atracksler - Posted - 12/16/2011:  07:53:11

Building a banjolele as proof of concept for my rim idea.. I'm going to need a fingerboard. Will a mandolin one work?

beegee - Posted - 12/16/2011:  08:26:18

It depends on where you want the bridge to sit on the head in relation to the size of the rim.

mikehalloran - Posted - 12/16/2011:  08:33:24

Yes. Many custom uke builders do. You can cut the first one or two sections off if you want to shorten the scale.

Fathand - Posted - 12/16/2011:  09:25:26

I started to tell my wife I was going to build a banjo in the 80's, she scoffed and told me that "people don't build there own banjos". One Friday I had the afternoon off while she was at work, I cut the top off of a bongo drum about 6" dia and cut a neck out of a piece of maple from an old pallet. I had some cheapy guitar tuners and bought a Grover 5th peg and the fret wire at a local store. I copied the fret spacing from a mandolin I had and put the frets directly into the maple neck like a fender guitar. 

When she got home I was playing the thing, about the size of a piccolo banjo.  I was then allowed to order the hardware from Stew Mac.  I still have the bongo drum banjo.

mike gregory - Posted - 12/16/2011:  11:01:53

StewMAc has a fret position calculator, so you can make any scale you want.

stewmac.com/FretCalculator

tdennis - Posted - 12/16/2011:  11:32:49

My soprano  Banjo uke nut widths  average around 1 1/4".  & my mandolins 1 1/8".    (You didn't mention the size uke you had in mind,  but the larger nut is much more comfortable.).  

mikehalloran - Posted - 12/16/2011:  12:28:04

The higher positions on a mandolin are much, much wider than any part of a ukulele fretboard. Mandolin fretboards from Stew-Mac are rectangular. The width you want is no problem.

mikehalloran - Posted - 12/16/2011:  12:28:58

quote:

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Originally posted by Fathand

I started to tell my wife I was going to build a banjo in the 80's, she scoffed and told me that "people don't build there own banjos". One Friday I had the afternoon off while she was at work, I cut the top off of a bongo drum about 6" dia and cut a neck out of a piece of maple from an old pallet. I had some cheapy guitar tuners and bought a Grover 5th peg and the fret wire at a local store. I copied the fret spacing from a mandolin I had and put the frets directly into the maple neck like a fender guitar. 

When she got home I was playing the thing, about the size of a piccolo banjo.  I was then allowed to order the hardware from Stew Mac.  I still have the bongo drum banjo.

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Post pictures!

tdennis - Posted - 12/16/2011:  12:59:49

My soprano  Banjo uke nut widths  average around 1 1/4".  & my mandolins 1 1/8".    (You didn't mention the size uke you had in mind,  but the larger nut is much more comfortable.).  

atracksler - Posted - 12/16/2011:  13:17:36

probably concert, or soprano...