The Pot

The banjo pot is really the engine of the banjo. By combining woods of varying density and cell structure, we can produce the specific tone you are looking for. With a variety of over 20 woods, we utilize color and visual characteristics of different woods to embellish the aesthetic of the primary tone wood. Understanding the visual and tonal characteristics of the woods we work with allows us to combine woods to create a natural beauty in appearance and tone rarely paralleled. Our pots are truly custom: we have never built two pots or necks that are the exactly the same.

We use grain-matched block construction exclusively as we feel it provides the most balanced tone. Each layer of the pot is “grain matched”, both vertically and horizontally. The mid section of the pot is always 2 rows of blocks in the same anatomical position as it was when the board left the tree. Our theory is that sound travels, in a significant part, through the grain of the wood. Matching wood grain and anatomical position helps increase resonance and improve tone. Additionally, it also creates beautiful joinery with an unmatched aesthetic.

We believe that an integrated tone ring of wood built from carefully selected tone woods glued directly to the pot, gives the finest tone to be found in an Old Time banjo. But we understand that when it comes to tone rings, it all comes down to a player's preference. If you are really looking for a banjo that projects sound (such as a band setting without sound equipment), we can put a Whyte Laydie, Dobson, or Tubaphone tone ring on your custom order banjo. Our whole purpose in building is to build the fantastic banjo that you have dreamed about...in fact, we hope to exceed your dreams.

Doc's Tudor Pot™ and Gothic Pot™

Tudor Pot™

The Tudor Pot™ was our first trademark pot design. Having seen too many old banjos with bent or crooked thin wall pots (I honestly believe that all thin wall pots will bend with time) I worked to create a design that would “truss” the pot, improve tone quality, and stand the test of time. This design features a full thickness (3/4”) front and rear, tapering down to sidewalls that are a mere 3/8”. With this design, the neck and the coordinator union with the pot are very strong and the thin side walls open up the tone chamber, improving tone frequency response and enhancing volume. Aesthetically, it is also a very beautiful pot, as the curves and tapers emphasize interesting grain patterns.

Gothic Pot™

Some years later, we developed the Gothic Pot™ in our never-ceasing quest to improve tone. The objectives were the same: enhance tone and stand the test of time without structural failure. The integrated wood tone ring on this design tapers to a full 3/4" where the upper bolt attaches to the pot, then tapers circumferentially down to a thin wall of only 3/8”. That thin wall then extends downward to the bottom of the pot. Our most recent design features an inward curl (or "skirt" at the bottom of the pot which tapers up to a thickness of around 5/8”. Three significant features of this pot are:

1. The Integrated Wood Tone Ring keeps its full thickness all the way around the pot. This full thickness ring, then tapers down in thickness as it approaches the head above and as it approaches the thin zone below.
2. The thin zone (what I call the “belly” of the pot) increases the air chamber significantly, dramatically adding both volume and low-end tone.
3. The “skirt” on the bottom of the pot (on our most recent design) mixes the tones being generated inside the pot by sending some of it back toward the front of the instrument. Additionally, the thickness of the skirt helps strengthen the pot even further.

In Summary

Both of our trademark pot designs deliver dramatically improved tone. Many people are comment about the deeply resonant, well-balanced, full-bodied tone of our banjos. I primarily credit the combination of our pot design, wood selection, and matched grain joinery for the great tone of our banjos.

Please explore our gallery and available banjos to see many examples of our beautiful pots.