About this model Stelling Banjo Works says: The Red Fox -- One of our newest models, inspired by master banjoist Bill Emerson, the Red Fox outsold every other model in the year it first came out. Although new models tend to do that, we think that this model will join the Staghorn with its universal appeal and acceptance as a classic banjo design. The fancy curly maple used in this model is enhanced by the reddish stain. The Red Fox in the peghead and the abalone maple oak leaves in the ebony fingerboard help to make this a very striking model. There is a very fine “Story of Stelling Banjo Company” to be read and enjoyed at this link: http://www.stellingbanjo.com/about2.htm It tells the tale of how Geoff Stelling set up his banjo production company around 35 miles away from Appomattox Court House, VA – the place where it is believed that Joel Sweeney (if it actually was Joel Sweeney) developed, around 1831, some of the earliest banjo designs.
In it, the article says: “What better place could there be than right here in the midst of a forest, surrounded by walnut, maple, and cherry trees, the very wood from which our banjos are made?” For the Stelling Company this location, in the small town of Afton, Virginia, was just as good a fit as their patented wedge-fitted pot assembly - the metal device – concise and precise - that makes your music twice as nice.
The Red Fox is made from Red Stained Curly Maple; its metal parts are nickel-plated, and if you were seeking to purchase a new one it would today list for five thousand Samolians. This banjo, when it came in, showed extremely minor signs of use and playing time, and a small amount of oxidation (cloudiness) on the stretcher band, but our workshop will have cleaned this up to the full extent that they can. As they say about the Apocalypse, some may remain.
The Stelling Red Fox is one of our favorite Stelling models, possibly because it just sounds so darn good, and possibly because we like the idea of having a crafty, intelligent and worldly wise carnivorous mammal, a small to medium-sized Canidae (slightly smaller than a medium-sized dog), possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail, peering out, off to our right, its left, from the headplate, as if to welcome the arrival of an approaching messenger. Our price WAS $3,191 BUT it has now been reduced as follows: