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…)

Alison Krauss & Union Station got started on their next studio recording this past weekend, tracking at Sound Emporium in Nashville.

Steve Huber visited the studio on Monday (8/3) to tweak a couple of banjos for Ron Block, and sent us a few photos. Ron plays a signature model Huber Banjo, and Steve had recently installed a prototype of his new HR-30 tone ring in two of Ron’s banjos. Huber was on hand Monday to help dial them in before the tracking got underway.

Talk about service!

Steve tells us that Ron expects to have prominent banjo on four or five of the tracks, and an understated banjo part on one other. He wasn’t able to hear any of the recording, but says that Ron suggested to him that the material was different from the sort of songs they have recorded in the past. They also plan to record differently this time, sticking to a more rigid schedule than they have for recent previous projects.

The CD will be released on Rounder, probably in early 2010.

Just this past week, two major US banjo manufacturers have announced the availability of banjo hardware made to vintage specifications.

Both Huber Banjos and American Made Banjo Co. are now producing parts for sale to banjo builders – both professional and hobbyist – and as replacements in vintage, pre war banjos. In both cases, these are the parts used in the finished banjos these two companies offer, now available for the first time for sale as separate components.

The two catalogs of parts overlap for the most part, though Huber offers a mix of wooden and metal parts, and American Made has a more complete listing of machined components. In addition to tone rings, resonator hardware, arm rests and coordinator rods, Huber has their resonators and rims available for sale. American Made doesn’t have any wooden parts listed on their site, but has all the metal hardware for a flathead, Mastertone-style banjo.

Tom Mirisola of American Made Banjo acquired his own machine shop earlier this year to manufacture banjo parts, and installs them in his Kel Kroydon banjos. You can see the complete list of parts on their web site.

Steve Huber is continuing to work towards the point where all the components in his Huber Banjos are made in house, and has only a few parts left before that goal is reached. He will be announcing two new tone ring models and a new Huber engineered rim within the next few weeks.

See the list of Huber Vintage parts online.

Both companies also offer custom made heads, straps bridges and strings, and Huber makes a deluxe capo as well.

We posted an announcement last week of the new Huber Ron Block model banjo. It is a near-replica of the pre war Granada Ron has been playing for many years, which was designed and will be marketed with his cooperation.

Ron, of course, is the long-time banjo player with Alison Krauss & Union Station. He passed a long a few word about the new Huber that he wanted us to share with our readers.

“I love the Huber Ron Block model. It has high-end clarity, yet still maintains warmth and midrange without muddiness; the tone remains constant at any dynamic level. The workmanship and attention to detail are top of the line. The way it looks makes me want to pick it up, and the way it sounds keeps it in my hands. Huber Banjos radiate excellence.”

Further details on the Huber site.