I stopped to visit DADGBE today. He has rebuilt his Frank Proffitt banjo again (see above). He replaced the strings with fluorocarbon fishing line, and found he no longer needed the fine tuners he had added. The banjo has a crisp, bright sound - the brightest sound I've ever heard on a fretless banjo. The banjo is now just as Frank built it, except that the strings are different and the head is goatskin instead of the original opossum. What a delight to hear Ray play it!
-Joe-