The Gold Tone CC-100 Cripple Creek open-back banjo is one of the most trusted entry-level banjos on the market, with over 25,000 sold worldwide — and for good reason. Built with a hard maple neck and rim, real rosewood fretboard, dual coordinator rods, and a rolled brass flat bar tone ring, it outperforms everything else in its price range. Every CC-100 ships with a professional factory setup from Gold Tone in Titusville, Florida, so it plays beautifully right out of the box.
This is the left-handed version of the Gold Tone HM-100 High Moon — a genuinely handcrafted openback banjo born inside Gold Tone's Titusville shop by master luthier Chris Pariso, who has been building and designing banjos there since 1995. Every one of the 60-plus components was shaped by hand, with no production machinery involved in the conception of this instrument. The result is a deeply personal banjo with real old-time soul — mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, rolled brass flat-bar tone ring, and a resonant 12-inch maple rim that will only get better with age.