mike gregory - Posted - 12/30/2011:  16:55:37

It's only 4 strings, and it's tuned like a mandolin, but he calls it a banjo.

The IMPORTANT thing is to see the pegs.

youtube.com/watch?v=W3qhK2lugl...e=related

Mods may certainly move this to NOT banjo, if such is their decision.

My part of the job is done.

GhostChile - Posted - 12/30/2011:  18:05:55

All I can say is what is that thing? That is the ugliest pos ever and the pegs? Omg! How do u tune?

Gymbal31 - Posted - 12/30/2011:  18:16:29

He describes some of the hardware and himself at about the 36 second mark.

tagmike - Posted - 12/30/2011:  18:29:34

I think his Garbanjo is very cool. The tuners are awesome!

Isn't this really the spirit of what the banjo was originally all about?

BaldPaul - Posted - 12/30/2011:  19:08:24

Love it.

Jacob Moore - Posted - 12/30/2011:  19:28:22

Its pretty much a banjolin but with single strings instead of sets of strings. Cute :)

NCjones - Posted - 12/30/2011:  19:45:42

I like it.  A lot of ingenuity there.  And a good rendition of Motel Kommifornia.

rubicon - Posted - 12/30/2011:  20:33:47

He has more time than he knows what to do with, lot of ingenuity though for a so so result

Edited by - rubicon on 12/30/2011 20:34:09

Tinfoot - Posted - 12/30/2011:  20:38:57

I was actually more fascinated with his right hand techniques, but pretty neat little thing there. :)

ken61 - Posted - 12/31/2011:  05:21:53

Truly an example of the talent and ingenuity of a person dedicated to a task and driven by a desire to make it happen.  There are many examples of such talent and dedication on the banjo hangout. 

Imagine what can be learned by doing this type of project. 

I love it !

ken

leemysliwiec - Posted - 12/31/2011:  05:41:17

Now THIS is an example of when we need the LIKE button like on facebook..  LEE

hweinberg - Posted - 12/31/2011:  05:57:41

Great ingenuity.  Too bad that he didn't use fishing line or fence wire for the strings.  And too bad he didn't try for a 5-string, maybe next.  I note that he has the typical occupational injury of a woodworker who achieves middle age:  a missing digit.

Quickstep192 - Posted - 12/31/2011:  07:04:36

I love it! I particularly like the fork tailpiece. Very cool.

C Nyal de Kaye - Posted - 12/31/2011:  12:50:15

Thanks for this post that was very enjoyable. Some original thinking and innovation and it sounds nice as well.

XXXris - Posted - 12/31/2011:  15:04:02

Neat!

Dingoman25 - Posted - 12/31/2011:  21:06:33

Terrific - I like it!



Anyone here know what the last track was he played? Sure sounds familiar - starts around 6:08.

And Happy New Year to you all!



Many thanks in advance, Chris.

Edited by - Dingoman25 on 12/31/2011 21:12:16

mike gregory - Posted - 12/31/2011:  22:00:56

Hurdy Gurdy Man, by Donovan? Them's my guess, for what it's worth.

youtube.com/watch?v=3lKCUuyojDI

Edited by - mike gregory on 12/31/2011 22:03:06

Dingoman25 - Posted - 12/31/2011:  22:09:47

Thanks Mike - I think you're right. Cheers.

catching2nd - Posted - 12/31/2011:  22:33:43

Not bad for a guy missing part of a finger.

dmiller - Posted - 12/31/2011:  22:36:33

I like it!   Proof you can drink your coffee and pick it too.   

mike gregory - Posted - 01/01/2012:  07:05:02

quote:

---

Originally posted by dmiller

I like it!   Proof you can drink your coffee and pick it too.   

---

I have decaffinated coffee. What I need is decrappinated picking.

Grip - Posted - 01/01/2012:  07:57:28

quote:

---

Originally posted by GhostChile



All I can say is what is that thing? That is the ugliest pos ever and the pegs? Omg! How do u tune?

---

Actually, I'm a firm believer in the old adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", and his creation sounds beautiful, therefore it is beautiful to me.

Very clean definition of notes, and I can see how that instrument would sound great on certain recordings.

