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- 1987 Goose Acres Classic. Sorry, Sold.
1987 Goose Acres Classic. Sorry, Sold.
1987 Goose Acres Classic. In the mid to late 1980’s, in Cleveland, Ohio, the perfect storm of openback banjo building occurred. At 2175 Cornell Road three craftsmen, Peter H. Smakula, Kevin Enoch, and Bob Smakula designed and built a line of banjos that were an homage the world-renowned Fairbanks Electric banjos of the 1890’s through the 1910’s. The rims were fully spun with German silver and have a scalloped truss below the tone hoop on a hard maple shell. Designed for steel strings, these banjos are loud, precise, and full sounding. At the time Goose Acres was introducing these banjos, renowned banjo player and founding member of the Red Clay Ramblers, Tommy Thompson, was a frequent customer. Tommy always liked vintage Fairbanks and Vega banjos, but their age made them a bit fragile for the demands of the road. His Tuesday hangouts at Goose Acres allowed him to try and then order two Goose Acres Electric style banjos. His first was a Goose Acres Elite, with fancy inlay and an exquisite carved heel (sorry that one is sold) the second is this one, the model eventually known as “Classic”. It has a mahogany neck with a black veneer center lamination and a 26-1/4” scale ebony fretboard. The inlays are simple. engraved mother of pearl dots and a design with one dot and 4 cats eyes at the 5th fret. The rim is 11” diameter, has 24 brackets and the previously mention spun-over electric style rim. As Tommy loved his two banjos, you can imagine the amount of player time he put on his two instruments. To put this banjo back in its best playing shape we refretted the neck, replaced the original ABM tuners with a set of set of recent manufacture, and installed a new Remo Fiberskyn head. If you would like a souvenir of Tommy Thompson’s intense playing, we will be happy to include the original worn out Fiberskyn head. This link to an exceptional performer, musician, and all-around friendly fellow has a cost of $2,800 and we include the original Superior bump hard case. Sorry Sold.