“One of the things about the Deluxe is it’s cosmetically just a bit nicer than the Sierra. It’s exactly the same pot as the Sierra and it has a gloss finish. We hand sand and hand buff our finishes so it has a very personal touch on it. We put extra black white decorative stripes on the back of the resonator. This is the same binding that is on the top of a Martin D-28 and I love the way a Martin D-28 looks and it is also the same as my Taylor 810 guitar. And so it costs a little bit more than the Sierra and people ask why they should buy the Deluxe and it’s because it’s just a bit nicer.

 As we have gotten into the new generation of inlays I have wanted to do color and I have always targeted the Deluxe for color, we have settled in on the color of gold because our customers really like it, but other colors are possible: red’s, blues, greens, purples, even pink.

The other thing about this banjo and also on the Sierra is that the inspiration for this artwork comes from the early Boston banjo masters. And if you look at the peghead of the Deluxe, it has some of the same elements as the Sierra, but it is much more expanded and it comes alive with the turn of the century Boston masters element - and that was just the design that flowed out onto the page. It’s a lot of fun to have that kind of art work on a banjo that people can afford. The first professional banjo we made was the Deluxe so it always has a very dear spot to us because it was the first professional banjo we made way back in ‘79.”