It’s fitting that a shop like ours, which deals with Somogyis and McConnells, and Traugotts all day, would come across a banjo worthy enough to pass muster among the guitar world’s greatest builders. Enter: our 1995 Deering Gabriella, owned by banjo maestro and “banjoholic” Mary Z Cox. This model is the pinnacle (read: to date, only 15 ever made) of Deering’s catalog, and this example from 1995 goes one step further than even its rarified siblings in that it features a Brazilian Rosewood resonator and neck. Gold hardware abounds, right down to the tuners and tailpiece, and both the resonator and neck are trimmed out in both Abalone and Ivoroid. The fingerboard is wrapped in Mother-of-Pearl, with vine-and-leaf inlays across frets 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, and 21. The headstock is also inlaid with MOP, a tangle of vines surrounding the Deering logo and the (you guessed it: MOP) truss rod cover. The back of the resonator features a wreath of raised MOP-and-Maple vines, and just above that you’ll find an intricately carved heel with yet more twisting leaves and vines.
The sheer number of hours that went into this Deering Gabriella baffles the mind. It feels like holding a craftperson’s entire career in your hands when you play it. A banjo for the record books.
Check out this demo with our own Billy Presnell: https://youtu.be/VFhcOVRpAiE
If you’d like to hear Mary’s recording of “Ponce de Leon” on her Florida Banjo record with the Gabriella, check it out here: https://www.maryzcox.com/florida_banjo/
Here’s a demo with Mary in our recording studio and this Gabriella: https://youtu.be/EXvtuJa-M0I
Want a taste of local banjo phenom Derek Vaden at the helm of this Gabriella? Check it out: https://youtu.be/-F2Q1zx583A
Here’s an additional demo with our very own Allen Shadd at the wheel! https://youtu.be/N1KplaB25ao
Other keywords: Mary Z Cox, bluegrass, banjo inlay, Deering banjo, Gabriella banjo, craft, craftsmanship
This is the cream of the crop when it comes to banjos. Deering has only made 15 of these incredibly ornate Gabriella models, and this is the only one I know of with Brazilian Rosewood! It's an obvious choice for the collector, but it also has the tone to back it up. | Scale Length | 26.125 in |
|---|---|
| Nut Width | 1.281 in |
| String Spacing | 1.6875 in |
| Woods | Skin - Fiber, Rosewood - Brazilian |
It’s fitting that a shop like ours, which deals with Somogyis and McConnells, and Traugotts all day, would come across a banjo worthy enough to pass muster among the guitar world’s greatest builders. Enter: our 1995 Deering Gabriella, owned by banjo maestro and “banjoholic" Mary Z Cox
This is the cream of the crop when it comes to banjos. Deering has only made 15 of these incredibly ornate Gabriella models, and this is the only one I know of with Brazilian Rosewood 