Eastern European makers love the bling! But they also build for great tone and playability too.
My favorite banjos these days are Pruchas. Jaroslav Prucha is a Czech who lives joust outside Prague.
His banjos are a lot like the Bozo guitars when they're ornamented, a but they sound better than American-made instruments and are exceptionally good sounding in a group.
I became connected to him personally through random circumstance, and at first, I didn't think a Czech could ever build a banjo better than on made here until I actually played one.
That was back in 1996. I convinced my dealer buddy he should carry a few, and at first, their looks put off a lot of players, But just like me, a few virtuosos, particularly Alison Brown, began playing them. Nowadays, he can't make enough of them.
He never will make enough. Like Bozo, he's a fanatic perfectionist, and only builds a few a month. His primary source of income are his parts- he makes every part that goes into a banjo, and every banjo maker in the world now uses his parts.
Mine is a mid-range model he called the Diamond Point. It's quite conservative looking compared to some of his others. The most radical thing in it is the antiqued copper-plated metal parts. This banjo was his first with that patina and was made in 2006.
Since then, the patina finish has become widely popular, and is preferred over gold plating.
The wood is all mahogany, with an ebony board. This was the first banjo I ever owned with a mahogany neck, but the wood is also now the most popular choice. Traditionally, the best banjos all had maple necks.
In 2012, I ordered another banjo like it, an open back. Same metal treatment and inlays, but I chose a curly cherry neck.