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The high powered Kulesh "10-Hole" Tonering is setting a new standard for tonerings for the 5-string banjo. After hearing of the exceptional power and tone of the Kulesh "10-Hole" tonering from respected sources, I decided to independently test and evaluate several of these tonerings which were produced from different "lots". These were installed on various banjos, including "new age" professional banjos. The results are remarkable. All of the ingredients for a pre-war sounding "state of the art" tonering are evident... incredible volume, quick response, excellent decay time of the individual notes, well balanced tone with a clarity which spans the fingerboard, and a tonal depth that seems to come from within the banjo, rather than from the surface of the head, projecting directly out the front of the banjo, rather than up. You can feel the difference as well as hear it. The tonal difference was an improvement with each of the banjos, but it was particularly superior with those having high quality components and an exact tonering-rim fit. Also, the quick responsiveness made a noticeable improvement in the ease of playability with each of these banjos.
Aside from the specific alchemy of the actual metals derived from years of research, and the extreme control of consistency from lot to lot, the casting method seems to play an important role in the quality of the sound from this tonering. The "10- hole" tonering is cast from a process known as "centrifugal casting", a fairly expensive process, which assures a very uniform distribution of the metal, virtually Eliminating the potential pores and uneven places which are often evident in the more traditionally sand cast tonerings. The centrifugal (spin-casting) process also allows the impurities and waste materials to be easily removed. The "10-Hole" tonering also has 10 holes drilled into it, rather than the traditional 20 holes. These tonerings are' ~ to date, in limited production and individually numbered.
______________ Janet Davis