Banjo and Guitar Accessories

A Message From Mike Rowe

Hi Folks,
I was going to call this “Contract with Banjo Players” to be current but, I guess a better title is really "FACTS – BAD NEWS – GOOD NEWS. I'd like to share some info about the current pricing of my Paintsville Banjo Tailpieces.

Fact: The severe recession we’re all living through has caused many tool & die shops to change their business practices or go out of business. They don’t want small production runs anymore, and charge much more for them.

Good News: My tailpieces are custom-designed to deliver superior tonal quality and control for the discerning banjoist. They are not, and never will be a mass-market product.

Bad News: My banjo tailpieces are small production runs. I've sought the best deals I can get, but the cost to have them manufactured has more than doubled in the past year.

Fact: It's tough to get the plating quality I require in a timely fashion from most suppliers.

Good News: It's easy to get superior plating results consistently from Nashville Plating Services.

Bad News: It costs more for superior quality.

Fact: If you make a HUGE jump in your prices, you can expect people to tell you to go fly a kite.

But enough already! The fact is that production costs have skyrocketed and I have increased prices accordingly. It's either that or move production offshore somewhere. Frankly, I'd rather pull the product than do that. So here's what I'm going to try...

I still believe these tailpieces to be a fine addition to any banjo. Besides the unique advantages they offer by design, every banjo player who has put on a Painstville has told me their banjo just plain SOUNDED better than ever. So I will continue producing the tailpieces, and for a limited time I will sell them AT MY COST. That's right - profit margin zero. (I think the big retailers call that a "loss leader".)

As of this writing I haven’t run a new batch of the tuner modules and string anchors, but expect another price increase when that happens, too. So this would be a good time to order and avoid that.

Thanks for your understanding and your support!

—Mike Rowe

P.S. For those who have asked about gold plating: Ron at Nashville Plating says that to allow $50 to $60 extra for gold, depending on the market.