Long-Neck Banjos
The long-neck banjo adds three frets above the standard fifth-string neck, lowering the open tuning by a minor third. Pete Seeger popularized the design in the 1940s, and it remains a favorite of folk singers who want a deeper register for backing the voice.
The longer neck lends a rich, resonant low end without sacrificing the crisp attack that defines the banjo. Most long-necks are open-back, suited to folk and old-time playing. Browse our long-neck banjos below, including left-handed models.
The Gold Tone MM-150 Maple Mountain is a beautifully appointed openback banjo built for clawhammer and old-time players who want authentic tone without compromise. Featuring a Whyte Laydie-style brass tone ring, planetary tuners, rosewood fingerboard with snowflake inlays, and a frailing scoop, this banjo punches well above its price class. It ships with a hard case and professionally set up at Gold Tone's factory in Titusville, FL.
This is the left-handed version of the Gold Tone OT-800LN, a serious old-time banjo built around a pre-WWII-style Tubaphone tone ring on an 11-inch maple rim — the kind of instrument that rewards clawhammer players who know what they're looking for. With an ebony fretboard, ZeroGlide nut, GT Master Planetary tuners, and a neck scoop purpose-built for drop-thumb playing, it captures the voice and feel of the classic 1890–1930 Boston School banjos. Every OT-800LN ships with a professional factory setup from Gold Tone in Titusville, Florida and includes a deluxe arched-top hard case.
The Gold Tone OT-800LN is a serious old-time banjo built around a pre-WWII-style Tubaphone tone ring, an 11-inch maple rim, and a scooped ebony fingerboard — everything a dedicated clawhammer or old-time player needs in one beautifully crafted instrument. Inspired by the golden age of Boston-school banjo making (1890–1930), it delivers the warm, complex overtones that define authentic old-time sound. Every OT-800LN ships with a professional factory setup from Gold Tone in Titusville, Florida and includes a deluxe arched-top hard case.
This longneck openback RB-175 Gibson banjo is from the late 1960s or early 1970s. It has three extra frets which allow banjoists and singers to play in open E.