| Mark Platin has been quietly building
an impressive reputation for Wildwood Banjos since 1972. These instruments
are hand made from the finest woods and hardware available. Wildwood offers
a comprehensive range of models in both open-back and bluegrass banjos.
The "Artist" model Bluegrass banjo pictured
above was included in our very first order. It features Wildwood's
signature rim, constructed from solid blocks of eastern hard maple.
The rims are lathe turned to exact specs to insure that the tone ring fits
tightly. Mark believes that the block laminate rim is a stronger,
denser, more stable configuration (and it simply sounds better). It is
not easy to make, but well worth the extra effort!
The powerful bass and clear
treble of the Artist are in large part due to Wildwood's precision machined
classic flat head tone ring which is cast with "pre-war" alloys. A cast
one piece flange and a 3 ply solid maple core resonator veneered with either
fancy curly maple or curly figured American black walnut complete the pot
assembly.
All necks feature ebony
peghead veneers, fingerboards and heel caps. The Artist fingerboard
highlights newly designed inlays featuring mother-of-pearl inlaid into
red abalone. This is extremely technically challenging but appears much
closer to the older traditional bluegrass inlays of the 1950’s.
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