Posted by CanJoe*John on November 22, 2009 at 9:07pm
Hello CBG makers, I joined this site after viewing comments that I discovered from a forum discussion on this site about the one-stringed musical instruments called "canjoes". Though I saw several comments regarding Herschel R. Brown's canjoe instruments in the discussion, I also noticed that the actual history of these cool little instruments (that Herschel did originate) needed to be included. Herschel Brown was a very close and long time friend of mine. He introduced me to his canjoe instrument concept just a few days after he created his first completed canjoe instrument. He gave to me, and I still have one of those original instruments from the first 5 he ever made. There is detailed information about canjoes on my web site at www.canjoe.com. When Herschel first started making his canjoes (and he coined the name too), he was not interested in making them for commercial sales. His finger boards, always made from pine, were, at first, simply 1X1 sticks with no strum cut hollow and no angles cut, just straight, flat sticks, fretted to a diatonic scale and a tuner key with the one string pulled through a 12 oz beverage can as the resonator. The design changes including the angle cut on the tail part allowing drop on the can for better, more even action the length of the string and the cut for the strum hollow were later added. Herschel and I regularly collaborated for over the past 20 years on design changes and hardware adaptations to make improvements. Though Herschel is genuinely the originator of the instrument and deserves the credit for that, the more pertinent changes that have made the contemporary design what they have thus become, so far, came from my own constant effort to improve on and provide better, more functionally correct musical instruments. This is no attempt to steal any of his thunder but if Herschel were alive today he would not hesitate to verify this info. Herschel made his living as a contractor and died at age 87 just last year working in his contracting business up to within 6 months of his passing. I attended his funeral and played "Wayfaring Stranger" on my own canjoe at his service in his memory. I have made my living for the past 17 years totally and completely as the sole proprietor of the CanJoe Company. Herschel helped me get this venture started. I have personally hand made well over 10,000 canjoe instruments and every one of them by hand, no mass production. Herschel and I together have provided the world with over 30K canjoe instruments combined. His had always been made as the nearly original design, made only of pine, no edging, no stain, no finish, just simple, but he went to mass production levels by having special jigs built to produce large quantities in order to supply a wood working magazine/web site with kits. I took a different approach on making and marketing these instruments, hand crafting every one I've made and supplying the consumer demand for the high quality, accurately built finished works of art that my instruments have become recognized for, establishing their own reputation. Anyway, this blog is being introduced as an opener for those who may be interested in knowing more or for contributing to the info on these cool, one-stringed canjoe instruments.
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