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Masters of the 5-String Banjo
by: Tony Trischka & Pete Wernick

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In the land of hockey, walleye fishing and Mall of America there's a revolution in banjo design and development that may be the biggest change in the old five string since frets were put on the fingerboard. Bloomington, Minnesota is the home of Nechville Musical Products and Tom Nechville. Tom has spearheaded a quiet banjo revolution – if anything associated with the banjo can be considered quiet.

Tom's interest in the banjo started when he was in his teens. He was inspired by the banjo music he heard in movies like "Deliverance" and "Bonnie and Clyde" as well as Flatt and Scruggs on the "Beverly Hillbillies". After he upgraded from his first $100 banjo he began to tinker with a Mastertone RB-250 to get the sound "just right" That tinkering turned into a life long journey to find the right sound and the best design for a banjo that would serve the needs of both traditional and contemporary banjo players.

The heart of the Nechville Banjo is the patented "Heli-mount" system recently demonstrated by Tom at his shop in Bloomington. The Heli-mount is a 2 piece, cast aluminum frame that replaces over 70 parts of a regular banjo. There is only one moving part instead of 24 or more. Tom uses two pinion geared wrenches (supplied with the banjo) to tighten the Heli-mount's head by turning a threaded ring into the helical

thread around the inside perimeter of the banjo. Tightening the ring results in completely even tension to the head unlike a regular banjo that relies on dozens of individual brackets around the pot to tighten the head. Anyone who has struggle with the time and effort it takes to adjust the hooks, nuts and coordinator rods on a traditional banjo should appreciate the design. Tom says the original idea was to design a head that screwed down like a peanut butter jar but that idea didn't allow for good solid neck attachment.

In addition to reliability, light weight and easy maintenance the Nechville banjo can be quickly adjusted to accommodate a variety of tone ring setups as well as an electric "Turbo" module that turns the acoustic banjo into an electric banjo. Tom dumps a bag of ball bearings on the bench and proceeds to fill the inside of a 40 hole brass bell tone ring with them. He puts the tone ring into the 11" head inside the frame, puts in the wooden rim and screws the assembly into place. This "Cyclotronic" system uses the 80 ball bearings to provide maximum ring and resonance. The difference in volume and tone is surprising but even his banjo assembled with a simple wood tone ring produces a soft pleasant sounding instrument.

Tom solved the neck attachment problem by eliminating coordinator rods. The Heli-Mount neck has been designed to make a solid connection with the Heli-Mount frame, and loosening the neck enables it to slide up or down along the radius of the frame - thereby raising or lowering string action. When the proper action is achieved, the neck is simply tightened back into position with the Allen wrench. The neck can be adjusted without removing the resonator and without stressing the rim and head out of round. This allows the banjo to accommodate bridges of various heights and set ups. Tom points out that the whole banjo can be taken apart in a couple of minutes, put in your suitcase or carry-on and then quickly reassembled upon arrival.

One of the more popular options on a Nechville banjo neck is the tunneled fifth string which moves the fifth string peg up to the headstock. No more drilling a hole in the side of the neck or interfering with cording up and down the neck. The tunneled fifth is not Tom's invention. It can be found on banjos made in 19th century England. The Nechville Phantom with a radius fingerboard and tunneled fifth is becoming one of Tom's more popular models.

The walls around the showroom/performance space are covered with photos of performers who appreciate the tone and quality of the Nechville banjo. Nationally known recording artists like Alison Brown, Tim Carter, Emily Robinson of The Dixie Chicks, Ricky Skaggs, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band and Bela Fleck all own Nechville banjos. Featured prominently is a large pencil drawing of Bela's hand picking one of Tom's banjos. The shelves hold examples of Nechville prototypes reflecting the banjo's evolution.

Dan Schultz, the shop manager of Nechville Musical Products, gives us a tour of the production shop. Dan has a degree in guitar and violin making from Minnesota State Technical College and supervises the staff of four craftsmen. This dedicated staff makes the necks, cuts and assembles the pearl inlays, fingerboards, headstocks and related parts for the banjo neck out of the highest quality materials. A stack of AAAA curly maple sits on a bench next to neck patterns that will be used to squeeze as many necks as possible out of the spectacular wood. Tom's contacts with local machine shops and metal smiths are the source of the t frames, rings and special castings. Dan is the key operator and baby sitter of the shop specific, custom made CNC machine that cuts out many of the parts for processing.

One wall of the shop is covered with the boards listing the various banjos and where they are in the production process. Dozens of magnetic white boards list the woods, style, inlays and set up of the customer's banjo. Custom work covering a variety of woods and inlay patterns are evident. Some of Tom Nechville's inlay patterns vary from the traditional. One of the more difficult patterns to inlay is the Cascade which imitates the flow of water down the fingerboard. The Galaxy is likea visit to a planetarium and is covered with planets, comets and stars. Recently Tom experimented with inlaying

turquoise into a rosewood fingerboard with dramatic results. The Nechville banjo is truly "Made in America".

The completed banjo isn't shipped until Tom does some final tweaking and teasing and puts some soul into the instrument. It is sent out with all the tools needed for the customer to make adjustments and adjust or take off the neck. Every banjo includes a set up instruction book. One of the best publications on banjo set up, whether a Nechville or traditional hook and bracket banjo, is Tom's book "The Dynamics of Banjo Sound - A Player's Guide to Professional Setup Secrets" . This simple booklet covers such topics as adjusting bridges and tail pieces, head tension, and fine tuning the neck. It can be ordered directly from Nechville.

Tom's ideas keep flowing. He is in the process of designing a low cost beginner banjo, making improvements in the electric banjos, developing instruction books and DVDs and promoting his latest idea the "Flux Capacitor" (think Professor Brown in the movie "Back to the Future") The Nechville Flux Capacitor is designed to allow a traditional banjo pot to accept the Nechville neck which gives the owner the opportunity to easily adjust the neck action like a regular Nechville banjo.

Related products include The Banjovie, a kid size, go anywhere backpacker style banjo, Comfort Bevel Armrests made from exotic woods, precision weighted, measured, compensated 5 string banjo bridges and a variety of electric banjos all made in the Nechville shop. More information can be found on Tom's website www.nechville.com which also includes an on line copy of his most recent newsletter.

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About the Author

Bob Gwinn is a retired Middle School Principal and old time picker who currently lives in Burnsville, MN.

Some technical material provided by Nechville Musical Products. Photos supplied by the author and NMP.

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