I just shipped a banjo lute made from so called “ghost maple” from a standing dead red maple tree (I have made a number of guitars from it) and it kind of defies conventional wisdom about maple. It’s red maple that was attacked by the "columbian timber beetle", which secretes something that stains the wood, but doesn’t cause any structural damage to the wood like spalting will do.
The beetle stains make ghostly figures radiating up and down from the worm holes—you can see it in the bookmatched piece from this back.
I used this to make the back and sides of the instrument, and filled the worm-holes with little abalone dots, thinking that one way to make something that might be considered a defect into an attribute is by celebrating it- you can see the sparkle from the abalone dots picking up the same from rosette on the top
This instrument is a departure from the banjo lutes I have been building in that is has a tailpiece and floating bridge as opposed to a fixed pin bridge, and X -bracing as opposed to the Smallman lattice-bracing. I also used a modified X on the back thinking it maintains the dome better—I am doing this on guitars as well because I am making very thin resonant backs. The cedar top is also very thin in case you might think the bracing is excessive—I didn’t overbuild it. It weighs 3# 13 oz for those who want a light instrument.
The cedar top is very very old growth reclaimed—probably sunken, based on the dark color, and is delicate—cedar will ding if you look at it too hard, which is part of the charm, but I thought it needed a pickguard and I hate plastic pickguards. I made one from a very thin (1/42”) walnut burl veneer saturated with epoxy resin and laminated to an equally thin lutz spruce veneer to make a very thin burl pickguard that won’t split and you can’t scratch it. This was my wife’s idea after hearing me complain about plastic guitar pickguards, so credit where credit is due.
The whole instrument is French polished, and you can see this in some in-process shots—the mitering of the binding is unfortunately covered up by the tai;piece on top, but that’s the breaks of the game—I know it’s there.
Here’s the peghead— the inlays are copper and abalone, both of which work with the Celtic inlays.
You also see the chamfered peghead and the really nice curly ghost maple neck.
Much here I haven’t talked about—I’ll happily answer questions. The sound of this has a very deep tone and has a real presence.
It's like a 5-string Irish Bouzouki.
Edited by - Ken LeVan on 12/20/2022 05:19:35
That is an absolutely beautiful piece of work! Congratulations.
Wow! Just...Wow!
That is beautiful work Ken. Putting the abalone dots in the holes is a nice touch.
The columbian timber beetle, aka the ambrosia beetle, is native to North America, and is rampant in my neck of the woods. Those long stripes on each side of the hole are staining from a fungus that the beetle brings into the tree, and that the larva feed on until they are mature. If you look at the outside of a maple tree, you can tell if it has the ambrosia beetle by looking for the small holes they have punched through the bark to get into the outer wood layer.
Wow Ken, what a stunning instrument. Thanks for sharing.
Stunning, gorgeous, a work of art…
Thank you for sharing these builds.
Edited by - AGACNP on 12/20/2022 10:46:41
Magnificent! Artistic and mechanically creative and sophisticated.
Thanks for looking at the thread, everyone. I appreciate all your comments.
Right now this banjo lute has arrived in Chicago during the crazy temperature drop and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Fedex trucks have some kind of heat. Right now the tracking says it's "out for delivery".
Meanwhile, there's another standing dead maple tree up the road that I've been looking at. Some bark fell off and It appears to be curly and maybe spalted. When the weather (eventually) permits, I'll retrieve it and see what happens.
Edited by - Ken LeVan on 12/22/2022 05:35:14
Great work as usual, Ken! I love the pickguard - thanks for sharing that technique with us.
quote:
Originally posted by Jonnycake WhiteGreat work as usual, Ken! I love the pickguard - thanks for sharing that technique with us.
Thanks Jon,
I started making these, as I said earlier because I don’t like plastic pickguards and feel they are probably a sound detriment to a guitar top.
I’ve made them is a number of kinds of burl, walnut (also used for resonators), European chestnut, and ash—they are very light and thin.
Here’s an ash one on a guitar—it almost looks transparent
I also use it for peghead veneers, truss rod covers, and frailing scoops—here are pictures of all three uses from a banjo that will be the subject of another thread.
Ken,
WOW! What a beautiful instrument, it is absolutely stunning, like the beautiful lute you built for me.
quote:
Originally posted by OldPappyKen,
WOW! What a beautiful instrument, it is absolutely stunning, like the beautiful lute you built for me.
