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www.seniorhelpers.com/location
/1220
Playing Since: 1977
Experience Level: Purty Good
DEmery has made 109 recent additions to Banjo Hangout 
Interests:
[Socializing]
Occupation: Senior Helpers Non Medical HomeCare - Owner
Gender: Male
Age: 57
My Instruments:
Menzie Tack Head, Custom ebony banjo built by Dan Knowles, Custom Dan Knowles flush fret, Jacobs 1850 by Dan Knowles, Ole' Abe Boucher by Dan Knowles,1929 TB 1 Gibson converted,1890 SS Stewart Thoroughbred, J.L. Sproull #005, Sproull Whyte Laydie #9 under construction, Dobson design by Jason Burns under construction, mt banjo from East TN, Master Model Gibson F 5, Kenneth Sullivan Violin, 1860's German Copy Maginni fiddle, Niles Casperson Church dulcimer, Weissenborn slide guitar, McSpadden lap dulcimer.
Favorite Bands/Musicians:
John Balch and Jack Person Band
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 5/5/2007
Last Visit 5/22/2012
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Monday, May 21, 2012 @4:51:40 PM
Several months ago I was tinkering with the idea of having a spruce bridge built for a flush fret banjo with a 3/8" two ply Cocobolo rim. The banjo (Goshen) has been shown on BHO over the years since it was built by Dan Knowles. The banjo has had several bridges ranging from macassar to standard maple bridges; but I was always searching for improved intonation for clean notes. Spruce is common material for gut string minstrel banjos but this particular banjo needed something more substantial than the typical, thinner minstrel bridge. Wanting to do something around the idea of a three foot spruce bridge on the flush fret; I called builder Arthur Hatfield in Kentucky that has built several bridges for me over the year. Arthur has been building fine bridges for bluegrass banjos for years and said spruce was new territory but in a few days a non capped spruce bridge showed up in the mail to my specifications. The short story is this bridge transformed my flush fret banjo. Intonation is clean. Volume was increased. Notes are snappy and the banjo is a pleasure to play.
Continuing to consider the possibility of spruce as a bridge material, I gave BHO member and bridge maker Tim Purcell a call. The idea was to build a spruce bridge with similar mass as a quality hard wood bridges. Tim is a meticulous builder and is a believer that wood characteristics along with weight are important to getting a strong result. Like Arthur, spruce was a novel idea but Tim had old spruce brace material from a piano available. We agree enough material needed to be left to provide proper mass and the ebony cap would be only thick enough to give a solid base for steal strings. The Purcell bridge arrived in the mail today and quickly went on a fine banjo built by Lee Sproull of Birmingham, Alabama.
Well, I am glad to report that the spruce bridge produces tremendous results. I was using a Purcell maple bridge made from old growth maple taken from a university gym floor. One might think a softer wood would produce a muffled tone...but this is not the case. The bridge is old stock spruce and is a very tight quarter saw graining. The volume is increased but maintains all the character of the thin rim maple rim. The banjo cuts and has edge to the note. Intonation is great! Harder woods can create overtones but there is no sign of this at all with the spruce bridge. I will have Tim build me more of these and while it is a departure from the maple bridges we are familiar with over the years; I would encourage anyone wanting to try something different from a super bridge builder - give Tim a shout on BHO or Google him at Tim Purcell Banjo Bridges.
Recent Forum Posts
Spruce Bridge for Open Back Banjo by Tim Purcell (21 hours, 59 minutes ago)
Visit to Homewood Music, Birmingham, Alabama (5 days ago)
$75 pawn shop Carlos banjo (8 days ago)
New Half Fretless Banjo (8 days ago)
Flying on Southwest (22 days ago)
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Jeff Menzies
Tack Head 12"
Dan Knowles
Sherry Lynne
J.L. Sproull
Sproull Woody #005
Dan Knowles
1840 Jacobs Copy
Flesher
Jubilo #098
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