Cherry Appalachian Fretless Mountain Banjo From Barn Wood
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2011
- Here's a video of my latest build. As I stated in this video, the banjo is constructed entirely from wood pulled from a corn crib on my dad's barn. It just don't get any more mountain than that folks lol. Enjoy, and as always, any questions, feel free to ask!
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👍👍 great sound, cool build
Great job! Thanks for posting this. Beautiful banjo, w great sound.
This was a good use of my few minutes of good Internet connection today! Well, well done! That is gorgeous wood. I hope by the time I can set up a real workshop I can find some wood with as much country credibility as "quarter-sawn cherry off the walls of a corn crib." You just can't make that stuff up! Again, great job. Loved it.
Great banjo,
Looks and sound both are perfect!
What a wonderful instrument. Great job. (And greetings from the UK)
great sounding banjo,looks good to!!!
Amazing sound! Very well done!
really nice! big grin when you started playing. what a great sound.
Great craftsmanship Frankie! A one-of-a-kind unique instrument!
That’s just lovely! Like the headstock carving
Very cool banjo, very cool sounding tune. Well done.
That thing sounds great.Good job
Thanks again! Mucho gracias as they say in the way South. I've thought about selling them someday, but only after my skills improve. I've not made one yet that didn't have some mistakes, and I'd feel guilty about taking money for them! Take care and thanks for watching!
Real nice Frank sounds really good,looks great too.
WOW great job!!!! goodbye corn crib!!!nice playin and build!!! loved the banjo uke build as well!!!
best regards
cj
Great sound !!!
shes a beaut. sweet sound lovely piece of work there man. cheers
Nice hand made banjer! Great speaking voice!
Thank you so much. I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the kind words and your question! The bowl that I used was a straight sided bowl. I cut the bottom off, kind of sliced it off like you would slice a round slice from a wheel of cheese. Once it was done, I had a wooden hoop. This is there in place of the traditional metal ring. It does have a wooden ring/hoop that makes the middle layer of the body, and also has the bowl converted to a hoop inside of that, which rests against the back plate, providing tension for the head.
Howdy! Thanks again for the question and the kind words.
To ream the peg holes I used a hardware store tapered reamer. It matched the angle fairly close, but it's not exact. It would be better to buy one made for the purpose I would say. For the 5th string I bought a second reamer and cut it a good deal shorter so the extra length wouldn't come out the side of the neck.
As far as the screws go,, they're just plain old wood screws screwed into the center ring. (continued)
I've used nuts and bolts before with good results. You can apply a good deal of pressure with the nuts and bolts as opposed to screws without fear of stripping the wood. I used the nut and bolt setup on one that had a mahogany center ring that I was worried about screws stripping out of.
Well, thanks again, and be sure to ask away if you need anymore help!
Awesome! Glad you got it done!
I tune mine to a tuning like double "C", but down 1 1/2 steps to "A". i found that that the nylon strings don't like a whole lot of tension, especially the high re-entrant string.
You've got a lot of leeway with the bridge placement. I like to place it so what would be my fifth fret lines up perfectly with the 5th string nut. So I've got a bit of a road map and at least know where the 5th fret is.Thanks for the question, and take care!
Where are you located
Nice work :)
Very cool!
real nice... didnt know you could get 6 inch remo heads. I might give that ago next time .
@FlatfootJohnny Hey, thanks a lot! Its good to know you liked it, because I've sure gotten a lot of inspiration from your work myself. I get these from Musician's Friend. They are drum heads, but they seem to work good for this.They are kinda thick though, but thinning this one out with a bit of sandpaper seemed to work well.
That cherry is really nice. The sound hole is cool. You should keep doing that. Did you have to get a violin peg auger to make those holes fit in the tapered shape? I think sometimes they use a little string resin to keep those grippy.
Thanks for the kind words too!
@sim4lin Thank you very much for the comment. I'm glad you liked it!
Hey, thanks for the kind words! I appreciate them all! There are some good diagrams in the Foxfire 3 book for mountain banjos. If you are interested, I built a banjo uke a while back, and I have a video of it up here you can find if you search through my other videos. Maybe it might give you a few ideas (what to do and what NOT to do lol). Thanks for watching!
@stigandr5 Thanks a lot for the kind words Nathan! I'm glad you got some enjoyment out of this, as I've gotten plenty of inspiration from your vids. Let me know when you get back in Hoosier land and get a shop set up, I'm sure I'll have some left. I will require the princely sum of a couple of canjo tunes though!
Thank you very much for the kind words!
