In the mid-1990’s, woodworker and banjo player Lo Gordon set out on a mission to build simple but lasting heirloom quality open back banjos, seeing how few custom makers there were at the time. Working quietly in his shop nestled in the lush forests of Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, he quickly developed a reputation for his no-frills instruments that sounded great and were comfortable to play. Lo’s early prototypes quickly caught the attention of his friends circle, and it wasn’t long before his long-time musical friend Doug Naumann, a building contractor based in central Florida, ordered the first official Cedar Mountain Banjo in 1996. When Doug put in his order, he told Lo that if he ever made it to number 1000 he wanted that one too!
Fast forward to 2023, and the day finally came that Cedar Mountain’s 1000th banjo was strung up by me, Lo’s stepson Tim Gardner. Since taking over ownership of Cedar Mountain Banjos in 2013, it has been my mission to carry on Lo’s vision of rustic elegance, simplicity, and fine design into a new era. I have been grateful to be able to carry on a tradition of building heirloom instruments for wonderful people all over the world, in a workshop that is less than a mile as the crow flies from the Lo’s original shop.
Although Doug is no longer with us, his widow Liza has remained a family friend and kept in touch over the years. She gladly agreed to uphold Doug’s request, and gave me artistic license to do what I wanted with #1000. My first inclination was to build something super fancy with lots of inlay and shiny hardware. But then I thought about the simplicity of Lo’s early banjos and felt like it would be more appropriate to make something modern and minimal, but in a style reminiscent of those early Cedar Mountain models.
So here it is. A 1990s Lo Gordon styled neck made of bookmatched curly maple and an old CMB rooster inlay interpreted by master engraver Glenn Carson, which is paired with my minimalistic hookless rim design that is proprietary to Cedar Mountain Banjos. A study of contrast, old meets new. Simple but elegant playable art.