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Banjo Build

Afternoon all,

So after building a couple of CBGs and CB Uke, I have been itching to think of an excuse to build something new. I was cleaning out a few things some weeks back and I found one hubcap from my old VW Beetle (10 inch diameter) and a relatively unused hand drum (tambourine without the cymbals) which is also 10 inch diameter. Who wouldn't immediately think of a banjo when these two items are put together?

I have seen a fair few tambourine banjos online and what I wanted to know is:

Do they actually sound good? Are they comparable to off the peg banjo sound?

Also, as this will be my first Banjo, what advice would you give?

I have some ash for the neck and some rosewood for the fretboard.

Cheers

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Dan Warner on April 11, 2016 at 1:16am

I thought I would give a bit of an update on how the slow build is going. I have cut the neck and fretboard and winging it from here on out. All my other builds to date are a bit shoddy, I haven't taken the time or care over the finishings and I have been a bit too keen to finish before getting it just right. Here we have a couple of shots of the neck and fretboard with the head and resonator next to it. Not quite sure yet how to attach the head or if I can even attach the hubcap.

I'll keep you posted!

Attachments:

IMAG1452.jpg, 2.6 MB
IMAG1456.jpg, 2.4 MB
IMAG1457.jpg, 2.3 MB

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 11, 2016 at 2:06am

Dan,

Most banjos are essentially neck-to: that is, the tail piece ends inside the "box" of the banjo. One way to make yours work would be to cut a slot at either end of the wooden ring holding the drum head, sized so that your fretboard rides about 1/4" above the drum head. This will also allow you to attach the VW hubcap to the wooden ring, either with screws (assuming you can bend the hubcap flange out ward a bit to get the wooden ring to fit snugly inside it, or by snipping the flange every 1" or so along the circumference, so you can bend each piece around the wooden ring, and attach with screws. This will give you a metal backed curved resonator, with far less weight than an actual banjo.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Warner on April 11, 2016 at 6:35am

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the advice, really useful. I have cut the slats in the tambourine rim, and the head fits very snuggly and isn't going anywhere. However, i think i may have found the down side in using a tambourine as a head, the skin has rippled slightly, cutting the rim has obviously altered the tension. It isn't slack by any means, but I was wondering if this would affect the sound much? I suppose I may need to find a tambourine forum :/

The Hubcap may be a stretch too far. The flange is very tightly wound inside the hubcap and is very strong, I can't seem to shift it.

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Permalink Reply by JL on April 12, 2016 at 1:19am

perhaps with a little creativity you can make a wooden adapter ring, sort of like a big thick needlepoint hoop? one side sized to grab the hubcap, the other to grab the tambouring rim?