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Since 1973, Wildwood Banjo Co. has been quietly building fine Traditional & Bluegrass banjos in Arcata, California. In spring of 2008, the shop was relocated to Bend, Oregon and continues the tradition of building great banjos. Wildwood Banjos are hand made from the finest figured maples, walnuts, and exotic hardwoods available.
For the past several years Wildwood has offered on a limited basis the Exotic Wood Series Openbacks. These banjos are built from beautiful exotic woods such as African Wenge, Purple Heart from Costa Rica, Chechen from Mexico, and Rosewood from Honduras. Most of these woods are sustainably harvested from planned forestry programs. These instruments are strikingly beautiful, and sound incredible. The tone ring is turned as an integral part of the rim. These woods are tonal in their nature and produce a well balanced sound with a character perfect for the frailing/clawhammer style. This one is made from bubinga wood; we derived the name "Bubba" from this wood. The tone ring is made from wenge, known for its outstanding tone.
All Exotic Wood Series banjos are naturally colorful- no color staining needed. The rich hues of dark chocolate browns with black grain, the purples, the auburn reddish browns all make these banjos incredibly beautiful. Neck and rim bindings are hand made from the contrasting colorful woods adding an elegant look. The fingerboard inlays are simple cut diamonds in abalone, combined with the peghead inlays of the Balladeer. These banjos are finished with multiple coats of tung oil, hand rubbed, and polished to rich luster with wax. The Exotic Wood Series banjos have their own “flare” , a warm intriguing sound, and look beautiful—a proud addition to Wildwood's standard line of Traditional Banjos.
We have one made from bubinga wood and wenge tone ring. Mark Platen, the owner, makes different combinations of woods, but hasn't come up with a name. Since this one we just received has bubinga wood, we're calling it "Bubba". :0) Mark Platen likes it.
Note: Our banjos are individually inspected, set up and tuned by the banjo.com staff in Georgia. We are banjo players, so we set them up the way we want to play them! Each banjo is in tune when we carefully pack it for shipment. Climate conditions and travel will affect the tuning, so it may need to be fine-tuned before playing. |
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