I would just make a dowel coming out of the heel of the neck. Either make a separate dowel, or cut it out of the heel end of your neck blank (making it one piece). I've tried the separate dowel thing, and I have better luck either making it one piece or making it when I glue up the heel, but you may be different. If you have a dowel extending the length of the tin, and have the tailpiece anchored on the end of the dowel, you probably won't need much of a frame inside. Thanks for the comment too
Thanks a lot!
Well, I sure do appreciate the kind words my friend!
Indeed! Too bad I didn't do that intentionally lol! Thanks for your comment.
That tuning is eAeab by the way. I bought a tuner a little while back and can check these things now lol. That would be from the fifth string (short top re-entrant string) to the 1st (string closest to the floor)
Thanks for the explanation, i'm understand what you did now. How thick is the wood for your salad bowl?
I picked up a stainless steel dog bowl that I was going to cut the bottom off of but it does tapper a bit, I wonder if it will work alight
The bowl I used has a wall thickness of about 1/2" and the depth is about 2 1/2". It's outside diameter is 6". I would think your dog bowl would work as long as the taper isn't too steep. As long as it fit's snugly against the head and the back applies pressure, I wouldn't think a bit of taper would hurt anything. It might even sound better than a straight sided bowl. The whole spirit of these things are to use what's available. Thanks for the question and good luck!
"Cherry corn crib" ranks rite up there with "walnut crosstie" 😭
you blow my mind
Hey Big Frankie...I'm building one currently (my first), have plenty of tools and lumber. The question is, the 3/4 cherry versus the 1/2 inch oak is very different sounding. I play your sound bite on the oak to other people and tell them that is what I'm trying to get. What should I do, go with the standard plan or try to repeat what you did with the oak/softwood/wooden bowl tone ring? That's the sound!!
Thanks
good job! engineer of instrument you are ;)
Thanks for the info, i haven't tried double C on this thing yet just sawmill and open G. I tuned up to aEAC#E (open A?) last night, think that plays a bit better. I'm just trying to figure out a good tension for these strings without breakin' em! I've been having some trouble with my 5th string, i've broken it once and even before/after replacing.. the sound doesn't ring very well. it's quite muted.. have you had this problem? wondering if maybe the slotted screw needs to be filed or something
YOU ARE THE BEST BANJO PLAYER EVER! What age did you learn?
Lol! Thanks a lot! I started when I was 37.
It's provin' to be a pain cutting up this bowl but we'll see if it works out, i'm liking the sound of your wood tone ring though.
Few more questions i've run into if you don't mind sharing some knowledge..what did you use to ream your peg heads (and the 5th)?
And for the screws you use to tighten the head together, are those just threaded into the center piece or is it more of a nut/bolt setup?
thanks!
Hey there, finally got my mountain banjo built! What do you suggest you tune these guys to? Trying to figure out a good tension/bridge placement. How tight do you normally string it to?
thanks!
really nice...have you made any ore of these?
This one sounds really good. I'm curious about the bowl instead of the metal ring you're using inside the banjo. Most mountain banjos have the top and bottom wood plates, sandwiching a wood hoop and a metal ring (fitting inside the hoop)right? Does yours still have that wood hoop but some kind of wood ring (bowl) inside of that, or is it just the wood ring(bowl)?
How thick is the bowl and does it have an curvature to it like most bowls?
thanks!
From building guitars I learned, if the strings don't sit in deep slots in the nut, they ring out more.
How did you secure the drum head to the body? I'm planning on making one of my own, and am having trouble finding out how to secure it. This is a very nice banjo!!
Howdy, and thanks for the kind words! The drum head is kinda squished between the top and the tone ring. The hole in the top of the body is slightly smaller than the drum head, then I have tone ring (just a ring of wood that I made from a square sided wooden bowl that I cut the bottom off of) that is pushing against the bottom of the drum head, kind of pushing it through the hole in the top. The back of the banjo presses against the tone ring as the screws are tightened, providing the tension. Just think of a typical drum, with the top of the banjo being the tension ring, and the tone ring doing the same thing as the drum shell. Except instead of having hardware pulling the tension ring, the back is pushing the tone ring against the head.
sounds awesome,realy good job.where can I find the plans for this banjo...?
I used the plan in the Foxfire book mostly
Hi Frankie. I've enjoyed all your videos. I play guitar a bit and do a lot of woodworking. I'd like to make a fretless banjo. What is the distance between the bridge and the nut. Is there a standard measurement. Thks.
