This is a short scale banjo, often refered to as a C scale, with a scale length of 19 and three quarter inches from nut to bridge. Standard tuning(with open G tuning as the reference) would be CGCEG, or the equivalent to a normal banjo capoed at the fifth fret.
The design has elements of the famous Proffit mountain banjo but with a few differences. The body is 8 inches wide and made up of three rings top, middle and bottom, but with the addition of a through dowel made of thick reclaimed ash. The top and middle rings are beech, and the bottom ring, or back plate is fashioned out of an old solid chessboard, with strips of oak and black walnut steam bent around the rim. The middle ring is bound in patterned leather, for no reason other than I liked the way it looked! (doesn't affect the sound)
The design has elements of the famous Proffit mountain banjo but with a few differences. The body is 8 inches wide and made up of three rings top, middle and bottom, but with the addition of a through dowel made of thick reclaimed ash. The top and middle rings are beech, and the bottom ring, or back plate is fashioned out of an old solid chessboard, with strips of oak and black walnut steam bent around the rim. The middle ring is bound in patterned leather, for no reason other than I liked the way it looked! (doesn't affect the sound)
The neck is made of reclaimed mahogany with a single ogee at the nominal fifth and seventh fret position. The fingerboard overlay is black walnut with a brass plate where the neck meets the pot. The heel is ash with patterned metal decoration and the peghead is beech, carved in a contemporary fiddle scroll style. Pegs are handcarved from oak for a rustic look.
The head is 6 inches wide and is made from AAA quality spruce, rather than skin, which gives a warm and mellow sound, still banjoey but with a hint of tenor guitar thrown in. With the spruce head a tone ring isn't neccessary. Bridge and nut are both maple. The bridge is 4/8th of an inch high, with the thickness of the spruce head adding an extra 1/8th inch to the bridge height. The strings are Aquila nylguts which are, bang for the buck, about the best strings available for fretless banjos.
The banjo has a lovely warm ringing sound - not too loud - won't crack the window frames, after all it's not a bluegrass cannon, but the higher tuning helps it cut through nicely. It copes with old time and country tunes well and also works great for celtic music. It's also light and easy to handle.
This instrument is now sold, feel feel to enquire if you want to commission something similar
2 comments:
This is an awesome instrument. I play old time banjo and decided to build a small mountain banjo for hiking and traveling. I was searching the internet for inspiration...I think I stumbled upon the perfect blog for that. Keep up the good work.
-Chris
imakemybeer.blogspot.com
Love this instrument of yours, a lovely rustic and very inspiring piece of work.
Wondering how you fitted the tuning pegs, did you use a reamer to get the correct taper?
Cheers
Gypsey Davey
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