7String - Posted - 03/02/2012:  19:51:07

I've not frequented the Hangout forums for a long while, and this is why.  This thing (I can't possibly justify this as a banjo) is an 8 string, 24 fret guitar banjo hybrid with aluminum sides and back and a 10" banjo rim assembly mounted into the top.  I know.  Sounds ridiculous.  However there is a method to the madness.  If my calculations (and by "calculations" I mean "random stream-of-consciousness guesses") are correct, it should be particularly well-suited to my favored two-hand tapping/fingerstyle playing technique.  And it sure has been fun to build!  Anyways, I'm at the crucial trimming out and adjusting stage now, so I wanted to solicit some educated and/or wild-assed guesses.  First, assuming standard guitar tuning with a 5th and and octave added below, give me some ideas as to what pitch might be best for the head.  Of course I'll experiment, but I'm curious to get some speculative starting points.  Also, I am toying with making the bridge out of a solid chunk of aluminum.  I have no real reason for doing this other than it just "feels" like the thing to do.  And I have a chunk of aluminum just sitting there begging to be turned into a bridge.  So I'm looking for well-reasoned, physics based responses and/or wild gut feelings with no basis in experience or reality.  I value both equally.  The sky is the limit on this crazy thing.    

Edited by - 7String on 03/02/2012 21:31:02

Black Plague closeup

Black Plague Back

The Black Plague

grizzly1 - Posted - 03/02/2012:  22:09:53

Hi 7String,

Thanks for the Pics! Got a big smile out of me after a long week. I appreciated the chance to imagine banjo tapping technique. I imagined something ala the Chapman Stick, or Michael Hedges, or Eddie Van Halen style. Doesn't matter if I guessed even close just enjoyed imagining the idea.

I have developed an appreciation for the folks who are trying to faithfully recreate 1930s designs and technology, and who feel that these designs and sounds are the ones that call to their ears. It's good to know where the banjo's been/come from. I have even been playing around with hide heads lately and liking their finicky, but to my ear strikingly subtle sound.

I am also interested in where the banjo's going, what else is out there, and what's just over the horizon. I have no idea what your critter is going to sound like, but thanks for pushing things a bit. If your so inclined, put up a sound clip when you get it dialed in

As far as your question, I enjoyed this discussion on head tightness a little while back. Check out desert roses response a little way down. banjohangout.org/topic/229861

You have gone beyond the known boundary, the place that reads on the old maps: there be dragons beyond here. Best wishes on finding the sweet spot 1/8 turn at a time, and with a little luck may your dragon sweetly roar!

Edited by - grizzly1 on 03/02/2012 22:12:51

Dingoman25 - Posted - 03/02/2012:  22:46:41

I don't have any advice, of either kind that you're soliciting, but I sure hope it sounds as awesome as it looks!

7String - Posted - 03/03/2012:  05:42:55

Thanks Dingoman! I will say that I did take an old bridge and a single string and did a litte test. The results were quite promising. The idea was to get the bright, tap friendly high-end of a banjo (a la the 10" head) but also get a big warm resonant low end (a la the large aluminum guitar body). That single string BOOMED out loud and clear! I can't wait to finish this thing...

Grizzly1, thank you for the link to that post and your thoughts. Yep, your imaginings were probably right on! My inner Stanley Eddie Ray Hedges should really come on out this thing. Like you, I have a deep and abiding respect and appreciation for where we've come from. But trying these new ideas out, well, it's one of those things where the NOT making of it becomes unbearable! I will definitely make a video test drive when she is finished. Because of the smaller 10" head and the position of the bridge, I have a feeling that this thing will have a passable traditional "banjo-y" sound, especially in the upper registers.

7String - Posted - 03/03/2012:  06:01:43

Here's a shot of the banjo rim assembly. It "floats" free inside the body with its only point of attachment being the upper tensioning flange built into guitar top. It may look like a cut-down aluminum cake pan found at a local Goodwill store, but it is actually a precisely engineered Space Age sound generation machine!

The Engine

mike gregory - Posted - 03/03/2012:  06:38:39

Headline news:

UNRULY CROWD AWAITS OPENING OF

SPACE-AGE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PARTS STORE

Best Banjo-related advice I ever got was from Ken Haferman, a local Banjo Expert:

"Kid, it's your banjo. Play it any damned way you want!"

Having seen your photos, I am sorely longing to hear a sound file, or, better yet, a video.

Perhaps I should get a mouthful of worms, so I can claim to be waiting with baited breath.

7String - Posted - 03/03/2012:  06:45:50

Ahahahaha! Musical instruments parts, particularly banjo-type musical instruments parts, are EVERYWHERE, man! My wife thinks I am freaking cuckoo. I promise to post a test drive video. There's almost too much going on here to properly evaluate what blasphemous technique is producing what effect. Oh well. It's all in the interest of science!

PeterJ - Posted - 03/03/2012:  07:14:45

This is definitely worthy of a MacArthur Genius Grant. Or possibly a General Grant. Or a Lou Grant. But in any case, I like it! I love the thought process behind this -- we need sound clips ASAP!

7String - Posted - 03/03/2012:  07:34:05

Side note: one might imagine these multi-stringed 6,7, and (soon to be) 8 stringed things to be decidedly "anti-banjo", and much more suited to guitar styles. They can be played that way, for sure. But I seem to have the most fun using traditional banjo tunings on the first 4 strings and using the remaining strings almost as drones with big fat octave and 4th or 5th open string power chords. Adds some serious meat and potatoes to the low end!

grizzly1 - Posted - 03/03/2012:  14:50:55

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the kind comments. I tried to respond, but you have private messaging turned off. If your interested in the particulars of the recording I responded to your comments on my page. 

Mark

7String - Posted - 03/03/2012:  19:56:50

Oops. Just fixed that. Thanks. In other news, the aluminum bridge is coming alive tonight! Mwuahahahahaha!

RBuddy - Posted - 03/03/2012:  20:43:01

ZString, WAY cool man. Beautiful construction. Can't wait to hear it, please post sound clips when you can. I'd probably make a wood bridge but go for whatever you might want to try.

7String - Posted - 03/04/2012:  07:07:24

RBuddy, I may end up trying several different bridges. The first up will be this little aluminum and Mesquite concoction. The Mesquite feet give it a distinct smokey flavor...

The Bridge!

stigandr5 - Posted - 03/04/2012:  13:20:56

More power to you, dude. Banjos are a springboard of creativity--in my mind. Wherever that leads you, go for it. I made a 9-string contraption with sympathetic strings just to test a whim. Your little experiment looks to be just as promising!

7String - Posted - 03/04/2012:  13:26:54

quote:

---

Originally posted by stigandr5

More power to you, dude. Banjos are a springboard of creativity--in my mind. Wherever that leads you, go for it. I made a 9-string contraption with sympathetic strings just to test a whim. Your little experiment looks to be just as promising!

 

---

 Oh heck yes!   That bridge is IN-GEEE-NEE-US, man.  I need to hear that thing.

stigandr5 - Posted - 03/04/2012:  14:24:52

Enjoy!

VIDEO: "Little Birdie" Clawhammer Manowakv Lute Banjo in Bb (click to view)

Evan C - Posted - 03/05/2012:  22:28:54

Very impressive.

I'm sure we're all waiting to hear this thing in action, although perhaps you'll need a few days to practice up on the beast.