Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Well, for the past 4 months or so I've been secretly building this banjo. It is for me and I have no plans to build another as I already own a great Gibson Mastertone. If this one continues to improve in sound quality, I might just sell the Mastertone.

Much more difficult than folks might think. I made all wood parts from scratch. The rim (the body of the banjo that all the metal parts are connected to) is made from bubinga but cannot be seen without taking the back (resonator) off.

The resonator is mahogany, covered with walnut burl.

The neck is walnut. A banjo neck is not hard to make but it is more difficult to fit it to the body of a resonator banjo than fitting a guitar neck. It has to be cut out to fit over the metal flange and again to fit against the tone ring. In essence, it touches the body in three different places and they are all a different distance from the center of the rim. One must also put in the 2 1/2 degree neck angle (like on a guitar). Then, since it fits against a round body, the whole end of the heel must be curved to fit and all three points of contact require a different radius. Pictures would be helpful. Of course, the peg head is more intricate than most guitars, but it is more difficult to actuall cut because traditionally it is cut out perpendicular to the fretboard rather than perpendicular to the peghead itself.

Also, this is my first bound fretboard and no zero fret on a banjo.

Ron

Gee that is nice Ron.

Must be sounding good if it's giving the Mastertone a run for it's money.

Very pretty indeed, I love the clash of that shiny metal with the figured wood. Any chance you could do a quick bar fight, loose a front tooth or two and do us a Utube clip?

Jim

Wow Ron the banjaxe looks very schweet, congrats on yet another fine Wisdom production. I am with Jim, lets hear what she's got....gotta be bare foot and braces though.

Cheers

Kim

I've never seen a banjo that is so beautiful Ron. That one just begs to be picked up and played. You've set the bar very high indeed on that one.

Look out everyone it's a b..b..b..baaaaaaaaanjoooooo!!!!

What a beauty, I've owned a lot of banjos over the years mostly pre war, I just love the craftsmanship and detail put into good banjos. This one looks great, well done.

Thanks Maaaaaartin and Taffy.

Ron

It's a banjo....but it is kinda purdy banjo

Its a beautiful banjo Martin.

Lillian wrote:Its a beautiful banjo Martin.

Banjos need to be beautiful Lil so they take focus away from the hideous buck toothed moonshine swil'in country boys who pluck'em......sorry Ron

I'm not arguing that. You have to realize, you are talking about my relatives. My father's was the first generation to leave the mountain and live in a city.

But Martin said it was kinda purdy. Its more than kinda purdy. It very purdy.


On a side note, yesterday was a holiday for me. I helped the bookshop out with some computer issues in the morning and was able to steal the wife for there rest of the day at lunch. One of the things we did was to go through McPherson's Leather. While there I spied rolls of rawhide up on top of shelves. I remembered that someone else, Craig?, Taffy?, was looking for a source of banjo heads. I didn't inquire about them, but I know where to find the place now if anyone is interested.

Lillian, pick me pick me.
I am just about to shell out some hard earned for some calf skin banjo heads from the USA, but I'll hold off if you could help me.
I have contacted banjo builders in Aussie [I'm used to good service by USA suppliers] in comparison service here is is woeful. Maybe I should have ordered a banjo to get their attention first. But to be fair one Aussie supplier did at least answer my emails, but still no skins.

It seems a big flash website does not a good dealer make.

Remember that old saying, something like: :"From little acorns big Oak trees grow", well I think its true of customers, "from little orders big orders flow".

A case in point: A man comes to my workshop some years ago "do you sell flatpicks" says he, "sorry not any more, but you can have these few from old stock no charge, says I". Off he goes, a days drive back to his cattle station [ranch]. Since that time he and his family have commissioned a Dreadnought guitar, a resonator guitar. a small acoustic guitar, a parlor guitar, and two Mandolins [one of which went to the USA.
The moral of this story is................................................................. .

Anyway Lillian, I am interested.

Okay, I'll toss up a thread in the main section so we can stop abusing Ron's.

Ron ,that banjo is killer . The walnut burl really sets it off too. Nice looking finish .Is that your usual Tru-oil ?

Thanks, guys. Yes, Craig, it is tru oil.

Ron

Very nice Ron - you've put a good amount of effort in that so four months isn't bad at all.

Beautiful timber choice and well executed overall.

Cheers,

Jeremy.

Thanks, Jeremy, much appreciated.

Ron