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20 Jul 08 - 05:28 PM (#2393668) Subject: banjo going on tour From: Patrick-Costello For the last six months we have been developing a new line of five-string banjos. The basic premise was to find a way to offer an American made professional level banjo for under a thousand dollars. Our first banjo, the S-1, ended up with a final retail price of $1495.00. Given that we are talking about a banjo with a 3-ply American Black Walnut rim, a neck carved out of a solid block of the same wood, a JLS #4 flathead tone ring and a bunch of other unique features, keeping the price at $1495.00 was not an easy task. We are thrilled with the S-1, but I didn't want to give up the dream of an affordable instrument, so we went to work on a second instrument. Our second banjo, the S-2, ended up with a final retail price of $895.00. The S-2 is a maple banjo with a 2-ply rim and a a heavy rolled brass tone ring. The S-1 is being built by Lowell Jacobs in Delaware and the S-2 is being built by Chris Via in Virginia. We also have a few other small shops producing parts and whatnot. We did it, and we are so proud of these instruments that we are going to give folks a chance to check out the S-2 for themselves. The S-2 prototype is going to be sent out on a round-robin tour of North America. We are putting together a list of people across the USA and shipping the S-2 prototype to the first person on that list. That person will keep the instrument for a week and then ship it out to the next person on the list. There is no obligation to buy the instrument or anything like that. All we are doing is giving people a chance to spend some time playing an American five-string banjo. If you want to get involved in the S-2 North American Tour: * Send and email Dear Old Dad at orders@funkyseagull.com. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. Tell us about yourself. * We will compile a list reflecting a cross section of the country. * Please remember that we may not be able to accommodate everyone. * We will ship the S-2 prototype to the first person on the list. He or she will have a week to play the banjo before sending it out to the next person on the list. Each person is responsible to pay the shipping and insurance to the next person. The last person on the list will return it to us. We hope to kick this off before sometime during August. We will be posting more details soon. We will be posting pictures, news and sound clips from the tour on the Somerset County Banjos web site: http://somersetbanjo.com |