ahsn36gp - Posted - 01/06/2012:  10:11:42

Ron let Steve Cooley and me pick Skillet Head a little at Shepherdsville a few weeks back. All I can say is wow! And to think it was right across the river from us the whole time. He played the archtop on the first set and I was Very impressed with the tone Ron was getting from it. It sounded like an old flathead.

Marty

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  18:45:29

Thank you Robbie, that would be good. I have some pictures ready to post. They are not in order, but I will do the best that I can.

To everyone: Just so it is said, these pictures are for viewing this special project. I can not supply information about my tooling, where to get it, how to make it or product information that gets into trade secrets. There is enough there that a person can work it out if needed.

Warren

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  18:50:01

This is the ring, rim and flange. The picture was blurry but I didn't know it until now.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 18:50:53

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  18:53:34

When the rim is cleaned up, the ring is fitted.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 18:54:21

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  18:56:17

Here I am cutting a taper in the flange for a tight wedge fit.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 18:56:42

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  18:58:15

In the same way the rim is cut with the same taper.

 

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 18:58:47

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:00:25

Here is where the color is applied to the rim.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:01:02

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:03:50

Here you can see the nickel plating of the ring, washers, nuts, L-brackets, and the coordinator rods are in there somewhere.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:04:38

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:07:07

Drilling the holes in the tone ring. It is plated here but the color in the photo made it look unplated.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:07:35

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:10:13

I will get back to the build shortly. This is the Redline case made in the USA with hide glue. It is a remake of the cases from the 1920s. This case will come with each Skillet Head.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:10:40

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:12:56

The inside. The latches are very strong unlike the China knock offs done a few years ago.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:14:01

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:32:14

By the way Marty, this is the arch top that Ron was playing. I think he played it for about two months straight.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:32:40

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:37:07

Cutting the ring.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:37:35

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:38:53

The coordinator rods and washers.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:39:18

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:40:37

Cutting the washers.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/06/2012 19:41:04

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/06/2012:  19:42:27

That is all for now. I will see what I can do later.

lazyarcher - Posted - 01/07/2012:  08:39:58

Wow...nice photos.

However...I think my shop is lacking in tools necessary for building banjos!!

Warren--do you do all the machining for your parts, and all of the woodwork?

No wonder why these are such monster banjos.

Edited by - lazyarcher on 01/07/2012 08:41:18

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/07/2012:  10:30:15

There are a few small things that still I have to buy and Joel does all of the inlay work here but yes for the rest. I also have to build the machines and fixtures that you can't get anywhere. That is just part of it.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/07/2012 10:30:55

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/07/2012:  10:54:30

Here is the rim with the label and wet paint.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/07/2012 10:55:02

drifty - Posted - 01/07/2012:  11:04:22

quote:

---

Originally posted by Warren Yates

Thank you Robbie, that would be good. I have some pictures ready to post. They are not in order, but I will do the best that I can.



To everyone: Just so it is said, these pictures are for viewing this special project. I can not supply information about my tooling, where to get it, how to make it or product information that gets into trade secrets. There is enough there that a person can work it out if needed.



Warren

---

Warren, I understand your concern. But honestly, I doubt there are many people out there likely to get into building banjos on anything close to your level. I mean, seriously. Cutting and plating your own nuts, washers and coordinator rods? All I can say is thank you. It takes a rare commitment to quality control that is virtually non-existent in the globalized, outsourced world we live in today.  My hat's off to you.  

I can't wait to see the end result of this project.  Lucky for me, I live close enough to Robby to hopefully get to check it out first hand. Unlucky for me, it may make me want one!   

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/07/2012:  13:43:29

I hope know one will take it wrong by what I said. I want to do some youtube videos to show little things like how you can make wall lugs and thumb screws to support your own country at home but I simply don't have time to become the tech line for how to do it, what kind of tool bit to use, ... If I ignore and email over it then I look like a butt. It will cause me to spend an hour on the phone talking the talk when bills have to be paid and people need their banjos. My heart says do it and my brain says don't.

lazyarcher - Posted - 01/07/2012:  15:10:19

quote:

---

Originally posted by Warren Yates

I also have to build the machines and fixtures that you can't get anywhere.

---

Yoy build the machines.

People that actually build machines that make stuff...they're not right....

drifty - Posted - 01/07/2012:  16:41:49

Agreed, lazyarcher. Warren, just keep makin' them great banjos.

