... Banjo Newbie, that is.

I love all things strings, and when I came across one of Eric Prust's Basic Tackhead Banjos, I just had to give it a try.

Eric Prust Tackhead with SuperNylguts June 2016.jpg

As many of you may already know, Eric specializes in Civil War-Era instruments. This is his basic fretless tackhead. Maple neck, oak pot.

What a fantastic little instrument. I have had my hands in the acoustic instrument world for many years and can say these are very well made instruments. Especially for the price. I got this one used, and it needed a new head. I sent it to Eric (AZ to WA to AZ in 5 days!) and it is very happy with it's new skin.

This is also my first real experience with nylgut strings and it hasn't been painless. I have tried out a couple of different types and am pretty happy with the Aquila SuperNylgut set I put on the other day. They seem to be behaving as far as staying in tune. They also had WAY less initial stretching than the others.

My good man, Frank Hamilton, at Hamilton Instruments is teaching me the "Bum-Ditty" and I am already havin' a ball!