First built for the late Bill Emerson in late 1989 and moving into the production catalog in 1990, the Stelling Red Fox quickly became one of Stelling’s most popular models. Sporting a gloss finish with red stained, highly flamed Maple, and with Abalone inlays of leaves and a Red Fox, this is a very attractive and great sounding instrument.
5-string
Here we have a Vega FW5 Folk Wonder, factory converted as new to a Vega Senator. At the time this banjo was built, the Vega name and facilities were owned by the C F Martin guitar company, and a few years later Martin built some higher end Vega banjos in Nazareth PA. The Vega name is now owned by the Deering company, who manufacture excellent Vega models.
The Nechville Leon Hunt Phantom Model, while not a ‘formal’ Nechville model, is based on the Nechville Phantom XXV (Phantom 25). It uses all the Nechville Phantom elements plus very highly figured maple for the neck and resonator (rather than the stock figured walnut construction), with a slight amber tint to the finish. These spectacular banjos are based closely on the Nechville banjo made for Leon Hunt.
The Fender Jazz Bass V, as an American Standard version, was built from 1998 to 2000, then from 2008 to 2016. The American Standard name was dropped in 2017 to be replaced by the American Professional line. Despite being listed in catalogs as the “Jazz Bass V”, the “V” does not appear on the headstock logo of this instrument. The five-string bass seems to have appeared in 1965 as the short-lived Fender Bass V.
This Stelling Golden Cross Open Back banjo was originally a resonator model but was converted to open-back by Geoff Stelling. As with other Golden Cross banjos, the neck and rim are Maple, with Ebony for the fingerboard; inlays and the truss rod cover are Mother of Pearl. This is a very attractive instrument!