About:

Building a Better Banjo in Heards, Virginia

In what was once a one room school house, built on the side of Heard's Mountain in 1900, where sons and daughters of those who worked in the mountainside apple orchards learned their "3 Rs" and minded their "P's and Q's", you will now find a myriad of woodworking equipment, handtools, and supplies suitable for creating the world's finest banjos and other stringed instruments. The young students have long since been replaced by seasoned luthiers who are known around the world as the master craftsmen of Stelling Banjo Works.

woodAbout 35 miles from Heards (as the crow flies) is the historic site of Appomatox Court House. This is considered by many to be the place where, in 1831, Joel Sweeney invented the 5-string banjo. There are, of course, intellectual discussions as to whether he invented it, developed it, or just played this thing in a new and unique way. Undoubtedly, Joel Sweeney was inspired by the beauty and serenity of these mountains just as we are today. What better place could there be than right here in the midst of a forest, surrounded by walnut, maple, and cherry trees, the very wood from which our banjos are made?

In addition to finding wood locally, some fancy varieties of walnut and curly maple are obtained from the forests of California and Oregon. In either case, the raw slabs of wood are cut to useable dimensions and then air dried in a climate-controlled room for up to five years. Once the wood is dry enough to use, it is milled to the dimensions of a banjo neck and aged further. After a few months, if the neck blank appears stable, it will continue through the six to eight week process of becoming a finished banjo.

Contact:

Stelling Banjo Works, USA