Just waiting for the final coat of sealant to dry and I can string up the banjo again and plaaaaay. Wasn't sure about the stain at first, on account of the extreme contrast of light (pre-stain) and dark (post-stain). But having sat with it for a few days, I think it was a really great idea. The darkness brings out the calfskin head, which to me now looks like a full moon.

Almost Done!

The banjo is almost complete! I still plan on staining and sealing it, but couldn't resist stringing it up and seeing how it sounds and feels. It's amazing!! The sound is much louder than I anticipated, even with gut strings and the calfskin head. I recorded Cluck Old Hen and Texas, a little rough as I'm still getting used to the fretless concept. Luckily I've been playing a flush fret banjo for a little while, so it's not completely mysterious. I'll probably stain it tonight, then seal it tomorrow, after which I'll post some more pictures and maybe some more recordings.

A lot of progress on the mountain banjo. I ran into some issues with the first pot I had made, which was pecan. Long story short, I had to make a new pot, this time out of birch plywood, and though the pecan looked more interesting, the birch plywood is much better to work with and I'm really happy with it. I decided to add a frailing scoop, which I'm pretty excited about. I went ahead and made my own nut out of scrap maple from the neck. For the metal ring inside of the pot I cut down a giant can of tomato sauce. Last night we installed the calfskin head, which was a pretty interesting process! Currently the head is drying, I should be able to take the clamps off tonight around 10 or so, and then I'm pretty sure there's no way I'll be able to resist putting the tailpiece on and stringing it up! Gina helped SO much, and took some awesome pictures too!

Finally got the neck cut out! It has been quite an experience. I started with a block of cherry (3.5"x3.5"x36"), and found out the hard way that a jigsaw isn't the best tool for cutting 90 degree angles! So, sadly, the block of cherry was pretty mangled. After some time I picked up a piece of curly maple (2.5"x2.5"x30"). The smaller size meant that I would have to cut less material, which leaves less room for error (well, I guess you could look at it both ways!). Anyways, I had the idea that I could somehow use a coping saw to do all of the cutting, and quickly found out that it would be possible to do so, but that it would take an enormous amount of time. After some searching, I found a bandsaw to use and it's a damn dream come true. Sheesh. So, with the right tools and a lot of help from my dad (thanks dad!) this thing is starting to look like a banjo. Next is smoothing the neck up a bit and then sealing both the neck and the pot. Not too long now!

Today I started working on the banjo. I cut out the front, back and hoop. Also, I cut the metal ring used to support the calfskin head. I'm keeping the construction pretty simple, toolwise I've only used a drill (for starter holes), a jigsaw, some heavy grit sandpaper and tin snips for the metal ring. Currently the front and hoop are glued and clamped together and drying on my counter. Looks like tomorrow is neck day!

Pecan, Cherry, Calfskin and Sandy Boys

Picked up some wood for the homemade banjo. The front, back and hoop will be made of pecan (thin boards in the photograph). The neck will be made of cherry (long block in photograph). And the head will be calfskin, which I received yesterday (the tube above the largest pecan board). This weekend I'll cut the front, back and hoop out, and maybe start working on the neck, though I have to admit I'm nervous about that! The tune is Sandy Boys, played in a different tuning (which I honestly can't remember at the moment). Normally an upbeat dance tune, changing the tuning seems to totally change the character of the song into something more brooding.

Hail Against the Barn Door

I've heard this one a few times and think it's beautiful. So tonight I sat down and played it over and over. I feel like I'm pretty close to having it down. Also trying to learn Shaking Down the Acorns, will likely post that one soon. In other news, my copy of Foxfire #3 arrived in the mail a few days ago, which means that soon I'll start building my own banjo! I plan to document the undertaking, and post about it on this here blog.