Original 1840s Minstrel Banjo by William Boucher Jr.
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- Опубликовано: 23 ноя 2022
- Banjo Heritage 👉 / cliftonhicks
In this video we examine an exceedingly rare banjo made by William Boucher Jr. in Baltimore during the 1840s. We'll listen to it's music, and compare some of it's details to those found on a modern reproduction banjo by Terry Bell.
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#banjo #cliftonhicks #oldleatherstocking #bluegrass #folkmusic #history #countrymusic #music #americana #antique #luthier #classicalguitar 
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Watched this with my moms and she suddenly remembered "Farewell my bonnie blue eye" and "the crawdad song" from her father playing them for her on banjo
What an absolute delight, you can almost make out 200 years of history in that tone
nice history lesson. that thing is a survivor. i hope it makes it another 180 years.
Legend of a banjo played by a banjo legend 👏 doesn't get any better!
I don't play banjo at all, but I absolutely admire the love for the instrument, it's music, and history/tradition that you bring to all your videos. I have absolute respect for you!
Gotta admire the good ol Cliff and those historical tunes!
Super sick! One thing I noticed with the bell banjo (not sure if I could spot it or not) but he usually has a sticker on the inside. Mine has got "custom made for Robert Brooks". Nevertheless, they are identifiable from a mine away.
This one was likely one of his kit banjos
The slots on the tops of the pegs is a neat idea. Great for capturing the string when changing strings. I'm assuming those slots don't go too deep.
They go probably a half inch
So wish you could check out the old family banjo we have. It was owned by my grandfather's great aunt who was an art college graduate and musician. She traveled the world with her banjo. Still playable but we dont know how. She was born 1800s and I have one pic of her with my grandfather at 15yrs or so.
Thanks for writing. Please send photos of the banjo to me at clifhicks@gmail.com
The OG one is shockingly light. I couldn’t believe how slender she is 🫣
Wow, very cool. I play guitar for my local civil war reenacter group. After watching your videos, I need one of these reproduction banjo. Thanks for your honesty and dedication.
What a rich crisp sound from that old original! Amazing
Thanks a bunch for the great video.I play a Wunder Boucher and just learned more about the banjo in few minutes than I’ve known about both my reproduction and the original in the many years I’ve had it. George hit it pretty right on with the offset tail, straight peckboard and overhanging nut. Super awesome!
That's a beautiful piece of machinery.
The tone of the reproduction just doesn't quite speak to me in that special way like the sound produced by the original does. Oldies are always goodies.
This is fantastic! I’ve loved the Boucher banjo since watching George Wunderlich recreate one on the “Woodwright’s Shop” with Roy Underhill. Though they pronounce it “Boo-shay”.
Love those banjos.
Great video!, Anyone interested in the name Boucher its french and common in Canada when spoken it actually sounds like Boo Shay. Theres a Boucher Guitars in Montreal a true masterbuilder cool to find out about this W.Boucher Jr's Banjos! Rock on!
I actually disliked the instrument "5 string banjo" completely before hearing you play fretless old banjos like these or the gourd banjo. Their sound is sooo much more colourful.
I don't have much interest in banjos, but I love your passion. And that's why I watch your vids. Well done, Sir.
VERY interesting& nice playing, thank you
A couple of real beauties there!
Man that Bell banjo sounds incredible, Happy Turkey day my friend.
Still sounds great
You are an utter legend😍😎👏👏👏👍‼️ Y’reckon it’s possible that the wide nut on the Boucher allows for a wider string spacing on a relatively thin neck? It’d certainly help with making sure the ‘outside’ blocks of the nut were less prone to getting accidentally damaged compared to having the nut the same width as the neck and the ‘outside’ blocks being left real skinny to maximise the string spacing🤔? That said, if the ends of the nut overhang the neck, they’re more prone to taking damage 🤔😯?
I just found this channel and watched this video. My jaw dropped when I realized I was listening to a 180 plus year old banjo. What history in that instrument!! I’ve subscribed and I’m looking forward to more videos. Thanks!
The thumbnail is so crisp. Fantastic shot, great framing! Amazing piece of history, thanks Blaine and Clif.
What a treat, thanks for pointing out all those little details about the neck construction. The instrument + your playing sound great as well.
A super video with super instruments! Kind Thanks and Many Blessings and A Very Happy New Year! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
I really like the showmanship strum. So cool
That was awesome getting to hear this banjo getting played
Great job, as always! FYI: My Jim Hartel Boucher uses a bent pin to secure the neck. He seems pretty serious about getting the details right. I'm surprised that both banjos rang so clearly in the rain and damp!
Thanks for that info Daniel. I have never laid hands on a Hartel banjo
Those Hartel Banjos are great reproductions from what I’ve heard. They’re also quite expensive. $2600 for a Hartel Boucher, vs $400 for a Bell when he was making them.
@@blainechappell5383 It's absolutely beautiful - both as an accurate copy and a functional instrument. I'm lucky to have purchased it secondhand through a fellow at the Banjo Hangout.
