About Us
Doc’s Banjos is a family business located in the foothills of the Coast Range Mountains south of Dallas, Oregon. Doc and his wife Florisel build the banjos and run the business while children Natalia, Warner, and Jasper often test the durability of the instruments.Patrick “Doc” Huff got his nickname as an Army Medic in Vietnam at the age of 17. Doc's experience with war casualties, tropical medicine, and indigenous peoples while serving in Vietnam inspired him to become a doctor, and ultimately led him into full-time refugee and disaster work. In the 1980's Doc began doing socio-humanitarian work in the major refugee situations around the world. Serving in 14 different countries, as a volunteer, Doc ultimately left his rural practice in the states to do full-time work overseas. Doc studied Tropical Medicine at the University of London in year 1998, then took his practice into the world, spending 10 years doing socio-humanitarian work and tropical medicine. In 2008 Doc and his family returned from West Africa to build banjos full time, a much safer passion. A woodworker since youth, Doc became intimately familiar with the quality hardwoods he encountered while working in the tropics.
Patrick "Doc" Huff and Family
Doc Doctoring in Africa
Doc Jamming in Africa
Doc Helping a Family in Africa
Doc Helping a Family in Africa
Doc Playing His Travel Banjo in Africa
Doc's Handcrafted Home
Florisel is an integral part of the business. She brings creative talent, quality control, and most importantly support and a passion for what we are producing. Natalia (age 7) is learning the fiddle and banjo, Warner (age 5) and Jasper (age 3) both have traveling banjos, mostly they like to hold them. All of them enjoy coming to the shop to look for interesting tools and to build with banjo blocks.
Doc has played banjo for over 20 years both frailing and 3 finger picking. He experienced difficulty in finding a banjo that was ergonomically playable and delivered the tone he was looking for. Doc decided that the only way he was going to be able to play the banjo of his dreams would be to build it himself.
Doc built his first banjo in 2003 and has built over 144 banjos since then. Each banjo is a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted heirloom. Every facet and surface of each banjo expresses Doc’s expertise and care.
Doc familiarizes himself with each of his customers, usually by phone or through visits at music festivals. By learning someone’s musical interests and playing style, Doc can create a banjo that is the perfect fit for each person.
Doc has played banjo for over 20 years both frailing and 3 finger picking. He experienced difficulty in finding a banjo that was ergonomically playable and delivered the tone he was looking for. Doc decided that the only way he was going to be able to play the banjo of his dreams would be to build it himself.
Doc built his first banjo in 2003 and has built over 144 banjos since then. Each banjo is a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted heirloom. Every facet and surface of each banjo expresses Doc’s expertise and care.
Doc familiarizes himself with each of his customers, usually by phone or through visits at music festivals. By learning someone’s musical interests and playing style, Doc can create a banjo that is the perfect fit for each person.
Doc and the Luckiamute River Band
Doc's Handcrafted Shop
Doc's Handcrafted Shop. Behind the rustic cabin facade lies Doc's state of the art wood shop.
Friends
One the most rewarding aspects of building custom instruments is interacting with the people who we build for. Many customers have become life-long friends.We look forward to getting to know you!