Road To Nechville

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Have you ever been to Nechville?

I bet you didn’t know it’s located in Minnesota.  Nechville, however, is not a Town but a wonderful toy store for the banjo enthusiast like me.  Since 1989, Nechville has been manufacturing professional banjos for both the acoustic and electric banjo markets.  There are a number of well known musicians who own and play a Nechville banjo,  including two of my favorites; Bela Fleck and Alison Brown.

IMG_5170I recently purchased a custom made banjo from my friends Tom Nechville and his sales associate Al Price.  The banjo I ordered was a custom made Nechville Meteor electric banjo. The custom options I selected for my banjo included a neck and body made out of a distinctive and exotic Cocobolo wood.  The wood grain (as pictured in the neck and body) is from one piece of wood.  Since I wanted a banjo that was unique and not some off the shelf model, I invested in a custom inlay pattern known as the Starizon pattern.  The inlay on this banjo was a nice compliment to the premium wood selected for the neck.  As for the dual pickup system, I added the active EMG81 magnetic pickup to the standard  Piezo pickup system.    While Nechville offers a unique option known as a tunneled 5th string, I guess I am a purist and am so use to the 5th string peg on the banjo that I elected not to add this option to the instrument.

IMG_5173The banjo took 90 days to produce and it was well worth the wait.  Tom Nechville, Al Price and the Nechville craftsmen (Dave Hill and Jeremiah Lindstrom) did a wonderful job in communicating about the production and shipment of this banjo.

The Nechville Meteor Electric banjo makes a nice addition to my collection of banjos.

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About fretmentor

Born in Detroit, Michigan, David F. Jakubiak has been involved in music since the age of 7, beginning as a clarinet player and then at 9 turning his attention to stringed instruments. He earned trophies in group talent competitions while a student at the University of Michigan. The instructor earned a BA degree in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Public Administration at the University of Kansas. At college, he also studied classical music and music history. His passion is teaching music and in performing as a musician. In addition to on-stage performances, David has played in various venues from outdoor festivals to small nightclubs. He plays, performs and teaches various styles of music, including rock, pop, blues, jazz, classical, country and bluegrass styles. He performs and teaches acoustic and electric guitar, five-string banjo, and mandolin. His styles range from Scruggs, melodic, Reno and old-time style on banjo, to finger-style and flat-picking technique on guitar, to various styles of mandolin. For over 45 years, Mr. Jakubiak has taught all age groups, taking a personal interest in each student to ensure that they receive the attention and lesson plans that meet their needs and interests. His lessons and instructional materials place a strong emphasis on the practical use or music theory to ensure that the student understands the instrument and learns how to improvise to develop their own style. Mr Jakubiak teaches group and studio classes, webcam lessons over the internet, and individual private lessons to students of various ages. He has compiled and produced eight instructional books on CD as well as numerous instrumental arrangements. David has written for Banjo Newsletter, a monthly publication for the banjo enthusiast and has published an article in Issue #37 of the Fretboard Journal. He is the founder of www.fretmentor.com. To contact David Jakubiak, please feel free to e-mail him at david AT fretmentor.com (substitute the @ sign for the word AT)
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2 Responses to Road To Nechville

  1. avatar Lspencerini says:

    That’s a very nice banjo, FM. Beautiful and sophisticated. 🙂

  2. avatar Phil says:

    It’s so cool. I’ve never seen a banjo like this.

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