This has to be one the of the most distinctive, recognizable banjos ever.
In this crazy world of special five string valuations, I wonder what this is worth.
Glad it is still being played.

Rolf is a great player and was a special friend to Bobby & Judy Thompson.

It is my understanding that when Bobby could no longer play music Rolf approached him about possibly selling the banjo. But Bobby didn't want cash. Instead, he wanted a particularly rare and expensive black powder rifle (Building black powder guns was another of Bobby's passions & amazing skills). Rolf found the gun and traded it for the banjo.

Rolf's wife Beate has Bobby's Martin guitar too. That is the instrument that really kept food on the table for Bobby & Judy. We all remember Bobby for his incredible banjo playing. But a huge portion of his Nashville studio work was actually on acoustic guitar.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

your right john,,, very few people know how much he was used on nashville recordings on guitar more then his banjo....
he was one of the most natural talented people i have ever seen.
i put him and craig smith in the same boat...

quote:

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Originally posted by jbalch

Rolf is a great player and was a special friend to Bobby & Judy Thompson.

It is my understanding that when Bobby could no longer play music Rolf approached him about possibly selling the banjo. But Bobby didn't want cash. Instead, he wanted a particularly rare and expensive black powder rifle (Building black powder guns was another of Bobby's passions & amazing skills). Rolf found the gun and traded it for the banjo.

Rolf's wife Beate has Bobby's Martin guitar too. That is the instrument that really kept food on the table for Bobby & Judy. We all remember Bobby for his incredible banjo playing. But a huge portion of his Nashville studio work was actually on acoustic guitar.

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John,
So good to see a recent post from you. I just finished changing strings and tuning the head on the 1928 TB-1 with the A. Hatfield neck that I finally chased down in CA many years ago. Hope all is well with you.
Clay