Leonard Glenn Mountain Banjo 5 String Fretless Banjo (1984)
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Item # 13427
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Leonard Glenn Mountain Banjo Model 5 String Fretless Banjo (1984), made in Sugar Grove, North Carolina, natural finish, maple neck, maple and cherry body with skin head, black gig bag case.
This is a companion piece to Item # 13484 Leonard Glenn 3-String Appalachian Dulcimer having been made around the same time and likely sold together. If you are interested in acquiring the pair, we request you call our shop and speak with a salesperson if both are still available.
As a renewed interest in traditional folk music swelled in the nation in the 1950s following WWII, Leonard Glenn of Watauga County, North Carolina began to largely teach himself the craft of instrument making beginning with a few dulcimers and eventually mountain banjos; he would go on to be accompanied in his endeavors by his son, Clifford Glenn. Crucially, the Glenns are widely known to have built many of the most historically significant examples of the Appalachian mountain banjo for their neighbor, Frank Proffitt Sr. Proffitt is not only renowned as a builder, but as a folk performer who made a major contribution to American musical history including being featured in Alan Lomax's essential "Folk Songs of North America."
These banjos simple but ingenious design is far closer to the original African banjos brought to the States by enslaved African-Americans than it is to the intricately factory engraved, complex and pearlescent offerings of companies like Gibson and Bacon and Day which were usually financially unattainable to many blue-collar pickers of rural Appalachia. This banjo is built with a beautiful one-piece maple neck with a fantastic grain pattern and a deep neck (think of a deep and very rounded "U-V" shape), a maple body with cherry sides, and a genuine skin head. It is fretless with no markers on the fingerboard and hand-carved cherry wooden friction pegs and tailpiece.
There is a traditional school of playing that these banjos (some might say 'banjers!') excel at; the sound is more intimate than a more standard factory instrument, with less overring but surprising volume when played hard. Authentic examples of these banjos rarely come up for sale; this hand-wrought "Mountain banjo" is playable Americana at its most basic and beautiful.
Overall length is 34 3/4 in. (88.3 cm.), 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) width, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
This mountain banjo remains in very good playable condition, with some minor wear from respectful use over the years. It has been played over the years; there are scratches and scuffs, mostly to the back, but the finish is organic enough to make any but the heaviest wear relatively inconsequential. The skin head appears to be original and not in need of replacement, a somewhat arduous process for this species of banjo, anytime soon. The handwritten and dated label denoting that this came from Leonard's bench is well in-tact inside the rim. There do not appear to be any cracks or repairs of note on this instrument, and the fretless fingerboard shines unmarred and a treat to play.
The banjo plays very well to the standards of these instruments; with steel strings and hand-made friction pegs it is not the easiest to tune, but rewards the effort with a beautiful and uniquely evocative sound. It has no original case (they came in a handmade bag, if anything at all) and resides in a simple modern gig bag. Overall Excellent Condition.
This is a companion piece to Item # 13484 Leonard Glenn 3-String Appalachian Dulcimer having been made around the same time and likely sold together. If you are interested in acquiring the pair, we request you call our shop and speak with a salesperson if both are still available.
As a renewed interest in traditional folk music swelled in the nation in the 1950s following WWII, Leonard Glenn of Watauga County, North Carolina began to largely teach himself the craft of instrument making beginning with a few dulcimers and eventually mountain banjos; he would go on to be accompanied in his endeavors by his son, Clifford Glenn. Crucially, the Glenns are widely known to have built many of the most historically significant examples of the Appalachian mountain banjo for their neighbor, Frank Proffitt Sr. Proffitt is not only renowned as a builder, but as a folk performer who made a major contribution to American musical history including being featured in Alan Lomax's essential "Folk Songs of North America."
These banjos simple but ingenious design is far closer to the original African banjos brought to the States by enslaved African-Americans than it is to the intricately factory engraved, complex and pearlescent offerings of companies like Gibson and Bacon and Day which were usually financially unattainable to many blue-collar pickers of rural Appalachia. This banjo is built with a beautiful one-piece maple neck with a fantastic grain pattern and a deep neck (think of a deep and very rounded "U-V" shape), a maple body with cherry sides, and a genuine skin head. It is fretless with no markers on the fingerboard and hand-carved cherry wooden friction pegs and tailpiece.
There is a traditional school of playing that these banjos (some might say 'banjers!') excel at; the sound is more intimate than a more standard factory instrument, with less overring but surprising volume when played hard. Authentic examples of these banjos rarely come up for sale; this hand-wrought "Mountain banjo" is playable Americana at its most basic and beautiful.
Overall length is 34 3/4 in. (88.3 cm.), 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) width, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/4 in. (32 mm.).
This mountain banjo remains in very good playable condition, with some minor wear from respectful use over the years. It has been played over the years; there are scratches and scuffs, mostly to the back, but the finish is organic enough to make any but the heaviest wear relatively inconsequential. The skin head appears to be original and not in need of replacement, a somewhat arduous process for this species of banjo, anytime soon. The handwritten and dated label denoting that this came from Leonard's bench is well in-tact inside the rim. There do not appear to be any cracks or repairs of note on this instrument, and the fretless fingerboard shines unmarred and a treat to play.
The banjo plays very well to the standards of these instruments; with steel strings and hand-made friction pegs it is not the easiest to tune, but rewards the effort with a beautiful and uniquely evocative sound. It has no original case (they came in a handmade bag, if anything at all) and resides in a simple modern gig bag. Overall Excellent Condition.