We thought we’d take some time to share what’s going on at First Quality these days.  Over the years folks who’ve been to our showroom have always commented when coming through our front door about how the place has changed from visit to visit.   That continues to be true as we find ourselves embracing even more changes both in the products we will be selling and the overall look of our physical location where we do our business.

As everyone knows the name Sullivan is synonymous with five string banjos.  Our founder Bill Sullivan began this business in 1970 as a hobby in his home and some 40 years later we find ourselves in our current location where we still build banjos and do custom work.

The Sullivan Banjo Company shares our Trade Port Drive location and will be one of the areas where folks will be noticing some changes.  We’ll be enhancing the current banjo room and adding some additional production space devoted to the banjos we build.  Enhancements in our production capabilities with the addition of more CNC technology and a greatly improved and enlarged spray booth will increase our productivity while maintaining and improving quality.

On the retail side here at First Quality we have decided to return to our bluegrass roots.  In an ever changing market, we tried to broaden the scope of our business to include a wider inventory and found after some time that the right thing to do would be to focus our resources on the foundation that the company had grown upon.   The Sullivan Banjo will be the core along with going back to a broader selection of Martin guitars along with mandolins.  Plans are to give the customer a wide selection of price points in the guitars and mandolins and have those instruments on hand in our showroom so the choices will be there for our customers.   We are in progress on making the necessary changes in our showroom to make this a reality during the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2012.

We’ll be passing along updates over the upcoming weeks on the progress of these changes, if you find you are in the area stop in and see us.

We just received a beautiful new Sullivan Vintage 35 Walnut.   Equipped with it’s standard Vintage 35 tone ring and Sullivan Old Growth rim this banjo is a powerhouse!   These banjos are responsive up and down the entire neck and filled with that special sound usually reserved for those instruments with many years of seasoning.  The walnut banjos are a special lot in that their tone has characteristics of both a maple and a mahogany banjo and it’s a beaut to boot!

We just received a beautiful new Sullivan Bardstown.  

This banjo is crafted of the finest materials, from it’s Honduras Mahogany neck wood, quilted Mahogany resonator, hardrock maple woodrim and classic Sullivan tone ring it is not only a thing of beauty but a powerful banjo indeed.  Even though it’s brand new and right out of the workshop this one is impressive!  Give us a call.

Many times when you call in for ordering, with requests or questions the voice you hear answering the phone is that of our very own Murrell Thixton.   Murrell is the banjo player for the group Storefront Congregation, a four piece band from Louisville, Ky  that performs bluegrass and acoustic music.  This weekend they will join  Kyle Ramey, Kati Penn and Newtown, and 9 time IBMA fiddler of the year Michael Cleveland in a concert  to benefit 3 local charities The Salvation Army, The Center for Women and Families, andThe Home of the Innocents.   If you’d like details on how you can attend you can find more information about the concert here.

This video clip promoting the upcoming event is from a broadcast of Great Day Live a local morning show on our ABC affiliate WHAS television.  We’re proud of Murrell and his group for their support of these most worthy charities.

We hope you enjoy the clip, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

We just got a new Vintage 35 Maple  and it is beautiful.  Beautiful figured resonator and neck, a real dandy.    The Vintage 35′s all come with Old Growth rims and a Vintage 35 tone ring.  If you’d like all the specs you can click  here and you’ll be able to see all the details.

Give us a call and we’ll get you in the drivers seat.  800-635-2021 x126

We just took in on consignment a 1978 Gibson Hummingbird guitar.  This guitar has been professionally refinished and is in like new condition.  The original pick guard has been replaced with a new genuine Gibson Hummingbird pick guard.  This is an excellent repair job and it IS a great sounding instrument.  Very balanced and has great bass response, would make an excellent rhythm guitar.   Comes with gold Kluson style tuning machines, and a hard shell case.   Priced at $1,799.00 it won’t be here long, give us a call. 800.635.2021 ext 126

Item 1 – 1983 Deering Deluxe Custom Banjo

Item 2 – 1990 Deering Maple Blossom

Item 3 – 2002 Deering Maple Blossom

Item 4 – 1970 RB250 Gibson Banjo

Item 5 – 1976 Gibson RB250 Banjo

Item 6 – 1973 Gibson RB250

Item 7 – 1995 American Made Fender Stratocaster

Item 8 – Centennial Custom Shop Montana Gold 16 of 250

Item 9 – 1994 Centennial Edition J-200

Item 10 – 2003 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

Item 11 – 2004 Gibson BB King Lucille in Red

Item 12 – SJ 45 Deluxe Custom Shop Gibson Acoustic

Item 13 – 2004 Gretsch G6120DSW

Item 14 – 2005 Gretsch White Falcon

Item 15 – 2005 Gretsch G6122 Country Classic II

Item 16 – 2002 D40 Richie Havens Guild Acoustic Guitar

Item 17 – 2003 Guild D40 CE

Item 18 – Larrivee OM Unicorn

Item 19 – 2006 Larrivee L-09 Bubinga Wood

Item 20 – 2009 Larrivee L-09 Quilted Western Maple

Item 22 – 1996 Martin MTV-1 Unplugged # 305 of 696

Item 23 – 1993 Rickenbacker 330 Fireglo

Item 24 – 1994 Taylor 510 Dreadnought

Item 25 – 1994 Taylor 910 Dreadnought

• Body shape: dreadnought with cutaway
• Top: solid sitka spruce
• Back and sides: solid mahogany
• Neck: mahogany, slim profile, satin finish
• Fingerboard and bridge: rosewood
• Fingerboard inlays: dots
• Frets: 20
• Scale length: 651 mm
• Width at nut: 43 mm
• Tuners: Gotoh, chrome-plated
• Pickup system: D-TAR Wave-Length with volume and tone control
• Pickguard: tortoise
• Finish: natural high-gloss