Virginia’s Huss and Dalton Guitar Co. is known more for its flattop guitars than its banjos, but the company’s roots can be traced back to the time founders Jeff Huss and Mark Dalton met while working at Stelling Banjo Works in the early 1990s. Today, Huss and Dalton offer three basic models of banjos, the bluegrass-style Cedar Forest and Owens Mill, and the open-back Singletree. In this video, San Francisco multi-instrumentalist Rik Elswit, who performs in several bands and teaches at Bananas at Large, in San Rafael, California, demonstrates his Singletree.

The Huss and Dalton Singletree is available with 11- or 12-inch pots and with a choice of maple, Whyte Laydie, or Dobson tone rings. The instrument in this demo has the 11-inch pot and Whyte Laydie tone ring option, as well as a three-ply maple rim and one-piece mahogany neck. The ebony fingerboard has a frailing scoop above the 14th fret.

Rik, who also owns a Huss and Dalton TD-R guitar (which he demos here), likes the Singletree’s sparkly sound and simple looks. “There are no frills. It’s just a clean, made-for-the-purpose instrument,” he says.

SPECS: Open-back banjo. Three-ply maple pot with 11-inch head. Whyte Laydie tone ring.

One-piece mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard. 25.4-inch scale. 1⁵/₁₆-inch nut width. Five Star planetary tuners. Made in the USA. $2,627 (with Whyte Laydie tone ring. $2,077 base price). hussanddalton.com

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