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mike gregory - Posted - 01/05/2012: 18:55:30
Made this for Miss Alice.
Found an elaborately carved salad bowl, decided to make a banjo out of it.
I had a warped cheapo neck, so I flattened it out, and put Formica on it as a fingerboard. Instead of frets, I just scored the formica. I can always glue on some strips of stainless steel windshield wiper stiffeners, if she really wants frets.
Her online jewelry business is called "Alice In Beadland", so I inlaid those beads they make baby's name bracelets out of, to spell "BEADLAND".
It's not finished yet. Got to add the 5th string peg, set the neck angle right.
Edited by - mike gregory on 01/05/2012 19:02:28
BanjoBach - Posted - 01/05/2012: 19:23:25
Hi Mike, Yet another fine example of your ingenuity. A sound clip would be nice once you have got Banjo Beadland up and running, so that we can all enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Vapor - Posted - 01/05/2012: 22:05:36
Another fine instrment Mike.
Paul R - Posted - 01/05/2012: 22:46:03
Good work, Mike!
mike gregory - Posted - 01/06/2012: 00:48:06
A detail on the neck repair: Didn't seem worth the effort to try plane out the twist, so here's what I did instead.
Had a few slats from a wooden Venetian blind. Removed the fingerboard, planning to put it back on. Simply glued one slat to the neck, clamped it LIGHTLY to the workbench and let it dry overnight.
Then, when I checked it, it was flat, BUT there was a tapered gap on the treble side, between the top nut space, to about the 7th fret. Which I filled in with an application of Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty (TM).
And then, because I had stepped on and ruined the fingerboard (just Nature's Way of telling me to keep a cleaner work area), I decided to try for the fretless Formica fingerboard.
Jonnycake White - Posted - 01/06/2012: 10:31:24
Mike - I love you like a brother and really enjoy your posts - but DUDE! get a better camera! Even a used one or something. It would add so much to the richness of the experience, while only subtracting a little from the richness of your pocketbook.
Anyone got an old 3 or 4 megapixel camera lying around they can send to Mike?
stigandr5 - Posted - 01/06/2012: 11:17:48
Haha, nice suggestion. The banjo looks great even without a better camera, so that says more for the banjo than it does against your camera.
mike gregory - Posted - 01/06/2012: 12:05:51
What I should do abou tthe camera is
1. Read the instruction book, and set the internal brain for maximum clarity.
and
2. Set the durn thing on one of my many tripods, with the TIMER function, rather than trust my hands not to tremble with eagerness, as I contemplate how much praise I shall receive from everyone who thinks that this is all work and no fun.
Jonnycake White - Posted - 01/06/2012: 23:28:06
And it's not cheating to use the flash either.
Back to the banjo, it looks great - reminds me of a gourdie. What diameter is the head (more or less)? It looks pretty big unless the neck is quite short.
banjoy - Posted - 01/07/2012: 00:14:26
Wow that looks and sounds great (I had to dig to find it but I found it).
Salad bowls have never sounded so good. COoOoL
Which salad dressing do you use?
mike gregory - Posted - 01/07/2012: 06:09:13
OK, guys & gals, pickers & pickerettes, ladies & gentlemen, strummers and strumpettes!
Here's a shot taken with a tripod, an extra 150w halogen bulb, and with a bit of messing around with the "brightness" and "contrast" on the computer, when processing the picture for storage. Hope you like it..
Railroad Lady, Beadland, and a Kay, so you can compare sizes.
The KAY is your standard 11 inch banjo, the Beadland is 9, and the Railroad Lady is a bit over 11.
The couch upholstery is visible through the Beadland head, since the Beadland is open-back, and the head is from a well-known lemon/lime soft drink bottle, for whom I am not doing a free ad.
