R.M. Anderson’s latest #2 5-string is in! Curly Maple neck, and the Fairbanks Electric/Whyte Laydie pot features a Maple rim and Goatskin head. Rickard hardware throughout. Hand-etched and inlaid diamonds and stars along the fretboard, and a gryphon head at the headplate pointing towards a final star. The inlay and etching work is in a category all of its own: we don’t know anyone else who’s working at this level in the banjo world than Bob Anderson.

Other keywords: lutherie, old time, old tyme, 5-string, 5 string, open back, mop, abalone, pearl

Bob Anderson is a one-of-a-kind maker. His banjos are works of art, every one, and this handsome fretless 5-string is no exception. 12” Dobson style pot with goatskin head, Maple rim, and Cherry neck. Rickard hardware throughout. Then there’s the etched inlay art. Oh, boy, there’s that. The fretboard features incredibly intricate Pearl and Sea Snail shell inlays, all hand etched by Robert. At the headplate and backplate Bob rendered statues he saw on a recent trip he took to Japan—it’s easy to lose track of time tracing the minute details of his painstaking etching work as it brings them to life.

Other keywords: lutherie, old time, old tyme, 5-string, 5 string, open back, dobson-style, snail abalone, fret less

Local banjo savant Bob Anderson has been restoring and building banjos for more years than we can count. Along the way he’s mastered the unforgiving art of engraving and inlay: take a look at the attention to detail on this fretboard and headstock. Hand-engraved Abalone and Shell executed as organic and flowing as brush strokes. While the neck is a brand new creation from 2018, the Vega Tubaphone pot is a great deal older from the 1930s. The open-back tone is warm and round, and cuts through the mix without any harshness. Considering the painstaking quality of Bob’s work and the warm voice, this R.M. Anderson Tubaphone is an incredible deal.

common misspellings: rm, rm anderson, andersen, rm andersen, r.m. andersen, viga, tubephone, tubaphono

R.M. Anderson is many things to us at Dream Guitars: a neighbor, a friend, and an excellent inlay artist and maker of banjos. The Banjeaurine we have here is brand new, hot off the workbench, and is absolutely teeming with gorgeous Mother-of-Pearl inlay. Anderson based the various designs off of inlay work from Cole and Fairbanks, when they were still partnered, and executed them in excruciating detail. Images range from floral patterns, geometric shapes, and butterflies, to a moon-and-star headstock inlay that, according to Bob, was popularized by banjo makers in the late 1800’s in celebration of Halley’s Comet, the only short-term comet that is visible to the naked human eye, which flashed across the skies in 1835, and later in 1910. Bound in Grained Ivoroid and featuring a vintage Vega “White Laydie” pot, this short-scale banjo is pure magic for both the eyes and the ear.

The tone of a good open back Clawhammer banjo can be quite enchanting, transporting the listener to a simpler time back to the mountains, maybe on Grandpas porch. This S.S. Stewart Banjo is just on of those kinds of instrument, built in the 1890’s, it could have very well been played on a porch in the mountains. This banjo has a great open and plunky sound perfect for clawhammer style. Lawrence Brown, a master Lute maker, made the new neck on this Banjo, and is excellent. It is easy to play and even easier on the eyes with its beautifully engraved inlays.