I got the opportunity to visit the Stelling Banjo Works last week during a trip to Virginia. The shop is located off of Rt. 29 that goes from Lynchburg to Charlottesville. Going North on 29, you take a left hand turn just pass Covesville, Va and proceed on basically a one lane paved road (Heards Mountain Road)for about 5 + curvy miles til ya get to Banjo Lane. That's where the "factory" is.

Geof Stelling was my tour guide and of course I was wearing my Fretmentor tee shirt (that ought to be worth a few brownie points!). Geof and his wife were very cordial and informative. I spent about 1.5 hours at the factory. You can call for a tour (Mon.- Thurs) in advance.

It is amazing that they can produce about 200 banjos/year out of a shop that can't be over 1300 sq.ft. There were plenty of Stelling trinkets in the office/gift shop.

The visit/tour of the banjo works is a must for any Stelling Banjo owner!

You do get brownie points for wearing that Fretmentor T-Shirt. As I always said, that shirt could save your life one day. Especially after climbing those mountains in Virginia in search of the Stelling factory. Had there been a major snow storm, the Fretmentor shirt may have helped prevent hypothermia.

i am jealous! Geoff wasn't there when on my trip north. Did he play a little for you?

Geoff said that he did not play very much as of late and mentioned that his calloses had gone away. I bought an old CD at the factory of Geoff with his group - Hard Times Bluegrass Band (circa 1974). Haven't played it yet.

Anyhow, the journey of 5 miles and return on the twisty one lane road to get to the Stelling factory was worth the effort. The Stelling farm is beautiful and well manicured (the factory is in the woods in the back). Interestingly, Geoff wife raises goats and produces goat cheese. At this point in the current economy, the goat cheese may be selling better than the banjos. The cheese is probably a little less expensive.

Geoff pointed out that in the insert of Steve Martin's Crow CD, Steve credits a new stelling banjo for enspiring the song on the CD - Late for School. Geoff talked about all the major banjo players that had banjos built by him from Ralph Stanley to ......