Great video! The banjo is such an underrated part of music history.
Thanks for putting this out there. I like the others who have commented appreciate the work...
Amazing. Thanks for sharing these!
This turned out fantastic!
Blaine, the Boucher is yours, correct? I recall a video of you playing one. Super cool banjo! I have a Bell kit and my only complaint is the size. It's big. Lol
@@rlofgren6787 people was smaller back then too, no?? They must have felt GIANT
@@rlofgren6787 it is! I was really glad to share it with Clif and Aaron. They make that old beast sing like it hadn't sung for 180 years.
Thank you for the journey back in time Mr Hicks .
It’s rainin Holy shit! 🤣
Happy turkey day Clif!
Awesome
Considering getting me a minstrel banjo, so I'm looking to people like you to show me why I need one.
Pretty sure I need one now.
I know it ain't right to covet another's possessions, but goddamn am I jealous of your banjo collection.
Love your stuff Clifton.
Beautiful instruments as always.
So awesome. Thank you for sharing! 😀
Happy Thanksgiving brother 🦃🥧 I got your music in the background as I cook the turkey.
Heya Clif great work sharing the original Boucher with us. My first impression with the wider nut from a woodworking perspective, would be to have extra area beyond the end slots so as not to shear off if it were too narrow at the ends - I nearly had one do that to me recently making a wooden nut. Cheers from NSW Australia!
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Cliff. God bless you and your family
Wow! What amazing banjos you have there! Love the scalloping at the back and the original metal hardware on the Boucher. Thanks so much for sharing ^^
You gotta appreciate the time and skill it took to make those with the tools they had available.. blows my mind
So awesome! Never even knew there was fretless banjos before watching your channel, but I love the sound and it's so cool learnin and listening about this all!
I so enjoyed that, thank you Clifton. The sound from a time machine! Your enthusiasm and skill shine through.
Pretty neat Cliff
That's a beautiful piece of history, thank you for sharing it ❤️
Wow
I appreciate the history & music. Hey, I haven't seen your friend Old Leatherstockings for a while. It's he doing alright? Unrelated, where's that video on your military service?
I have a Bell that is like a budget version of a Boucher with the same design but a tack head. Kinda wish I had spent the extra for the adjustable. Cool banjo anyway. 😊
Highlights some choices builders need to make. To make as historically accurate as possible, or make stronger, more aesthetic, and/or more playable to detrimentof historical accuracy . Either is fine, just choices to make.
I like to put the bridge smack dab in the middle like these ones are.
What a treat!
something special I'm reminded of my old friend Coleridge Goode teaching a new generation fretless base. the fretless banjo lacks the connotations of what we call a banjo today and to my humble ears is a better instrument with greater musicality...,..sorry if put clumsily kinda reaching for something sacred that was almost lost.
Nice
Cool man.
I really love your music and videos,thank you very much for sharing ❤️❤️
Clifton could you play waiting on the Federals “Shelby’s Mule” would be cool hearing “Shelby’s Mule”. Would be a good song.
I have always wanted to make a banjo. I like the close ups and I love that old banjo. I subbed thanks
I enjoy you video and you play wonderfully. I have an observation regarding the logo on your swag which I considered
until I saw the illustration of a skull and assault rifle. Neither have anything to offer acoustically.
Bones and firearms offer plenty of acoustics.
That was a treat thanks😁👍
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Wow...incredible that your holding a piece of American music history. Thank you for sharing🎉!!
A Boucher fretless with a brass fingerboard up to the fifth string peg sold today at Evans Auctions in Mt. Crawford Va. $9840 before 6% sales tax. Nowhere near as good condition as this one.
I dont think I've ever seen that one.
Hi Clifton, thanks for this great video, I have a Boucher reproduction made by Terry Bell too, and I want to ask if you can explain me how much tension must put on the head. Is there a criteria (or procedure) to do this to that type of banjo? Thanks in advance.
Tighter is louder and pluckier sounding, looser is thumpy sounding. Professionals would've kept their heads as tight as possible, but you'll find this puts wear-and-tare on the instrument. Changes in weather also change the head tension. It's a mess! Most important thing is to not burst the hide or brake a tension hook.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo ok, I were using the same criteria based on desired sound and not to break anything so I think I was doing it " right", thank you!
Love the elegant simplicity of these fine instruments. Question. Why do many of this old style have a scalloped side on the neck by the 5th string? Is it just decoration or does it have a practical use?
Those scallops below the fifth string are actually early fret position markers! Above the fifth string peg one doesn't need visual markers, but each curve and point in that "double ogee" shape indicate a fret positon.
Thanks for the close up tour of the Boucher! I love your two finger style. The sound comparison with the Bell was interesting. Learned: about the fourth string hitting the fifth string peg when vibrating!
Hi Clifton, nice video. Love your singing and playing.
