Zack Deming of Staunton, VA came by my home this morning, dragging a
Posie banjo he had just finished building. Zack and Dean Hoffmeyer
have been toying with the idea of replicating these great banjos,
featured in Jim Mill’s book. Zack, a great banjo player who has worked
with several bands including the Virginia Ramblers, is also a talented
banjo builder and repair/setup guy. I did a profile of Zack for Banjo
Newsletter (July 2010).
Anyway, Zack came by to fool with some of my banjos, and thought I’d be
interested in a Posie he had just finished. The banjo boasts a fine
maple “speed neck”, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, sprayed matte
finish, Presto tailpiece, one of Zack’s own 5/8 inch bridges, inlay work
that is an exact copy of the original Posie banjo inlay. This one
bears cream tuner buttons while most of his have amber buttons. I'll
post some photos on my BHO website, but far better pics are available on
Zack's Posie Banjo Company website, noted below.
This banjo played itself. It had such strong and consistent tonal
quality both north and south on the neck, such an even volume, and such a
responsiveness to any kind of touch. It really had power as well as
gracefulness as an instrument. It was one of those banjos where, when
you pound on it, everything comes out musical, everything works together
– the wood, the metal, the strings, the mechanical parts. They all add
up to banjo music. Some banjos just sound as though the individual
parts and pieces are off doing their own thing at roughly the same time,
but this recipe yielded a coherent, integrated sound with a long of
depth. I’ve often found it hard to use words to try and spell out the
quality and character of banjo sounds. I might not be doing any better
at this now than in previous attempts, but the building equation for
this banjo is so obviously right that it produces a quintessential
sound.
Here’s the Zack/Hoffmeye Posie banjo website:
And here’s the reference to Jim Mills’ book:
If we ask nicely we just might be able to get Zack to post some sound files.
I should add one more thing. Zack has the instincts and attuned sense
of a race car mechanic when it comes to souping up banjos. He took
several of my instruments, played them, turned them every which way,
dove into my tool box and proceeded to improve the sound and action and
playability of everything I had in my banjo arsenal. I admire that
skill with the same awe as I reserve for fine banjo playing.
Here’s his webpage:
And here are some pics:
V/R,
Lew
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