Thanks Andy!
Yours is the shortest scale one I ever made, approaching the scale of an octave mandolin.
WOW!
Ken, You and your builds are like wine. They continue to get better with age. Somebody in Chicago is going to be absolutely shocked with this masterpiece. Merry Christmas to you and Hope.
quote:
Originally posted by Lone WalnutWOW!
Ken, You and your builds are like wine. They continue to get better with age. Somebody in Chicago is going to be absolutely shocked with this masterpiece. Merry Christmas to you and Hope.
Thanks Kirk,
It arrived in Chicago safe and sound, most likely being played right now. The person I made it for plays melodic, and it is perfectly suited to that.
Spako is probably finished down your way and has been up here for a couple of weeks cutting trees along the power line right-of-ways for the REC, and I saw a log down with the tell-tale end grain of ambrosia beetles. By now it's covered with snow until the thaw, but I remember where it is.
Merry Christmas to you too!
Edited by - Ken LeVan on 12/23/2022 05:59:15
Somebody in Chicago IS INDEED very happy with this banjo lute, ME!
Thanks again Ken for the absolutely stunning work of art. (Sorry I am late to the post, I'm not that active on forums and just saw this but wanted to express a few words of gratitude.)
I really don't have the right words for how great the experience is working with Ken, and how amazing this instrument sounds and looks. It was so exciting discussing the design and *trying* to wait patiently for that next update with pictures.
I have the greatest dilemma ever now, whether to pick up my Levan banjo or my Levan banjo lute. (Often I play the mellower lute in evening practice).
Ken you should know these instruments continue to bring me so many hours of enjoyment day after day. The smile is still plastered on my face as big now as it was when I first received this masterpiece.
-Don
quote:
Originally posted by Chi-Town-DonSomebody in Chicago IS INDEED very happy with this banjo lute, ME!
Thanks again Ken for the absolutely stunning work of art. (Sorry I am late to the post, I'm not that active on forums and just saw this but wanted to express a few words of gratitude.)
I really don't have the right words for how great the experience is working with Ken, and how amazing this instrument sounds and looks. It was so exciting discussing the design and *trying* to wait patiently for that next update with pictures.
I have the greatest dilemma ever now, whether to pick up my Levan banjo or my Levan banjo lute. (Often I play the mellower lute in evening practice).
Ken you should know these instruments continue to bring me so many hours of enjoyment day after day. The smile is still plastered on my face as big now as it was when I first received this masterpiece.
-Don
Thank you Don,
I'm glad you're enjoying it—I enjoyed making it!
Gorgeous. Beautiful sound, too!
Without going into details: I find the the drop shape of these instruments perfectly beautiful. Likewise the the circular soundhole, - and also the way the shape of the pick guard plays along with the outer curves of the lute (and in this case also the dark side arias).
Beauty - whatever it is in tones, colour combinations, or shapes and curves - can not be desputed. It is just there (if and when it is).
Everything has vibrations and frequenses, and if beauty depends on some matematical harmonical relationships, that our brain is capable of decoding, I certainly do not know, but we all can see it when it´s there, and that is most clearly the case here.
"That was the philosofical part" as Derroll Adams said in "I wish I was a rock" :) Steen
quote:
Originally posted by steenWithout going into details: I find the the drop shape of these instruments perfectly beautiful. Likewise the the circular soundhole, - and also the way the shape of the pick guard plays along with the outer curves of the lute (and in this case also the dark side arias).
Beauty - whatever it is in tones, colour combinations, or shapes and curves - can not be desputed. It is just there (if and when it is).
Everything has vibrations and frequenses, and if beauty depends on some matematical harmonical relationships, that our brain is capable of decoding, I certainly do not know, but we all can see it when it´s there, and that is most clearly the case here.
"That was the philosofical part" as Derroll Adams said in "I wish I was a rock" :) Steen
Thank you Steen,
My wife, who is a painter and musician thought this instrument was one of the best I have made, and she can be my harshest critic when necessary.
Wow, very beautiful!
To Ken. If your wife is an artist and musician too, she knows what she is talking about, and if she can be a harsh critic about your work, you have all the reasons in the world to believe her in this case, and I am shure you also do :).
The sound file and the grateful comment from the owner to you and for us readers to see also expresses everything that could have been said in many more words.
Thanks so much for this thread and for now :) Steen
