental “upgrade,” smugly pocketing the extra $200 worth of product.
i wanted the minimalist BC-350, partly because it leaves room for me to inlay my own punisher-belt-buckle skull on the headstock, but also because i don’t do $200 worth of fru-fru fugly. bleah. goldtone, of course, happily sent me the neck i wanted in order to get their ugly back.
here are the 3 necks:
top neck is the original kit neck; a little fancy, but not too bad.
middle neck in plastic is the fugly.
bottom neck is the awesome, awaiting its skull and upgraded pearl nut. huh-huh. “nut.”