Sheldon - Posted - 01/07/2012:  16:48:43

Fopllow your head this time, Warren.

Sheldon

Goldstarman - Posted - 01/08/2012:  07:44:56

I think its super that he is making most of his own stuff, it shows in quality to.

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/08/2012:  08:56:14

In this model the parts are slightly distressed and put together.

 

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/08/2012 09:04:57

robbyboone - Posted - 01/08/2012:  08:58:26

There are many producers of fine components in the world of banjos......Frank Neat necks, Bill Blaylock tone rings, Jimmy Cox rims and resos, Snuffy Smith bridges etc and I use and own parts and pieces from all, and have them in or on some really fine instruments. The use of products from these companies is a good thing. It allows the particular company owner to build, sell and make income from their hard work.....nothing wrong with that. It also allows banjo builder "X" to have access to quality parts in which to build their "X" brand banjo around.....nothing wrong with that.  And lastly, it allows individuals such as myself and most other folks the ability to change, swap, upgrade (if even just in their mind) or just plain old experiment with different components.......again nothing wrong with that either as it keeps money flowing in the USA even if in reality it's fairly small amounts in the big picture.

All this said to say and with NO disrespect to ANY other banjo manufacturer......what separates Warren Yates from the rest is he is truly a banjo BUILDER, not a banjo ASSEMBLER. In the world of bluegrass 5 string resonator banjo, I know of no other company that builds "in house" the amount of EXTREME quality components that Warren and Ron do for their respective banjos. They have set the bar to new heights and continue to raise it, even concerning their OWN banjos. Where else can a person buy a banjo with components that meet and even exceed pieces built by what is considered the very best that money can buy, all in ONE instrument, hand built, and set up by THE tone guru Ronnie Stewart! Once again, Warren, Ronnie and the Yates Banjo Company are BANJO BUILDERS!

If you have not yet......give one a test drive today and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

Robby

PS, for anyone who might get the wrong idea. I have no investment in Yates Banjos, I receive no compensation from Yates Banjos and I PAID for my Yates Banjo.

myfavefive - Posted - 01/08/2012:  09:40:32

I'm at the River City festival right now (Sunday, 1/8), and Ron was here & played his first Boxcars show yesterday with the new Yates Skillethead. I can tell you that all this excitement for this new model is real, and for the right reasons.  That thing flat out rocks, and it feels smooth as silk to play! The neck profile & shoulders are so comfortable, and everything about the construction has been very carefully chosen, and I mean everything. He's got a nice old head on it, and an old steel tailpiece that will make you think twice about what you have to have in a tailpiece.

This banjo has only been together since a day or 2 before Christmas and already there's a combination of deep late prewar tone with a unique brightness everywhere on the fingerboard that makes you never want to put this thing down.  Robbie and the new others who've placed orders for Skillethead are in for a real treat.  Yeah buddy!

djenks - Posted - 01/08/2012:  13:37:32

I played it for a long time Friday.  Warren and I put a set of Apollo Tuners on my R/S maple.  It is a hoss.  The tone is open/deep and very powerful.  Warren keeps improving his craft.  He is a very good person, and a good friend. 

Pickin furry paws - Posted - 01/08/2012:  16:19:17

quote:

---

Originally posted by Warren Yates

This is the ring, rim and flange. The picture was blurry but I didn't know it until now.

 

 

---

 Is the rim "red" maple, Warren?

Pickin furry paws - Posted - 01/08/2012:  16:23:36

Fascinating, few builders I know are doing the wedge fit between the rim and flange.

Pickin furry paws - Posted - 01/08/2012:  20:03:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by drifty

Robby, Warren and Ron:  all I can say is Wow! and congratulations!  I expect this new model is going to be an instant classic. As you guys know, but others do not, I'm now  playing a Yates RS mahogany, #108.  I have not put that banjo down since I got it in September except to play my other banjo now, a '30 OPF PB-3 (Frank Neat neck, '50s Bow Tie ring).  While I find each of them compelling in their own ways, my girlfriend, Emily (pictured in my avatar), likes the sound of the Yates best.  She has picked it out in several double-blind sound tests from any number of different banjos, including my old '36 Style 1 (G. Price straight grain maple neck, Burlile ring), which she said would always be her favorite.  No more.  In fact, I sold that banjo after playing the Yates for less than three months.  

Robby, I can't wait to hear and play that bad boy.  I have a feeling it will blow the doors of that minty RB-800 (which is a great sounding banjo in its own right) that you can now keep for posterity.

