Furniture maker James Krenov wrote that the most sustainable and eco-friendly thing you can do with wood is to make something from it that will never been thrown away. Instead of owning five cheap end tables in your lifetime that wear out and are discarded, it would be better to buy one of quality that is made to last. The same goes for musical instruments, of course. My friends at Zena Forest Products in Salem, OR understand this. They run a mill/shop on their family land, managing 1300 acres of native Oregon forest. I bought three slabs of of this multi colored curly maple a few summers ago when I visited and it’s almost gone. This banjo is for a customer who also knows the folks at Zena and asked for a banjo from their wood. The maple is so fancy, that I chose some simpler pistachio for the fretboard and headplate. The pistachio comes from our friends woodfromthewest.com, another company that knows how to provide quality wood with a sustainable footprint. Partners like these make it easier for me to do this crazy job and keep close to my values, I’m glad I’m not alone.

“It arrived (that was fast), it’s beautiful, and it sounds great!

Hopefully, I’ll have some time to play more with it tomorrow.

I am looking forward to playing this for years to come.

Best,
- B. K. ”