My original model, with its distinctive “Thistle” headstock. The prototypes have heart-shaped sound holes, but these could be round or diamond shaped. They also have the Fielding tailpiece.It will however accept my two piece, down tension tail piece The idea behind the World Banjo is to open the banjo to new players from different genres of music. The five-string banjo is a versatile instrument and shouldn’t be limited to any one style of playing. It is a relatively young instrument in its modern form and it will be exciting to see where new players take it musically. I believe that this new approach to building will attract more musicians who were intimidated by the heavy, sharp-edged, metallic sounding banjos that are prevalent today. This light weight, comfortable banjo is fun to play and has a less formal, more intimate feel to it. It’s warm, woody sound has plenty of volume and works great for vocal accompaniment. It can be dark and aggressive when called on but can also be sweet and sonorous with crystal clear highs, strong midrange, and solid bass notes.
