Ovilla Vintage Inlay

My favorite inlays are the Ovilla ones---both of them. Shown here is our vintage Ovilla inlay, showing moon and stars. You may have seen our other inlay--a lady sitting in the moon, still available in the "Original" model. Both make me smile! Our Ovilla, wooden tone ring, model is named after our home town here in Texas. Ovilla is pronounced with the L's--Oh-vill-ah. It's mostly residential and quiet here. One small claim to fame is the town center was formerly the "on location" site for filming part of the TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger". Our Ovilla was the Indian Reservation.

Red Diamond Mandolin

Our Nate is selling his Red Diamond Mandolin--reluctantly. In case you've never seen one of these beauties built by Don MacRostie, here are the photos. His new custom five string fiddle has taken top spot and the mandolin has to go.

If you know of someone in the market, this one is available. They go up in value steadily and there is a waiting list for them.

Nate received good advice several years ago, when another luthier told him that these mandolins are a great value. How true. Soon this one will be in new hands!

Peghed (tm) Tuners

We interrupt Chuck Lee on assembly day to ask him a few important questions.

Tammy: Chuck, tell me, what kind of tuners are you installing?

Chuck: Well, my dear, these are patented, 4:1 geared planetary Peghed tuners (pegheds.com)! Similar to the Knilling Perfection tuners used on violin family instruments.

Tammy: Oh! Are they difficult to install?

Chuck: No more difficult than others. As long as I don't get carried away with this reamer! I ream the hole to the proper size and thread the tuners in. They come in LH threads and RH threads.

Tammy: So, why do so many of our customers prefer Peghed tuners?

Chuck: Because they're easy to tune with and they have that old-timey violin peg appearance.

Tammy: So, if a customer wants Peghed tuners as opposed to Waverly planetary geared tuners, what should they ask for?

Chuck: They should buy or order a "Vintage" Chuck Lee banjo as they come with Peghed tuners .

Tammy: What if a customer wants Pegheds on a banjo which has another kind of tuners? What options do they have?

Chuck: They can contact Chuck Herin at Pegheds.com as he has tuners in several sizes. Peghed tuners can be used on guitars and other stringed instruments. He makes a cool 5th string tuner for banjos as well. Chuck Herin is the designer and patent holder on all the Peghed and Perfection tuners.

Tammy: This concludes this interview. Thanks Chuck! You look a little tired. Maybe you should take a day off :).

Chuck: I think I just used up my words for the day.