I want to have a go at building a banjo...
Does it have to have the resonating plastic skin to give it that banjo sound or can it be substituted for another material or bypassed altogether and get the sound from tuning etc?
I want to have a go at building a banjo...
Does it have to have the resonating plastic skin to give it that banjo sound or can it be substituted for another material or bypassed altogether and get the sound from tuning etc?
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Replies
THAT is absolutely brilliant!
And looks really cool too.
Rand Moore said:
Maybe nylon strings would work better with the tambourine as they require less string tension. Maybe I'll try a tambourine or drum if I can find a suitable one.
-Rand.
Mark Werner said:
I tried a tambourine, a cheap one, and even with nylon strings it just didn't have enough tension. The bridge started to collapse the "head".
Did sound nice, though....
Better would be a quality "adjustable" tambourine, or even a "hand drum" with the adjustable tension devices.
I like this idea. Think I will use it to build a 4-string banjo (3 long, one short string). Was thinking one 3-string stick dulcimer (strum stick, strummer, call it what you like), plus a short string and then tuning it to A'-D-A-D' or something like that. Here's the link to my discussion about these ideas. Your comments are welcome... By the way, John, I took the liberty of linking your photo into that thread so as to illustrate my idea on how to convert a stick dulcimer to a old-time 4-string banjo. Of course, the issue of [drum head] vs. [cookie tin] vs. [cigar box] vs. [cigar box w/reso can/cone/whatever] vs. [any other sound box idea you may come up with] is not an issue in the "no rules" environment of Cigar Box Nation.
-Rand.
Uncle John said:
Here at CBN, we don't have to be secretive about building banjos & banjo related instruments. The discussion group is called "Banjo Players Unite!". So, you should post banjo related discussion there, not hide them here under "Building secrets, etc.".
-Rand.
Tanbourine sound like a perfect start, thanx ;D
I got my tambourine off of shopgoodwill.com and it was dilivered last week. I'll be looking working up a banjo ukulele in the next couple of weeks myself.