Local Artist Contributes to Special Projects

We had a special local artist, Rebekah Alexander, collaborate with us for this wonderful banjo.

A little history: Rebekah is the wife of James Alexander.

James and his family have been long time family friends. As a high school student, James contributed many hours in an apprenticeship relationship here in our banjo shop.

He was a huge help as we developed our business, and continues to be interested in lutherie.

He is also a skilled musician as well as busy clock repairman. His wife Rebekah showed artistic talent at a young age, and now teaches art students in their home.

Rebekah has been a contributing artist on several banjo inlays.

So far, she has collaborated with Chuck in drawing a whimsical cat fishing, a mastiff and a cat playing with a fish.

Her next project will be a golden retriever for a custom on order.

13" pot--a Chuck Lee Banjo Special

Look what we built for Lee Thomas--a dandy new banjo with a 13" pot. Here's Lee's note:

"Hey Chuck and Tammy, Just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying the new banjo. The one ply, 13" rim is amazing. The clarity and tone are great and the balance from one to five is perfect. I played it the entire gig last Saturday and it was more than a match for our hard driving fiddle player. Looks like I'll be taking it to the gigs from now on. Thanks for another great banjo!"

Lee's banjo was built of maple with a gorgeous antique cherry stain. The rim is a one-ply, maple, with black stain.

This is one of two we have made--the second went to Zepp Country Music, where is sold promptly. More are planned!

Banjos and Recession

I have heard that traditionally during recessions and depressions, banjo playing surges. Perhaps people are staying home more, or in touch with something deep within them. Music can describe the highs and lows of life unlike anything else. We have been curious if this is the case today. Any thoughts? We do know that banjos are still selling! Our music stores still have their doors open, as do our suppliers! Even better, we spoke with the owner of one prominent store yesterday; he cheerfully reported a surge in shoppers and purchases during the last month. What great news! How about your part of the country?

Special Storyteller Banjo

Dan Gibson is a popular Texas storyteller. He has studied and prepared himself to be an excellent entertainer for schools, libraries, festivals and more. We were so delighted to build him a banjo recently! One unique feature is the large star in the peghead, made from Dogwood, at his request. He chose a Prairieview peghead shape and walnut rim. It was a delightful project which we hope will help entertain and educate lots of audiences.

Marble Falls--Twin Sisters

These two curly walnut beauties are just as close to the same as we can get 'em. Custom built for Craig Evans of Singleton Street, he requested only one difference...an "alpha" is inlaid in the fingerboard of one, and an "omega" in the fingerboard of the other. Details? Select curly walnut necks, Bill Rickard tubaphone style tone rings on walnut rims with special burl walnut rim caps, marble falls peghead shape with Vintage Series inlay in pegheads.

So, while the rest of Texas has been worrying about hurricanes and floods, we were thankful for worst of them to bypass our area so we could complete this special order.

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.

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.

James Reed & his Chuck Lee Cottonwood Banjo

This distinguished gentleman is James Reed, of Waco, Texas. James wanted something a little different, so here's his custom Cottonwood Vintage with mesquite fingerboard and peghead overlay. What beautiful wood! The neck and rim are made from Cherry. The hardware is all brass.

We've known James a long time. We first met him over 10 years ago, when he made "house calls" to give some of our family members music lessons. He was the first to inspire our Nate to play the mandolin.

We always enjoy a visit from James, who can play a number of instruments and also teaches and plays with various bands when not busy with his "day job" or family. He has taught several of us lessons. We are pleased that he now owns two Chuck Lee Banjos.

What's next? He has expressed interest in adding a Chuck Lee 17 fret Irish Tenor with resonator to his collection.

Left-handed custom Chuck Lee banjo

This delightful lady arrived at our doorstep a few months ago, desiring a left-handed banjo. Sharon Mullins is a Texan who frequents Old-time and music festivals, and she wanted a new banjo.

