According to many banjo aficionados, the “scoop” in the neck of a banjo can be traced to the Round Peak style of clawhammer playing. For those unfamiliar with the term, a banjo “scoop” is an area of the fingerboard that has been removed to create more space below the strings. This allows the banjoist to play around the 17th-19th “fret” without whacking his thumb and fingers against a stiff piece of ebony. The reason for playing at this spot is the sweet harmonic. Kyle Creed really popularized this sound.
I was bored last night and, thanks to my friend, Jerry, I have a woodcarving set I’d been wanting to try out. The canjo’s all I have to work with, so I decided she could use a wee scoop. I slackened the strings and went to work with some teeny tiny rasps and some micro-chisels.
An eighth of an inch later, here’s what I came up with.
Feeds
