Checking in with Chris Pandolfi
I had a chance to speak with Chris Pandolfi of The Infamous Stringdusters today, and he caught me up on a couple of projects he is working on going into the Fall. The band is heading into the studio next week, and Chris has a brand new banjo he’s planning to use when they start recording.
He is really excited about the banjo, a soon-to-be-released Chris Pandolfi signature model Huber. It will differ from the rest of the Huber line in that it employs a mahogany rather than a maple rim. The fingerboard is also fairly stark by modern standards, using dot inlays with a winged emblem at the 5th fret and Chris’ signature at the 21st fret.
Chris worked with Steve Huber to design the banjo, and is delighted with the result.
“I’ve been playing it around the clock for the past couple weeks and it’s really sounding great. It’s been a long process, and Steve has been really gracious with his time to make sure we get this right.
It has a very big dynamic range, which I think comes from the mahogany rim, allowing for a wider range of tone and dynamics – especially away from the bridge.
My goal all along with this banjo was to find something that suits my playing – a more modern as opposed to traditional approach. I still love to play grass, and I prefer a typical bluegrass set up, which I find more responsive.
You can set this banjo up with lighter strings and lower action, and the rim (to my ear) serves to mellow out the tone with a normal bluegrassy set up. But it doesn’t sacrifice anything when it comes to bluegrass playing.
Noam Pikelny (of Punch Brothers) came by the other day with his old pre war, and we got all the banjos out for some side-by-sides. He had his flathead and I had my two Hubers – the new one and my Lancaster – plus my Robin Smith banjo. Especially comparing the two Hubers, you could hear the difference that comes from the mahogany rim.
Noam really dug the new Huber too.”
Chris and the rest of the ‘Dusters will be packing it up and heading to Charlottesville, VA next week to record their next album for Sugar Hill Records. They will be recording at Haunted Hollow, the private studio of the Dave Matthews Band.
“Our manager works with their management on some things, and he hooked us up with this place. The Dave Matthews Band built it with the label advance for one of their projects a few years ago, and it is awesome. (more…)







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