Condition: Used, Excellent

SP Luthier Notes: The truss rod and bridge were fully adjusted. All of the frets were polished, recrowned and leveled. The frets needed polishing, and were polished. No further work was needed. No further work was needed. 

Embrace the vibrant, woody voice of the legendary Deering John Hartford 5-String Banjo, an absolutely spectacular instrument built for the discerning player. This celebrated model features the distinct Hartford Grenadillo Tone Ring, delivering a wonderfully full-bodied sound with warm bass and crystal-clear highs—a truly unique acoustic quality. The slender "D" shape quartersawn curly maple neck and smooth AA Grade Ebony fingerboard offer supreme playability for effortless fretting. From the rich dark walnut stain to the premium Deering Planetary Tuners, every detail ensures this banjo is not merely a purchase, but a cherished investment in musical excellence and a joy to perform with!

People ask why we have a non standard inlay pattern on this banjo. It was once the standard pattern and fairly common to just have the inlays grouped right in the middle and out on the ends of the fingerboard. Some of the old banjos like the Farland, and some of those old banjos made before 1900 had this, so John asked us to do that. John was a licensed river boat captain and wanted us to put some sort of a riverboat theme into his banjo. And again, we were kind of stumped a little bit, not wanting to just put inlays of riverboats in the fingerboard. Then we had a really neat opportunity because when Chuck, our head craftsman at the time, was growing up and learning to play music his main banjo hero was John Hartford. Chuck grew up in Minnesota and when John Hartford would come to town to play he would never miss a concert and he thought John Hartford was the coolest musician. The idea that he would someday be making a banjo for John Hartford was beyond his wildest dreams so I gave the job of designing the inlays to Chuck.

Chuck started studying riverboats and reading a lot. He went to the library and found all the books he could about riverboats. He discovered that there is a whole classic architecture of riverboats that's significantly different than the architecture that goes into houses. People think that the gingerbread on a riverboat is the same as on the house but it is actually distinctly and identifiably different. The ratio of the length to width and the style of the scrolls that go into the riverboat architecture are different than what is on a gingerbread house, a Victorian period house. So Chuck took the riverboat architecture and used that classic form to develop inlays for the Hartford banjo. It ended up having a very riverboat type of flavor because it uses that architecture and that art form without having to have pictures of riverboats on it. We accomplished a really classic design for John and Chuck was able to have a wonderful time working with John on the inlay.

Warranty

This item is sold without the Sound Pure 3-year warranty (used / B-stock / dealer-exempt). Coverage terms for items in this category live in Terms & Conditions, Section 27.

Returns

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