Doc's Scalloped Fretboard

We did not invent the scalloped fretboard—scallops first appeared on a few banjos in the 1890's, but never really caught on. Intrigued by the idea, I invested considerable effort experimenting with multiple scallop designs trying to achieve a "fretless-like" sound with the accurate intonation of frets. When I finally mastered our scalloped fretboard design, I was amazed not just by the smooth slides, but also by the enhancement to low-end tone, the potential for lower action, great "feel", and visual aesthetic.

The tolerances between what works like magic and what doesn't is very unforgiving. Scallop too shallow and you get buzzes, too deep and you get intonation changes, poor feel, and lose the smooth slides. Unlike a guitar scallop (which is dramatically different design), I do not believe that it is possible to make a banjo scalloped fretboard with machines. A successful banjo scallop is a handmade project, which is probably another reason that the idea has never gained traction.

What does it play like? My scalloped fret banjos play great for both clawhammer/frailing and 3 finger picking. Slides are smoother as no frets protrude above the fretboard. The action is lower the entire length of the neck than a fretted banjo. You get an accurately intoned note anywhere on the neck. The tonal quality is much like a fretless. The neck also plays “faster” than a fretted banjo because of the smaller distance and lesser pressure needed to make a note ring clearly.

Often at a show or in our shop, people will pick up one of our scallop fretted banjos without noticing the fretboard and start playing on it. Intonation and ease of playability are so natural that often people don’t realize the unique fretboard, simply commenting about how good the neck feels. When we point out the scalloped fretboard we always gets a “Wow”! The scalloped fretboard feels great and sounds even better.

The scalloped fretboard is available as an option on our custom banjos, and I can re-fret an existing banjo as long as the fretboard has stable wood.  

Please visit our available and recently sold banjos to see many examples of our scalloped fretboard.