Sullivan Banjo Company » New Products

Sullivan Banjo’s featured on Discovery Channel’s “How It’s Made”

Murrell Thixton — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:27:16 +0000

Back in the fall of 2007 the folks from the Discovery Channel’s “How it’s Made” series stopped in and spent a few days filming the production of a Sullivan Banjo from start to finish. We think they did a fantastic job, and through the magic of editing (and a little fast motion) you get to see what would generally take four to five weeks in the course of 5 minutes. We still get comments about it when folks call in to place orders. Thought we’d repost it in the event that someone wasn’t aware of it, or if you are then just a reminder it’s still here and you can watch it again.

Sullivan Banjo in Ky Dept Tourism Commercial

Jeff Sullivan — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:48:05 +0000

Our very own Murrell Thixton and his group Storefront Congregation recently participated in a production of a commercial for the Kentucky Department of Tourism. The commercial is airing in all the states contiguous to Kentucky. If you’d like to get a view of the commercial you can find it below.

Sullivan Endorsing Artist Marc Pruett at IBMA

Murrell Thixton — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:52:02 +0000

Balsam Range’s banjo player Marc Pruett stopped by the booth at this years IBMA for a visit and he took a moment to sit down and pick the new Vintage 35. Take a moment to give a listen. If you’d like to catch a Balsam Range show in a venue near you, check their schedule here. If you’d like more info on the Vintage 35 you can contact Murrell at 800-635-2021 x126.

“Meet Myrtle” Sullivan’s fabulous “Pre-War” flathead banjo

Jeff Sullivan — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:44:52 +0000

We’re inviting all of our banjo pickin’ friends to stop over when you’re in the neighborhood and take a few minutes to pick Myrtle, Sullivan’s fabulous “Pre-war” flathead banjo. Myrtle is a 1930’s Gibson style 3 flathead, the inspiration for the new Sullivan Vintage 35 line. While you’re here you can play it along with some of the Sullivan Vintage 35 banjos and do your own comparison, we think you’ll be pretty impressed. Many pickers have only dreamed of playing and hearing the coveted “pre-war” sound and now’s your chance to come pay us a visit. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Vintage-35 Production Photos

Travis Cook — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:47:29 +0000

Our new production processes are in place and the first full batch of Vintage-35 Banjos will be completely finished this month! Jeff took a few shots of the parts that we thought were quite artistic and wanted to share. This particular peghead features Brazilian Rosewood, and you can see the new laser engraving on our Sullivan Historic rim in the background.

Once this run is finished, we’ll have more photos and specifications on the website – Check back soon!

Changes to our Product Line

Travis Cook — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:57:49 +0000

We’re mixing our product line up a bit here at Sullivan Banjo. We’ve decided to tighten our focus back to a smaller product line to focus on the absolute best in price and quality. Effective immediately we’re stopping production of our Festival and Jam series – We have a few left but will not be replenishing stock once those are gone. Our product line will now consist of the Sullivan Classic and Historic Series.

The Sullivan Classic Series encompasses the maple-based Greenbrier, mahogany-based Bardstown, and walnut-based Radcliff. These banjos have been a staple of our product line for years and we look forward to continuing their tradition of excellence. Each banjo in the Classic series will have a Sullivan #1 Flathead ring and a Sullivan 3-ply rim at their core- You can view the full set of specifications by clicking on Banjos in the navigation bar (These specs are subject to change!). We’re also modifying the headstock inlay to a more traditional design (Check out the pictures above) – new, high definition pictures will be available soon! As part of our shift, we’re proud to announce that the pricing for the Sullivan Classic Series is being reduced from $3,495 to $2,999, making these instruments more accessible than ever.

The Sullivan Historic Series will consist of the Sullivan Vintage-35 in three configurations: maple, mahogany, and walnut. We are in the process of taking pictures of these instruments and will have more information on them in the near future – For those of you unfamiliar with the Vintage-35 Project, we’ve been doing research and development for over three years to create a truly spectacular instrument. You can read the full Sullivan Vintage-35 story by clicking here. The Sullivan Historic Series Vintage-35 will sell for $4,299.

Finally, we are proud to announce that we are expanding our business to encompass a network of dealers and will soon have Sullivan Banjos in stores around the world. As we negotiate, you will be able to find the dealer nearest you by clicking on Dealers in the navigation bar above – Keep an eye out here for more updates!

Sullivan Vintage 35 Banjo #1

Travis Cook — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:00:10 +0000

We’re proud to welcome Mr. Billy Copeland of Allerdt, Tennessee to the Sullivan Banjo family, as he is the owner of the very first production Sullivan Vintage-35 Banjo. We’ve been working on the components inside this banjo for many years, culminating in the final version of the V-35 tone ring last month. This particular banjo is a mahogany model and was assembled for around four hours at the time this video was shot – The sound speaks for itself. Check out the video below of Murrell and Billy giving it a test drive with “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”.

We’ll have much more information on the Sullivan V-35 on this site in the coming weeks, including pictures, specifications, and more video!