Along with 2 others in the process

Finish complete

All Hardware arrives

FQMS Laser Engraved hardware, Nickel plating

5 star head, Presto Tailpiece
One piece brass flange

Rim is complete

Resonator taking on first coats of finish

Resonator now has the medium brown shading added. and  coats of clear being added

3 point resonator mounting chosen this time
 
 

Flange Hardware added to rim

Now I will put the final coats of clear on the resonator, wetsand , buff it, label it and wait on the neck to arrive from Dave

Final wetsanding with 1200 before buffing
Cool....Moth caught flying by in the pic.

Neck is back from  Wyatt Fawley, who did the profiling for me and then Dave Nichols at Custom Inlay.
Wyatt and Dave  do such good work, it is hard not to use their services.
It gives my customers a more professional finished product, and I do all of the final profiling, fretting and finishing.
I chose the 1930's Gibson PB4 pattern with the double cut peghead for this banjo.
 

2 way truss rod makes for a very adjustable neck
Thanks Wyatt

I will profile it down a bit more afterFretting/Binding/Heel cap

Fretted and bound, ready to profile

White plastic heel cap added
Final sanding complete, ready to stain

Taped off, and 2 shades of tint shot in a fade
 

First coat of sealer to pop the color, I will tint a little more at the heel and peghead before the next sealer coat.

After several tints, I am about as close as I can get
The Quilted maple, unfinished, is a little more brownish in color, and the Flamed maple neck is a little more of a natural yellow so it wants to pop out a little more
 The resonator is more reddish than this looks in the picture.

I disassembled the rim, tinted it a bit more reddish to match the other colors, and added the final coats of clear, then the Logo plate.

Side markers installed

Rim tint and finish complete.
Setup on Remo 1100 M3

Set Lag screws in heel and fitted the neck, and all is as it should be.
I will pull it back off and begin to put the final coats of clear on now.

All buffed out and waxed
I can see the tear in my sheet rock ceiling, and the pull chain on the lamp so it passes muster!

All finish work completed, ready to buff

Buffed, tuners installed

Going with Schaller offsets

All parts are fitting properly, Nut is installed and the banjo is strung to pitch
  Action is good on Farquhar bridge, we will try it first
Ill set the truss and mount the cover

Now I will cut the resonator notch and continue forth

Frets leveled crowned and repolished, and nut is cut to depth
Fingerboard is oiled and polished
 

All back to tension, and ready to button up, I like the tone and the power, but i'll bet Mike will like a little lighter gauges.
Action is good and intonation is VG as well, it plays nicely, at least I think it does, im not much of a plectrum player!
I just want it heard at full power, with both turbo's kicking, on the first sea trial  :):)

The Farquhar sounded VG, so it stayed

OK, Case closed, and I feel like this Accutone has a chance at being deemed a pretty fair ship of the line banjo
Im happy with some new techniques I have learned since I started and this one is for a very special friend, that has stuck with me when reaming tuner holes was a new thing to me.
if it weren't for guys like Mike, and some other Top hands, then this business would be just that.......a business.
Instead they have all made me feel like I have some small place in this world, and they trust me to do the best I can, and hand them something playable and that they are not ashamed to carry on a stage.
So lets get it on down to Sunny Florida, and let the good Capn get a little salty air on her, and see if it can pick out a tune or three in the process.
Thanks for watching,
Vinnie