We are an industrious bunch-God Bless American ingenuity! :D

mike gregory - Posted - 01/01/2012:  08:00:43

AS to how you tune it:

Turning the bolts moves the nut further from the tailpiece, and, as the string is attached to the nut, it stretches.

banjoplyr. - Posted - 01/01/2012:  08:08:31

The tuners are cool,the tone was very good.

whiteaker - Posted - 01/01/2012:  12:05:20

That was just cool!

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 01/01/2012:  12:22:32

Early Quattros (a Portugese instrument with 5 pairs of strings, despite the name) and occasional other fretted instruments used similar tuners. Think of 10 gigantic versions of a fiddle fine tuner set into a fan shaped peghead. In 1964 we could still buy string sets designed for them, with loops on both ends. The tailpiece held one set of loops and the tuner had a hooked end to hold the other. The quattro came in bowl back and varying degrees of flatback designs - all seemed pressed to shape, I cannot recall any of them being carved. The fiddle style tuners seemed to be concurrent with the mandolin style machines (5 per side, however), but we never saw any that looked to be less than 40-50 years old, and most came from Portugal - probably imported by small Portugese owned music shops in New England.

mike gregory - Posted - 01/01/2012:  13:03:31

Which makes me wonder: How DOES the fellow anchor the non-looped end of the string?

I have made loops on strings where the original loop broke, so, if I can do it, anybody can. It's just a bit of a bother.

KE - Posted - 01/01/2012:  13:12:39

That's a beautiful thing, and a clever builder. 

mcmanus - Posted - 01/02/2012:  06:08:27

Love it

PD Kirby - Posted - 01/02/2012:  10:54:16

Tell the truth Mike, that's your son isn't it? With his spoons forks and coffee cans and your salad bowls and soda bottles all the two of you would need is a well stocked kitchen and you could open a Banjo building business.

mike gregory - Posted - 01/02/2012:  13:44:32

Oh, PD Kirby, how wrong has been your train of thought.

An inventive mind is not necessarily the product of heredity, nor of environment.

The fellow just happens to be a genius at doing what he did, without having ever met me, and without me ever having met his mother.

C Nyal de Kaye - Posted - 01/02/2012:  16:37:34

We are all glad that you cleared that up Mike.

mike gregory - Posted - 01/03/2012:  02:12:23

And when I e-mailed him a follow-up question on the tuners, he posted this explanatory video!

youtube.com/watch?v=u_iecYFfGVo

Those tuners are more beautiful close-up than they appeared on the original video.

It occurs to me that he might have saved $0.04 by using square nuts, instead of soldering filed-down pennies onto the hex nuts to prevent spin.

I'm imagining an L5 neck (that's a new term, invented by another BHO member, for a neck with a Long 5th string, same length as the other 4).

 And scouting the thrift shop for 6 matching pieces of silverware, so the tuner handles match the tailpiece fork.

With the peghead shaped like the outline of a hand, one tuner per digit.

My attachments show an example of an L5 peghead (notice the 5 pegs) and a hand-shaped peghead with holes for 4 standard tuners, from other banjos I've made.

Edited by - mike gregory on 01/03/2012 02:35:53

Capo on ZERO Fret

Seeger hand-shaped peghead

PD Kirby - Posted - 01/03/2012:  03:01:20

"Hold on while I rubber band the Macro Lens on the Camera"

This guys Talent is not limited to coffee cans and Lincoln spoon 30 to 1 ratio tuners he also seems to have a good grasp of optics and creative uses for rubber bands. BTW this appears to be a circa October 09 vintage coffee can, I wonder if it's regular or decaf? All I can say (pun intended) is he is without a doubt a perfect candidate for membership here at the BHO so you need to invite him to join us.

Mike, Don't know if I'm buying the denial of paternity on your part, I think this could be easily resolved with a quick DNA test. Lots of crazy things went on in the days of flower children and free love back in the 1960s. just sayin...

Peace

country frank - Posted - 01/03/2012:  03:16:59

Thats just great! Very inventive and i love the tuners.....indeed 'revolutionary' :0)

Banjo40 - Posted - 01/03/2012:  07:06:04

Check out the electric bass he built.

youtube.com/watch?v=iHlZ4EhrlH...p;list=UL