They're a little tricky to build when you're working "backwards". As a luthier, you have to resist your instincts and overcome habit to accurately build in reverse. But no mistakes here, everything went smoothly, and we were pleased with the result.

Chuck Lee 19 fret Tenor up close

Here is my Tenor, the prototype, up close and personal. It has the Chautauqua peghead shape and Vintage inlay, but not our Vintage tuners (peghed brand), instead it has Waverly planetary tuners, with ivoroid buttons. The fret wire is the smaller vintage banjo/mandolin style wire. Neck and pot are walnut, but the rim has a double rim cap of ebony then walnut---really sharp looking! This is a 19 fret Tenor. I can't wait to try the next Tenor in process, a 17 fret. Chuck thinks I may like it even better than this one.

Cottonwood Vintage Banjo with Dobson Tone Ring

Lee Thomas, shown above with Chuck, came over last week to help us out for a magazine photo shoot. While he was here, he tried out the prototype of our new Cottonwood Model! This one is a Vintage, and like all future Cottonwoods, has a Dobson tone ring.

For this neck Chuck chose select curly walnut, and a walnut rim. What does the Cottonwood sound like? It sounds great! It looks pretty cool, too! This very Cottonwood is scheduled to be in the hands of Zepp Country Music today.

Lee is a wonderful banjo player, and he, his wife and son, are all part of the talented and friendly Old-time band, Salt Rock Rounders,of Fort Worth.

Lee is also our consulting attorney and doesn't even mind lawyer jokes! If he looks familiar, you may have seen him featured in the Chuck Lee Banjo episode of Texas Country Reporter. Lee is pretty handy himself with Banjo assembly and setup, and owns 3 Chuck Lee banjos. (He tells me his favorite is his Custom A-scale with wood tone ring).

Four String, 19 Fret Tenor Banjo by Chuck Lee

Well, if we're not blogging, at least we've been building! This week we finished several orders, including a left-handed custom, the new Cottonwood, and my new Tenor! Watch for blogs of all of these during the next week.

Here is my new Tenor, which I have been pestering Chuck to work on for two years. I figured since I can play a few mandolin tunes, I can do them on the tenor as well. I just love it! The sound is incredible. It is the prototype, it turned out nicely.

We'll have more close-ups and technical detail in a blog to follow. Meanwhile, I'll be getting in touch with my Irish side.

ZOO

This Badger, with wooden tone ring and all cherry wood, is for Johnny's Guitar teacher, nicknamed "Zoo". Patrick DeZeeuw surprised me at Johnny's first lesson--he told Johnny that a good student should never practice guitar! After the shock wore off, he continued to say, "practice is dull, we don't practice what we love, we PLAY. Lots!" I just have to agree with that approach. Zoo often surprises me; when he plays electric with Johnny, they play it LOUD, 'cos "that's how electric guitar is meant to be played". He is a gifted teacher who cares about his students with great depth.
In addition to being an excellent musician and song writer, Zoo is also an artist and landscape designer. Hope he enjoys his one-of-a-kind banjo.

Wayne Shrubsall

This Prairieville is on its way to Wayne Shrubsall. Wayne is a favorite of ours, a kind and helpful person and a fantastic banjo player. We think of him as a true " gentleman and scholar".

His Prairieville Vintage 12" is all walnut, with the standard brass hoop tone ring. It features Vintage peghead inlay and Peghed (tm) planetary geared tuners.

This is Wayne's second Chuck Lee Banjo.

Armrests

We have been trying to provide quality wire armrests for our banjo players. Just before Christmas we had a long anticipated shipment of plated armrests come in! Our boys spent some of their school break helping us sort and divide them. They are mostly gone now.
We don't get these in often, but hopefully more are coming. They are made for us, but fit most any banjo. Be sure to drop us an email if you want one, nickel or brass. If we're out, we'll put you on a waiting list for the next order.
Also, some of our dealers have a few to sell.