Custom Rickard 11" 5-String with Bacon/Scalloped Tone Ring & Maple Neck and Rim #1876

Handcrafted in Canada by Rickard Banjos, Serial #1876 is a custom open-back instrument that fuses vintage aesthetics with modern luthier precision.

Why It's a Custom Build Rather than following a standard production template, this custom 5-string incorporates a suite of premium, antiqued brass hardware and historical design:

• Bacon/Scalloped Tone Ring: A specialized tone ring not found on standard Rickard production models, providing a distinct vintage voice.

• Rickard WL Peghead Shape: Styled in the classic White Laydie peghead silhouette, crowned with an engraved brass magnetic truss rod cover and high-gear Rickard 10:1 Cyclone tuners with faux tortoise buttons.

• Bullseye Ball Shoes & Belly Style Tension Nuts: Period-accurate hardware appointments that mirror the refined craftsmanship of golden-era banjos, paired with an 18-notch tension hoop and No-Knot tailpiece.

A Bacon/Scalloped Tone Ring merges the internal chamber design of a Bacon tone ring with the scalloped brass construction of a Whyte Laydie ring, creating a hybrid voice that balances vintage warmth with bright, punchy projection.

Key Tonal Characteristics

• Fat, Warm Fundamental: The internal doughnut-shaped chamber of the Bacon design tunes the inner air space of the rim toward the bass frequencies, giving notes a deep, full-bodied, and slightly "tubby" low-end warmth.

• Bright "Pop" & Crisp Attack: The scalloped brass ring distributes vibrations across distinct contact points around the rim, producing the articulate treble, fast response, and signature "Whyte Laydie pop" on the initial note strike.

• Combined Construction: With these combined internal construction, the results provide an enhanced note separation that calm down overtones of the higher frequencies.  The notes are rounder and provide a balance sustain.  The volume is greater and provides more head room. 

Tone & Benefits of a Maple Neck & Rim Constructed with a 1/2" thick maple rim and a hard maple neck featuring a 25.5" scale ebony fretboard and "S" curve frailing scoop:

• Structural Strength: Dense hard maple offers outstanding stiffness, stability, and energy transfer.

• Clarity & Attack: Maple provides a bright, crisp attack with ringing sustain, ensuring excellent note definition so your playing never sounds muddy.

11" Rim Platform The 11-inch rim remains the most versatile rim size for open-back banjos. Compared to larger 12-inch pots, an 11-inch rim delivers tighter note focus, faster response, and exceptional note-to-note separation up and down the neck. It strikes a balanced frequency spectrum—combining clear highs with sufficient low-end warmth—making it ideal for clawhammer, old-time frailing, or fingerstyle playing.