Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Cookie Tin Banjo
JW_Halverson:
I am every bit as fond of handmade music as I am of handmade bows. Here's a link to a guy you will all really dig!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbAZPHtDIY0
While it is not accoustic, you can't deny the talent and unique quality.
zenmonkeyman:
bubby, I did finally find a reference to doing what you mentioned, sticking wedges against the dowel stick to tension the head. I may try that next time. I have to look up hubcap instruments that sounds too cool.
Mallorn, just get busy and do it! I'm surprised how little time it took, even with the fretting. It was no more time and less frustrating than building a bow out of a twisted sapling. With the price of failure set somewhere below making kindling while punching myself in the face. :P I just ordered two of the foxfire books, can't wait till they show up. I know some cats that would be less annoying turned into bagpipes nevermind banjos >:D
The fretting was fairly easy, I found an excel spreadsheet at bluestemstrings.com; all you have to do is input the nut-to-bridge measurement, and the fret locations are spit right out. I drew them up on Paint.net with the coordinates set to cm, printed them off and glued them to the fretboard. All I had to do was cut on the lines, which I did using a fine-tooth jigsaw blade mounted to the correct depth in a stick. The depth itself I figured using trial and error, flattening my wire until it fit in the slot and adjusting accordingly.
It probably took no more than about 3 or 4 hrs to flatten and file the frets themselves, but I wasn't keeping track. Just meditatively spending a slow morning with a fire and a pot of coffee.
The weight is ALL in the neck, so the balance is definitely weird. I'm not a musician so I couldn't intelligently discuss the playability on that measure. I made the neck fairly wide so I could pull down when bending strings, and because being no musician it's much easier for me to play cleanly with a wide string spacing. It coulda been lots narrower. That's also why I ultimately put on frets... My skills really don't allow for any additional levels of difficulty haha.
Thanks killir duck, Olanigw (Pekane), JW, paoliguy, Leroy, and lostarrow!
Mallorn:
Thanks for the bit on being able to make a banjo out of anything, hub caps and the youtube vid (that guy is way more serious than I am though!). Good tips!
My two cents on a fretboard. If you are a novice with string instruments, a fret board is by far the easier way to go and a faster way to pick out a tune on an instrument. If it only takes a few hours to add on frets, I would highly recommend it! Why did you settle on copper smashed flat, just what you had around? I'm trying to think of any metal sold in a ribbon that would work right off the shelf but nothing is coming to mind.
Having a heavy neck will probably make it more difficult to play if you are holding it for a long time, but unless you are playing all night around a campfire it shouldn't be a bother for a few songs here and there. For anyone following along, wider strings and a wider neck will make it easier to not bump into neighboring strings, but will make you stretch more and the neck will be wider (heavier). If you are reaching across the neck to play 3 or 4 strings at once, the closer you can cram them together the easier the stretch. I have smaller hands so I like stuff crammed together. Also to keep in mind, when you are stretching across strings you are often mixing up your fingers to be a couple of frets up or down from another one. If you never plan on playing more than one string at a time then you can do whatever the heck you want though, and you can also tune each string to favor finger placement.
--- Quote from: zenmonkeyman on February 10, 2014, 10:26:58 pm ---Mallorn, just get busy and do it!
--- End quote ---
I loved this encouragement, you are throwing gas on this old idea that has kindled for a long time! I won't be able to start too soon, but will follow up when that day comes. I'm still working on my first bow; my first cut was made over six months ago. :o
bubby:
here's a link to my cigar box guitar zen man, c b getty is a place to get all the parts you have to buy http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,41474.msg554851.html#msg554851
bubby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7nVZbZue0&feature=player_detailpage
JW if you like home made music take a listen
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