{"product_id":"kyle-creed-5-string-banjo-1975-14202","title":"Kyle Creed 5 String Banjo (1975)","description":"Kyle Creed 5 String Banjo (1975), made in Galax, VA, shaded maple finish, laminated maple rim, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis banjo is a rare and sought after piece, made by Kyle Creed of Galax, VA. Creed was a master musician, banjo builder and entrepreneur but his instruments rarely turn up today, this is the first we have had in a decade or more. It is a traditional style openback built on a laminated maple rim, beveled somewhat at the top with a simple \"Little Wonder\" style tone ring. Dual Gibson style coordinator rods are fitted, securing the 26 1\/2\" scale maple neck with a bound rosewood fingerboard. The pearl inlays consist of a single star in the headstock; the fingerboard has a star, clover and flower pieces with a pearl block engraved with the maker's name just above the rim. The hardware is typical for the era with vintage Vega-style nuts. There is a small typed label inside the rim reading \"Hand Made 1975 Kyle Creed Galax VA\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKyle Creed was something of a legendary player in the old-time string band world. He grew up in the Camp Creek area of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Surrey County, NC which gave its name \"The Camp Creek Boys\" to the string band he formed in the 1930s with Fred Cockerham, Paul Sutphin, Ronald Collins, Ernest East, Verlin Clifton, and Roscoe Russell. They recorded three albums for the County and Mountain labels in the 1960s and the group's high-energy take on traditional Appalachian dance reels was highly influential during the old-time music revival of the 1960s.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCreed was an outstanding clawhammer banjo player and his clean, bell-like tone and gentle syncopated style have been much imitated. He reportedly sold the banjos he built out of the trunk of his car, although, as many have noted, they sounded better when Creed was playing them! Eventually settling in the Galax, VA, area Creed ran a store and built a small recording studio next to it, even operating his own record label for a time. He released occasional solo sides featuring his banjo and fiddle playing. Kyle Creed passed away in 1982; his influence on the old-time music community was immense, and traces of his distinctive banjo style can still be heard in the playing of a number of banjoists.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKyle crafted his first banjo at age sixteen out of poplar wood using a draw knife, pocket knife, a handsaw, brace and bit. He took up the trade of carpenter and developed a finely-tuned sense of craftsmanship. After moving to Carroll County in 1960, Kyle built Fred Cockerham a fretless banjo to encourage him to get back into playing. Soon repairing and building banjos became a new career for Kyle, eventually he was shipping them throughout the United States and to Canada, England, Australia, and Japan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Kyle was an excellent clawhammer and two-finger picking style player he knew the qualities that were desirable in an old-time banjo. As a carpenter and sawmiller, he understood the characteristics of different types of wood, often using local species including maple, curly maple, wild cherry, American black walnut, apple, and even some dogwood. Kyle said he liked to experiment; he built 11- and 12-inch rims, both laminated and block style, re-necked tenor and plectrum banjo rims and even made a few resonator banjos. All Kyle Creed banjos became highly sought after because of their uniqueness, sound, and playability. Although Kyle did not begin numbering his banjos until 1975, research by Kevin Fore and Bob Carlin suggests that most likely built just under two hundred were built over his career. This is a fine example, a fine old-time instrument played in but not abused and sounding great.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 37 3\/8 in. (94.9 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 2 9\/16 in. (6.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 26 1\/2 in. (673 mm.). Width of nut is 1 15\/32 in. (37 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis banjo shows some general wear overall, played but not abused over the 5 decades. The very thin shaded finish is rubbed well down to the wood on the back of the neck in the first position, and also along the top edge by the fingerboard from the 15th fret up where a frailer rested their thump. The rest of the instrument shows comparatively minor play wear overall with some plating wear to the metal and finger wear to the head around the strings. The banjo appears all original except for more recent tuners on the headstock; the 5th string peg is older. The frets show minimal wear and this Creed plays very well with a the classic Old-time sound these are revered for. The banjo resides in an older slightly oversized HSC built for a resonator banjo, a bit worn but serviceable. Overall Very Good + Condition.","brand":"Kyle Creed","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52382995513484,"sku":"14202","price":4500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_2d271b0f-9417-4db3-9d74-c4ef7a101ba9.jpg?v=1786644563","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/kyle-creed-5-string-banjo-1975-14202","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}