Mile Ramsey makes a "Special" model and he makes a "Student" model. In theory, the significant differences are:

The Special has a three-piece neck; the Student has a one-piece neck.
The Special has a engraved inlay, including Mike's Saturn and a 5th fret shooting star; the Student has store-bought, plain MOP dots and a star in the peghead.
The Special has an ebony fingerboard; the Student has a rosewood fingerboard.
The Special has an extra lamination of flamed maple on the pot to match the neck; the Student has a plain, none-fancy maple veneer on the outside of the pot.

I should point out that many of the nominal differences outlined above are changed from time to time as materials availabilities and Mike's whimsy change.

Nonetheless, this banjo essentially has a Special neck attached to a Student body (as it were), so we've called it a "Stucial," as "Specdent" just didn't sound right.

This unique Ramsey banjo is here for $1250, including a hardshell case. Sold.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

	The scooped, ebony fingerboard has engraved "Christmas tree" MOP dots, and a shooting star at the 5th fret			The three-piece neck is highly flamed maple with a natural color.
	The peghead is charateristic Ramsey-shape and has his trademark Saturn inlay in its ebony overlayment.			The tuners are 5-Star brand planetaries.
	It's set up with a Renaissance head, and No-Knot tailpiece, and sounds great.			The metal parts are nickel-plated. The plainness of the Student pot's maple exterior shows here. Otherwise, this banjo looks just like a Special! That "propeller" inlay at the 12th fret comes from his Fairbanks Electric model, but this is all confusing enough as is...
	The 12-inch, maple pot has a heavy, rolled brass tone ring for a deep, mellow sound.			Viewed from the front, it looks like a Special, but from the back, its Student pot shows...

---

Home Page

---