The scale length on mine is 26 1/2 inches. It seems like most banjos are in the 26-27 inch range, but I don't know if there's any standard length. With the fretless there's a little leeway with the scale length. I tried to make sure that the 5th fret lined up with the 5th string nut so I'd have a bit of a roadmap of sorts. Thanks for the question!
Hey there, thanks for the reply!
i started reaming my holes today and noticed that all of my violin pegs seem to be slightly different thicknesses (means i'd have to ream deeper on certain ones) is this normal or did i just get a bad batch of violin pegs?
I have a question maybe you could help me with. I'm interested in making kind of a synthesis of two styles of banjo. I want to use a tin instead of a drum, but I have a specific tin in mind which is rectangular, about 6 inches tall and 4 wide. A bit on the small side, but I think it'll do all right. How would you suggest building the wooden frame, and the tension-rod/full-neck? Thanks, that's a beautiful instrument you have there.
Frankie u are the new Brian May (built his Red Special of the piece of antique wood and smth more....)
Howdy and thanks for the kind words! I'm sorry but I really don't get into building instruments for other people. I don't have a lot of shop time anymore, and my instruments are a little too "rustic" for me to feel comfortable selling them. Once again, I'm really sorry, and I sure do thank you for your interest.
The bowl is about 1/2" in thickness, and is constructed much like a modern banjo block rim. I hope that answered your question. If not, shoot me another message! Thanks again!
@yugio1971 I really do appreciate the kind words!
That's a deal!
What kind of tail piece did you use?
@eugeneukulele Hey! Thanks a lot buddy! Really appreciate it.
Hello bigfrankiej3211: I just got a fretless mountain banjo (Frank Proffett style). Regrading where second fret should be; I have noticed that when I place my finger in a position on the first string to get an E note (using an electronic tuner the see the E note) that I have to move my finger slightly back from where the first string position was to get a true E note on the 4th string. It that just the way it is or is the bridge no placed correctly? Help.
Howdy! No, I've been lazy as far as banjo building goes. I've got one I'm working on now that is going to be a fretted version of my fretless nylon string bowl banjo. I've got it about 2/3's of the way done, but it's moving along slower than a 80 year old woman's bowels. I'll post a vid of it when I finish it, but it's not very"Appalachian"
Hey buddy! Glad you enjoyed my random act of repurposeification (yeah, new word)! I love the comment, and I thank you for it.
What strings do you use on the mountain banjo?
Where does one obtain these strings? Do I need to order them online or can I get them from Sam Ash or something?
I got mine from Elderly Instruments. They are the Aquila Minstrel nylon strings
bigfrankiej3211 Oh okay. I got you. At first I thought you meant that you got the strings from old instruments. XD Thanks.
@Cj12sings Thanks for the sub too!
Hey do you think you could give me some kind of like list instruction to making one I'm really trying to get into playing banjo's and feel I'd prefer making my own.
Maxwell W. Munz Howdy! I used the Foxfire book (number 3 I think) heavily in building mine. I also used the plan on bluestemstrings.com for the Frank Proffitt style banjo. I kind of came up with something I liked mainly from those two and just went for it. I used a round, straight sided wooden bowl with the bottom cut off for the head tensioner/tone ring (instead of rolled up sheet steel), and I used a small drum head that I thinned out with sandpaper instead of using groundhog or house cat skin (it seemed to be a bit easier than catching a neighborhood cat). It's basically just two round discs of wood with tabs on one side for the neck to bolt to, one round disc in the center (3 layers sandwiched) then the neck. The face plate should have a hole big enough for whatever head/tone ring combo you choose to fit through, and the back plate should have a small enough hole that the tone ring presses against the back without going through, so it will tighten the head up. Definitely check out the foxfire book though. Ive got another video of a different banjo I built (ruclips.net/video/6GGa-jaTVtY/видео.html) that is made a bit differently. The front and back plate are 1/2" thick being the main difference. I like the 3/4" thick front and back plate like in this one better though. Hope this helps some. Let me know if I've confused you further lol. Good luck!
Maxwell W. Munz This is a good video too: ruclips.net/video/rix6LfdLlnc/видео.html
+bigfrankiej3211 Thanks for this explanation, big help
You made anymore?
Sound good, but it`s a monster
Where are you located
Hmmm...no, I've never run into that. I'd think that might be bad quality control. I'm no expert though. I don't see why they wouldn't work though, maybe just look a little strange.
It has a fairly muted sound..............sorta like listening to a cylinder record from years ago.
Sounds like a koto
BTW, sorry I took so long to reply. Your comment showed up in my spam folder for some reason.
Please come back with your instruments.