Ron, since you've got so much spare time on your hands, how about a sound comparison between the Yates Skillet Head and the Yates RS mahogany?

 

---

 A Yates beat a Burlile?  It's gotta be the set-up!!!

schwimbo - Posted - 01/09/2012:  04:09:19

I played Ron's Yates Skillethead banjo on Saturday at the River City Bluegrass Festival here in Portland, OR, and was very impressed. It is a great sounding banjo.

drifty - Posted - 01/09/2012:  05:30:00

Pickin Furry Paws wrote " A Yates beat a Burlile? It's gotta be the set-up!!!"

The Burlile is a great ring. But so is the Dannick, Blaylock and several others. But by themselves, they don't make anything but a serious paperweight. A truly great sounding banjo requires a lot more than just a good ring. It's all the right parts, fit properly, and working together that make the difference between good and great. Ron and Warren have put a lot of time, research, thought and experience into building banjos and it shows when you play one.

prewartb3 - Posted - 01/09/2012:  06:08:53

The builder makes the banjo. The banjo don't make the builder. Warren Yates along with a few other american builders are the best craftsman around. We are lucky to have them at our service.

Pickin furry paws - Posted - 01/09/2012:  09:08:07

quote:

---

Originally posted by drifty

Pickin Furry Paws wrote " A Yates beat a Burlile? It's gotta be the set-up!!!"



The Burlile is a great ring. But so is the Dannick, Blaylock and several others. But by themselves, they don't make anything but a serious paperweight. A truly great sounding banjo requires a lot more than just a good ring. It's all the right parts, fit properly, and working together that make the difference between good and great. Ron and Warren have put a lot of time, research, thought and experience into building banjos and it shows when you play one.

---

 I know.  Curious, not to hijack the thread, but what rim do you have your Burlile on?

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  14:33:02

Here is the resonator rim and back panel with the hid glue pot. The rims still needs to be turned and then they can be glued together. Maybe tomorrow.

The rim is the prewar style where the outer layer is bent wood not veneer.  The center is poplar and the inside maple.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 14:35:35

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  14:39:28

Joel made the inlay set about two weeks ago.  That is done here as well.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 14:40:09

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  15:01:53

All wood comes in, in some kind of raw form. You are looking at necks, rims, and resonators.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 15:02:33

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  15:09:03

Once the wood has been selected as what it is to be, it is then cut. If it does not make the grade then it is firewood. Grain count and direction is everything.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 15:09:32

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  16:30:25

This was the best piece out of a large stack of mahogany. Robbie's neck will be made out of this piece.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 16:30:54

Warren Yates - Posted - 01/09/2012:  16:42:06

After some ear gluing and a few router cuts, here it is.

Edited by - Warren Yates on 01/09/2012 16:42:38

drifty - Posted - 01/09/2012:  16:55:41

This is like watching a baby being born.  First a rim, then a reso, now we've got a neck.  Robby, are you going to be handing out cigars when this baby's delivered?

1935tb-11 - Posted - 01/09/2012:  17:25:40

how many other builders would just stand naked like this in front of his potential customers.
that is real confidence in his skills and finished product. YOU ARE TRULY THE BOMB DUDE !!!!!!




terry m

myfavefive - Posted - 01/09/2012:  20:03:31

Here's a look at the finished pot on Ron's new Yates Skillethead he's traveling with now.  It's got that cool, old steel tailpiece & a Remo head that's been around for many years and it IS the bomb.

robbyboone - Posted - 01/09/2012:  20:04:37

quote:

---

Originally posted by drifty

This is like watching a baby being born.  First a rim, then a reso, now we've got a neck.  Robby, are you going to be handing out cigars when this baby's delivered?

---

Absolutely Drew.........what's your brand???  :) 

wrightedward - Posted - 01/09/2012:  21:22:10

Robby i really like this ,,seeing it first hand ,,what a thrill .I can only imagine your excitment ..Like a little kid waiting on CHRISTMAS ..I think we are all being drawn into it now ,,WOW

rferg - Posted - 01/09/2012:  22:26:56

Mr. Yates and Robby, thanks for sharing the pictures of Robby's banjo and the progress you are making on it. I'm excited for Robby.

Bribak - Posted - 01/10/2012:  00:55:11

This is just fantastic!  Thank you Warren and Robby so much for sharing this process.