Close-up of the Banjo in the
Ramey Encore Automatic Banjo
(made by the Ramey Piano Company)

Two string picker assemblies are situated on either side of the banjo, with the actual picking arms and the tiny templates that describe their picking orbits supported by the ornate nickel-plated metalwork. Each of the four independent pickers is operated by a single, large pneumatic, delivering a quick motion, with more than enough motive power to do the job.

Close-up of the left-side banjo picking mechanism. The two flat springs forward of the pneumatics and ornate bracket offer sliding resistance to the pivoted picker wires. This resistance causes the pickers to follow "elliptical" orbits described by tiny templates located about two inches inward from the banjo end of the supporting bracket.