The simplest little resonator instrument of all. Please add links to plans, photos of your canjos and ideas you've found that make the most of this diminutive instrument. (The image is a temporary placeholder, I'll replace it any day now!)
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Started by Diane in Chicago. Last reply by Keith Zorn Dec 27, 2022. 37 Replies 0 Likes
Post up photos of your tin-tars! These are the ones that look mostly like this:Continue
Started by Adam Jellison. Last reply by Adam Jellison Jan 8, 2020. 6 Replies 3 Likes
Maybe it is just me, but I love to sit there and pick out songs I know or songs people want to play on my Canjo. I own a couple of Canjo Song books from Gitty, and looked around online and found a…Continue
Started by Mike Whisenhunt. Last reply by Glenn Watt Nov 22, 2019. 9 Replies 0 Likes
So I've made a few of this tin can banjo things. Having a blast playing on them. I've made a couple out of empty tin "soup" cans and one out of a beer can. I cut a few other cans to prepare them to…Continue
Started by Diane in Chicago. Last reply by James Conder Nov 5, 2018. 7 Replies 1 Like
If you've used an upright can on a chordophone, here's the place to show your work.I'm looking for an olive oil can right now, one of those really pretty ones from Eastern Europe.Continue
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I have had no problems with piezos in my CBGs. Usually encase them in silicone in the bridge and have also encased them in silicone in bottle caps and they worked fine. This particular canjo was an experiment and it failed. Rebuilt it as a single string bass with a small CBG and it sounds great. I've built several acoustic canjos and prefer to keep the cans unamplified.
Just encase the piezo in lots of whatever you choose as your insulation material (hot glue,cork sheeting,neoprene,etc).It's a case of try it and see what happens.I've given up on piezo discs.If I don't use a magnetic pickup,i use a rod piezo.It's far superior to a disc and it doesn't seen to feedback as much as the disc....
I tried a piezo in a canjo once and even encased in foam tap it picked up every little sound in the area. If you touched the can or slid the string it would make weird sounds. It probably can be done, I just didn't have the patience to work it out.
Hi Guys , I'm going to build a Canjo using a round Tea Caddy it's quite big 4.5in x 6in so I thought I'd suspend the neck inside the can I'm using 1in x 1in timber for the neck and I'd like to fit a disc piezo , I've read about all the feed back issues with piezo 's in a can , so does any one have any thought's on this .
Should work fine Ben, just use a bridge piece with legs like on a multi-element resonator so you will get all of the cans working.
All of that being said, I itend to try that multiple-cans-in-a-circle design! Seems like a great use for old beer cans.
I intend to keep looking, TN! I have always felt that the idea of using a metal can to make a homemade banjo has to go way back. And to call it a canjo is just too easy. To try to claim that this idea originated in the late 20th century has always struck me as absurd. Further historic evidence will only further prove that point.
Looks like definitive "prior art" to me. (I remember that there were later claims to originating the term.)
Now, since Wikipedia traces metal cans back to 1812, we need to see just how far back we can find "canjos" or "can banjos" using one or more cans as a resonator.
I'm betting on U.S. Civil War days--lots of junk lying around and lots of time on their hands.
Here's an interesting little tidbit I found this morning:
http://issuu.com/american_folk_art_museum/docs/clarion_13_3_sum1988
(use the search feature to search for "Canjo" or just skip to page 45)
This issue of The Clarion, published by the American Folklore Museum in 1988, shows a canjo built by William Wiley in 1971. It clearly refers to the instrument as a canjo, and the instrument clearly features a single string and tin can(s) as the resonator.
I believe that this is what the US Patent and Trademark Office would refer to as "Prior Art", and it certainly pre-dates 1994, which is the year some folks have identified as significant in the history of this instrument.
Maybe you'll like this one then. I made it last June and call it my Spamjo. Fully fretted three string. Set up for ball end strings. More picks on my page.
Started by Diane in Chicago. Last reply by Keith Zorn Dec 27, 2022. 37 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Adam Jellison. Last reply by Adam Jellison Jan 8, 2020. 6 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Mike Whisenhunt. Last reply by Glenn Watt Nov 22, 2019. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Diane in Chicago. Last reply by James Conder Nov 5, 2018. 7 Replies 1 Like
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