Phone: 828-294-0578

Warren Yates

5206 Bethel Church Road

Hickory, NC 28602

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Listen to a sample of our Venom V1 20 Hole Nickel Plated Tone Ring (Ron Stewart is playing the sample on a Yates Studio Edition Mahogany Banjo)

Listen to a sample of our Venom V33 un-plated No Hole Tone Ring (Ron Stewart is playing the sample on his Yates “Ron Stewart Signature” Edition Maple Banjo)

Pre-War Tone Ring

The word  “prewar” is a term that describes tone rings made before World War II, and  it also describes tone rings that have a great sound as those made in that time frame. These rings do have a sound of their own and has been looked  upon as hard to duplicate. The sounds of these great tone rings were not all the same in formulation so where does the term “The Prewar Sound” come from? With the word “The” it sounds like there is only one, yet every  banjo recording from long ago was totally different.

We can test  the metal composition and we can sand cast them and even cut them to the same size as they were done long ago. If it were that easy, we would not be using words like “Pre War’, it would be words like “Today”. After a lot of research of formulas and listening to opinions and listening for myself, I have developed my own tone ring that does everything in the description above when combined with the proper banjo set up.

Yates “Venom” version V1  Tone Rings

The Venom of the Snake

Possibly the closest sounding to the old “Pre-War” flat head tone ring  made today.

Our “No Hole” ring has a slightly quicker response, a little harder tone, not thinner tone, and rings out a little longer than our 20 hole ring.

The Venom V33 ring is here! The prototype is in Ron Stewarts ‘Signature Maple Model” banjo now. The V33 is patterned after the 1933 flathead, which were no hole rings and had a unique tonal response. Very quick, sustaining in your face tone.

After many late nights in the shop, numerous trips to Starbucks and endless hours of  research provided by Ron, our V33's are now available.