L5-250

I had almost been playing the banjo for a year, when I decided to upgrade from my Recording King RK-35 with a maple block rim and wood tone ring. I had my eyes set on an old Gibson Bowtie, conversion, or copy. I’ve always been partial to the style of these banjos. The elusive nature of these banjos and my budget left me on the looking stage. Around this time my good friend, Hunter Lemon had finished his first banjo, and I was beyond blown away with the outcome. As Hunter and I sat on his porch playing his 1959 Gibson RB-100 and the banjo he had just built, I noticed that there wasn’t much difference. I decided right then and there I’d own a Lemon Banjo at some point. After some discussion, Hunter agreed to build a custom Bowtie copy for me. This model is normally listed on his website as the L5-250 under the 1954 Series. My official model number is L5-250C. This banjo features a mahogany neck and resonator, rosewood fretboard, “Bowtie” inlays, Flyswatter headstock, and a hard maple block rim with almost flathead integrated wooden tone ring. Right out of the gate this thing has a well-balanced tone that stays strong all the way up the neck. I mean it when I say this banjo is hot. Unlike some banjos it has a certain growl and achieves incredible low end. It is amazing the similarity in tone it achieves to vintage Gibson’s and banjos with a metal tone ring. I opted to not do a sunburst finish on my L5-250C and to have the “Mastertone” block customized to say my name. I can’t and won’t get over how good this thing looks. Some are skeptical of these “Woodie” banjos, but they just sound amazing and often better than tone ring banjos. Doesn’t hurt that they’re lighter on the shoulder too! This is only second Lemon Banjo, and I’m personally excited to see the banjos he produces. The quality is already outstanding, and it will only continue to improve. As a luthier Hunter is very nice to work with. He is very easy to discuss options with and well as reach on the phone or email. He always took time to keep me updated on the progress as well as answer any questions.