Tilted headstock, the thin Boucher one scares me. Conical fiddle peg to hold the neck to the rim. It gets tighter the more it's tapped. Pine bridges sound best on these banjos. Thin 1/4" rims absorb vibrations unlike thick bluegrass rims that reflect them. This is the nasal sound vs the boom sound, like turning EQ knobs upside down. My curly necks were one piece, my plain necks were often two piece. I made the beehives by drilling a hole in a block of maple, pounding it onto the arbor of an old washer motor and chipped them out lathe style. Aquila Minstrel strings need a scale length of at least 26" to sound right. 25 sounds dead, 27 is too tight and stringy sounding, 26 is just right. Amateur makers can make a great sounding banjo by following Boucher's idea of a solid red oak or ash rim (quarter sawn or near quarter) snd putting the brackets near the bottom of the rim in the scalloped like he did. This makes the rim shake like crazy while absorbing string vibration - the very opposite of a bluegrass thick rim that reflects vibration. This, not a twangy sound but a big fat sound. Old style THIMBLE fingerpicks bring out the whomp in these monsters. Joel Hooks sells these and makes them just like they did in the 1800' s. The minstrel style is a ball. If a player learns The Camptown Hornpipe they'll be hooked on this wonderful old melodic style. Of course lots of folks play mountain music on these and that sound great, down in D instead of G. Two of my banjos are displayed in the Baltimore Civil War Museum from time to time - William Boucher's hometown.
it's hard to put my finger on it, but the tone of the Boucher sounds much closer to that of a nylon strung classical guitar or even a harp, where as the reproduction has a much more identifiably banjo sounding tone.
I didn't see any patreon link on my screen....
Thanks, that link is Patreon.com/CliftonHicks
Nice😊
Cool video, awesome piece of history. If I were to start playing banjo, what banjo do you recommend?
Gold Tone AC-1. best bang for your buck on a new banjo. I still play mine 4 years later, and i own some nice banjos now
"Boo shay" billy boucher
🥱 Laundry.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo lmao true. Thanks
I would like to make one. Does anyone know where I can get measured drawings of an original early Boucher instrument? Even good photographs with one or two measurements would be sufficient for a working drawing. I saw online that the Smithsonian Institution has one, and since I;m not far from DC, I might see if they will let me measure it.
Email me, tbchappe@gmail.com
I traced the neck and put dimensions on it. I can send you a camera photo that I took.
@@blainechappell5383 Thank you! I'll email now.
Hey Clifton. I want to get into the fretless "minstrel' banjo. I love the style you play. Do you have any recommendations for where to get used ones for a good price, and which books to start with? Your help is appreciated!
They'll pop up on reverb once in awhile, but county banjo and gardner dulcimer also makes pretty decent reproductions for a good price
5:00
Great video! It's very helpful as I'm wanting to build a reproduction. Do you know the approximate scale length and neck length of the Boucher banjos? Thanks for sharing!
The scale is probably 27" or 28" it feels like any other banjo.
Thanks!
What’s the measurement from the heel to the fretboard.
At the heel back it’s 1.55” thick and at the thinnest point the neck is 0.72” thick.
It’s about 2.5” wide looking down at the fretboard.
And down to 1.40” wide up at the nut
Thank you.
Ok here is something I would like to know what are the strings made of. Thanks
The original 1840s banjo has gut (animal intestine) strings. The modern copy has nylon strings.
Nce
Hi Clifton. I just saw your very interesting RUclips video showing an old minstrel banjo. I have a fairly new OME minstrel model banjo, but other than its minstrel shape, it sounds just like my other banjos. Could you maybe suggest a different set of strings that might give it a deeper old style minstrel banjo tone?
Thanks,
Bob
PS I recently heard that OME has been sold to Goldtone.
Ome and Goldtone are (were?) both good companies. You need some kind of nylon strings for you minstrel banjo. I suggest the Aquila 1892 _New_ Nylgut. You should also being using a quality traditional bridge from BanjoThimble.com
Thanks for your quick reply and information about both the nylon strings and the bridge.
Bob
Is this what Rhiannon Giddens plays? She's an amazing musician!
She plays a replica 1850s Levi Brown, I believe built by Hartel
Any idea or record of how many original Bouchers were made?
That's unknown, but there are around 40 known to exist today.
Where can I find one?
there's one of the Terry Bell reproductions on Reverb
You can find Terry Bell versions every so often on reverb, or other banjo/instrument sites like banjobarn.com, Bernunzio, or elderly.
As for the original Boucher, there’s only about 40 accounted for in the world, so you have to know someone who’s wanting sell, or you have to be very patient in hopes that one pops up online.
So creating a reproduction that would still have the bass string hit the thumb peg would be more authentic. Or is it so annoying authenticity be damned. lol.
I’ve seen some where the thumb peg is tilted outwards. Less likely to wallop
Is Boucher pronounced "boo - sher"?
I’ve read it’s pronounced “boo-shay” “boo-sher” and “booker”
@@blainechappell5383 My mother was a Boucher---it's Boo-shay.
@@boxtopjenkins7840 I read that William’s great great granddaughter stated that they pronounce their last name “Booker.”
Honestly though, most people that see it just say “Bow-cher”
Can I have it? Lol