philly Says:
Monday, December 4, 2006 @12:44:44 PM

There ought to be about  100 or more comments on the work you do. Unbelievable!

Phil

WW52 Says:
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 @10:07:48 PM

Your inlay work is really extraordinary.

Bigwrench Says:
Thursday, July 22, 2010 @12:39:59 PM

That Looks Amazing !

----------------- Says:
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 @9:08:14 PM

I love the photos of your carving and engraving. I've done some of that too, so I can really appreciate it. My shoulders get tense, and my neck gets stiff just looking at this work. It's fantastic!

I built a neck for a 1924 VEGA TU-BA-PHONE Style-M back in '90. The style-M pot was rather plain, so I didn't carve the heel or go wild with my inlays. Even at that, my neck is way fancier than the original tenor neck. I did have a choice piece of maple though.

My neck wood came from Chuck Erickson out in San Francisco. A very old building was being demolished, and Chuck was called over when a friend of his thought he could see curl in a beam running the length of the building. They pulled it out from under the rubble with a chain and a tractor. It was black with soot and dirt, so Chuck whittled at it with his pocket knife and yelled "I'll take it!" Turned out the whole thing - 10"x16"x40 feet - was extremely tight flame through and through. Imagine using that for an architectural beam.

You can see photos of my neck in my album "Banjos I Own". It's the banjo I'm holding in my profile photo.

GSCarson Says:
Thursday, June 4, 2015 @6:06:12 AM

This is a 12" rimmed banjo I made mostly while traveling in hotels, it took a while! I have it set up for A and D fiddle tunes with fat nylon strings and its tuned an octave down. Not for everyday but it is great fun to play at the right times. There are a few recordings of it on my music page. It has a very slender neck with a lot of carbon fiber in it, that worked out really well on this banjo as it just feels alive when you play it.

I looked at your Vega photos, very nice job! The wood looks great, I can see why Chuck got excited about that. Glenn

----------------- Says:
Thursday, June 4, 2015 @9:46:36 AM

Thanks Glenn. I sure have enjoyed the banjo...both building and playing.

Bill Anderson Says:
Friday, June 5, 2015 @9:10:52 AM

I think you've got the hang of it.
Spectacular work...Bill