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What makes a banjo a banjo?

Posted by Douglas Eric Marsalis on June 28, 2010 at 3:28am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

HEy all. I was intersted in trying my hand at making a banjo.

So please tell me, what makes a banjo a banjo?

1) Is it the strings, the string strength (fret distance), the shape of the body, or what the body is made of?

2) Does it have to have animal skin for the body face, or can it be made of wood or metal?

3) Does the bridge need to be set high (high action) or low action?

4) Are resonators out of the question?

5) What do you rec. for the type of strings?

I went to a Mamma-chan shop here in Japan and saw these large Japanese rice bowls (wooden circular bowls that you might see in a sushi shop where the chef will scoop out rice for making the sushi). I thought that they might make a sweet banjo by the look of them. I think finding animal skins will be difficult, so I am hoping for some type of alternative for the face.

Thanks,

Douglas

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Replies

Rand Moore April 21, 2011 at 12:54am

Hi Ross,

That's an interesting way of making a drum head and tensioning it. I'll have to try it some time.

The nylon (fish line) strings are not going to contribute much to the twangy banjo sound I think you are aiming for. Try real banjo strings, which aren't that expensive. The scale length is the distance between your nut and the bridge, and if you have that number, you can go to a fret calculator (lots of 'em on the WWW; we like the Stew-MacDonald fret calculator) and it will spit out a list of fret measurements. Use the measurements measured from the next fret to nut (not 'fret to fret', unless you are just re-checking) as this will help keep any positioning errors from accumulating as you work up the neck. You can use a lot of different things for frets: toothpicks, bamboo skewers, cut (or uncut) nails, pop-rivet shafts, electrical tie-wraps, and even real fret wire (not that hard to do or expensive). Most of these materials you will need to glue on. Use 2-Part epoxy, it works best (gives you plenty of time to make minute adjustments... something you don't have time for with super-glue).

Also, we just started a banjo discussion group, you are welcome to join. Here's the link: Banjo Players Unite!

-Rand.
ross harper (rustic luthiery) April 20, 2011 at 6:08am

The first stringed thing I made was a "banjo".I used a clear plastic sheet from a printed folder from work,I think it's Mylar.I glued it to the wooden ring I made with Araldite (2 part epoxy glue).When dry,I put a heat shrink gun (like an industrial hair dryer) over it and !Bingo! Tension! Mine has fishing line strings,no defined scale length,no idea where the frets would be and a piece of 8mm aluminium tube for a bridge,but it does have a "bajoish" sound.Hope that was of some help.
Rand Moore April 19, 2011 at 9:47pm

Love the UPS vs FedEx Photo... LOL!

-Rand.
Douglas Eric Marsalis June 29, 2010 at 9:11pm

Thanks all. Mr. Kenny, I am a newbie to learning the guitar and was wondering what is your tuning on your videos from YOUTUBE. Also, is that a dulcimer that you are playing with? The sound is so much different from what I am playing with (steel string, 25.5 scale cbg, open G cbg). I spent last night playing around with one of the vids. Thanks for posting it.

Douglas

Keni Lee Burgess said:
You can easily research most of these questions by yourself.
www.google.com is one of my favorite sources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo
One thing to consider, if you are using skin for a head, various bridges of different heights are needed to compansate for the skin's tension due to changes in humidity. Gut banjo and steel string banjos from a construction point of view are very different.
Have you seen my video about banjos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/KeniLeeBurgess#p/c/D5A616CC7585C70F/9/U...
I hope this helps.
Enjoy, Keni Lee
Tracy Kennedy June 29, 2010 at 10:58am

Try this

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Mark Werner said:
I don't have the link, but when I was researching I did find a page from a guy who'd used that sort of Tyvec material; he'd actually glued a "ring" onto the stuff.
Another dodge is to buy a better-quality tambourine or hand drum with tension screws...Just add your neck in the usual way.
Mark Werner June 29, 2010 at 10:41am

I don't have the link, but when I was researching I did find a page from a guy who'd used that sort of Tyvec material; he'd actually glued a "ring" onto the stuff.
Another dodge is to buy a better-quality tambourine or hand drum with tension screws...Just add your neck in the usual way.
Tracy Kennedy June 29, 2010 at 10:39am

Damn thats good to know, it just so happens I need one for the very purpose of a banjo head. Hmmm FedEx or UPS?

MichaelS said:
Tyvec, you can get those envelopes free from the self serve overnite shipping box's, but don't tell them I sent you.

Tracy Kennedy said:
As far as the head goes Ive seen a Tyvec (SPL?) USPS envelope used. The weather proof shipping envelope. also a standard drum head only comes in even sizes and it seems that Banjo heads come in odd sizes, go figure.
MichaelS Country Boy Guitars June 29, 2010 at 10:19am

Tyvec, you can get those envelopes free from the self serve overnite shipping box's, but don't tell them I sent you.

Tracy Kennedy said:
As far as the head goes Ive seen a Tyvec (SPL?) USPS envelope used. The weather proof shipping envelope. also a standard drum head only comes in even sizes and it seems that Banjo heads come in odd sizes, go figure.
Tracy Kennedy June 29, 2010 at 7:24am

As far as the head goes Ive seen a Tyvec (SPL?) USPS envelope used. The weather proof shipping envelope. also a standard drum head only comes in even sizes and it seems that Banjo heads come in odd sizes, go figure.
BenBob June 28, 2010 at 11:46pm

Drum heads are often made of mylar. I wonder if you could somehow tension one of those round mylar balloons to make a banjo head hmm...