{"product_id":"stanley-hicks-mountain-banjo-5-string-fretless-banjo-1980s-13421","title":"Stanley Hicks Mountain Banjo 5 String Fretless Banjo (1980s)","description":"Stanley Hicks Mountain Banjo Model 5 String Fretless Banjo, c. 1980s, made in Watauga County, North Carolina, natural finish, cherry neck, cherry body with skin head. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"740\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/swGncojYqZo\" title=\"Stanley \u0026amp; Ray Hicks: Roving Gambler (1982)\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWatauga County, North Carolina was home to many of the torchbearers of American traditional music and Appalachian storytelling, but Stanley Hicks in particular was a master of his many crafts including storytelling, flatfooting, and of course instrument making. From humble beginnings as the child of English immigrants, Hicks taught himself how to build banjos and dulcimers like his father and grandfather before him. Like other resourceful mountain instrument builders, Hicks made use of the easily attainable tone woods on his property and likely used the skin of whatever critter was available that week.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe simple but ingenious design of these banjos is far closer to original African-style instruments built in the southern States by enslaved African-Americans than it is to the intricately factory engraved, complex and pearlescent offerings of companies like Gibson and Bacon \u0026amp; Day which were usually financially unattainable to blue-collar pickers of rural Appalachia. This one was purchased directly from Stanley himself in 1983 not as an order but as a purchase of one of his personal or layabout shop instruments, hence the lack of engraving or other marking as would be custom. This banjo is built with a subtly figured one-piece cherry neck with a smooth D-shaped profile. The body has a cherry top, back sides and tailpiece and a genuine skin head. It is fretless with no markers on the fingerboard and a set of matching hand-carved cherry wooden friction pegs in the headstock. The neck on this banjo has pulled forward quite a bit; it is playable in the lower positions but not so much above. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHicks was a vital part of the region's folk music community writ large and an avid storyteller, a tradition that holds a lot of weight in Appalachia and earned him several regional and national accolades. He went on to be recorded by the likes of Alan Lomax and was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 1983, the highest national honor for folk art. He passed away in 1989 only a few years after the construction of this banjo, building instruments and making music until the end of his life. Today his instruments are considered among the higher quality examples of the mountain banjo tradition, and among the most sought after of this banjo family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePicked up from Stanley in the mid 80's 1983\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 34 3\/4 in. (88.3 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) width, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 26 1\/2 in. (673 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7\/16 in. (36 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Hicks mountain banjo comes to us in good cosmetic condition but a noticeable warp in the one-piece neck has left it structurally less playable than many, although it is still functional for the style in which these are generally played. The one-piece neck construction of mountain banjos and lack of frets offers little opportunity to improve this and the action up the neck is higher than our typical shop spec. Cosmetically it shows just some minor wear from use over the years. It has been played; there are scratches and scuffs, mostly to the back, with a few scuffs around the neck and headstock area as well. There are no cracks or splits in the wood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHicks is still regarded as one of the higher quality builders of his day; with steel strings and hand-made friction pegs it is not the easiest to tune, but rewards the effort with a beautiful and uniquely evocative sound. The skin head appears to be original and is not as taut as we would prefer; While not split and need of immediate replacement (a somewhat arduous process for this species of banjo) it shows more sag than ideal for the best sound. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo sum up this banjo is still playable but a bit more finnicky than some other examples we've had; perhaps best suited as a collector's\/display piece more than a daily player. Nonetheless, it is a historically significant and unaltered piece from one of the most revered Appalachian folk instrument builders of his day. It has no original case or bag; these came in a handmade bag, if anything at all. Good Condition.","brand":"Stanley Hicks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62129385078924,"sku":"13421","price":1950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_79837de0-cac2-4937-85ad-5ebc4f8c2814.jpg?v=1791058916","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/stanley-hicks-mountain-banjo-5-string-fretless-banjo-1980s-13421","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}