2018 Gold Tone LN Custom Longneck 5-String Banjo

It's not often I see modern longneck banjos in the shop. This Gold Tone is still pretty young but it's beautifully-built and packed with a lot of the features that made the old Vega longnecks so excellent for blending with folkie guitarists. It's got the long, 32" scale that tunes down to E... a Tubaphone-style tonering under the hood... and sturdy hardware. The neck is straight and stable, has nice frets, and maple binding. It's even got "railroad spike" capos for the 3 (G), 5 (A), and 7 (B) positions on the 5th string.

It's designated "LN Custom" on its interior-rim label and the serial number points to 2018 manufacture. It was originally sold as a "blem" model because there's a little finish crack on the back of the heel (no, it's not a real crack) along with some discolored dots of un-stained finish. I'm guessing this guy got a bump right in that spot in the curing room after the first spray or something. Oops!

My work was just to restring, compensate the bridge, and set it up -- it was otherwise clean and playing ok when it arrived. I've used heavier strings (11s) with chenilled ends which cut down unwanted overtones behind the bridge.

Repairs included: setup, restring, adjustments.

Rim wood: maple

Tonering: Tubaphone-style

Bridge: ebony/maple compensated

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: maple

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" (capo on 3 for G) or hair-below 3/32" open
String gauges: 11s

Neck shape: medium C

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium with zero fret

Scale length: 32"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

Head diameter: 11”

Depth overall at rim: 3"

Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz

Condition notes: it's quite clean save the factory blem on the bottom-back of the heel. The frets are good, it's all-original throughout, and it's ready to go. A dual coordinator rod system also makes it easy to setup on the fly per the player's changing tastes.

It comes with: an original TKL hard case.