11” iOTA Spaled Maple v2

This individual iOTA is a one-piece Flamed Rock Maple neck and Ebony fingerboard with simple Abalone dot inlays and Flamed Maple binding. Paired with an 11” 10-ply Birch rim that is finished in black. Trim wood on the peghead is beautifully figured Spalted Maple paired with an Oak leaf inspired peghead. Tunneled fifth string and Gotoh tuners, with all five on peghead; Amber button on fifth tuner. Simple eye catching Abalone dot fret markers. Two-way adjustable truss rod with an Ebony magnetic truss rod cover. Hardshell case included. ***This specific neck is a conversion from a 5th peghead to my tunnel fifth. It was originally a custom fretless neck with an inlay made specifically for the client. For unknown reasons this banjo was never picked up (or paid for) by the client. So it sat for years, and after time I made another banjo from the rim and changed out the fretless fingerboard for a fretted and tunneled 5th style neck on a new iOTA rim. A bit of a Frankenstein iOTA. Beautiful neck that would not normally be featured in my iOTA model.

iOTA banjos come with features that are unique to Vance Custom banjos. The iOTA banjo’s aesthetic has a focus on being well designed, lightweight, with a balanced feel and smooth playability. The neck design features a tunneled 5th string, placing all five tuners on the peghead. The fifth tuner is always color coded to stand out. The tunnel feature allows for much more mobility in the second playing position where the usual fifth peg is in the way. Very sleek and functional design. The rim is a stiff, rock hard ply that is finished in black, clear or occasionally other colors. The rim’s bearing edges under the head function as an integral tonering. The result is an open, bright yet woody and earthy tone with plenty of projection and snap. This is a balanced light weight dynamic musical instrument made with the player in mind.

THIS iOTA LISTED:

• iOTA 11” open back banjo.

• 26 1/4” scale

• Tunneled fifth string

• Ebony fingerboard

• Flamed Maple binding

• Spalted Maple peghead

• Abalone position markers + Abalone sidedots

• One-piece flamed Rock Maple neck (Natural clear -Satin oil finish)

• Two-way truss rod

• Magnetic truss cover (Ebony)

• Bone nut & 5th Pip

• Scooped fingerboard

• No-knot tailpiece

• Gotoh Planetary Tuners - 4 Black button + single Amber 5th.

• Maple/Ebony Bridge

• 10-ply Birch Rim (Black finish)

• Integral Spalted Maple Vance Armrest

• 18 Hooks

• Renaissance head

• Hardshell case