1997 Bart Reiter Tubaphone 11″ 5-String Banjo Used

This is a Tubaphone model Bart discontinued very shortly after this example was delivered to Gryphon almost 27 years ago (he found the elaborate engraving on the headstock too time consuming). If you look at the headstock closely you can imagine why Bart would question whether it didn’t make more sense to build more banjos rather than fuss over the detailed inlays on fewer of them. Fortunately, this one has seen so little use over the years that it’s almost like buying a new Bart Reiter banjo! Even the nickel plating is almost perfect, and while the frets show a tiny amount of wear it was handled so carefully there are virtually no other signs of use. And while Bart had tired of the engraving, he was obviously very good at it after all those years of practice and the next owner gets to enjoy seeing the results of an artist at the top of his craft. The Fiberskyn head helps deliver a cool meaty tone, and there’s nice figure in the maple neck, too,