This is my first attempt at a resonator banjo. I used primarily Rubberwood salvaged from discarded kitchen tables (ie free stuff).
The fretboard , head stock veneer, center of the neck, bindings, armrest, and bear inlay on the resonator are African Mahogony scraps from my mountain banjo project. It's got a radiused fretboard, and stainless steel frets as well as a dual action truss rod. The resonator snaps on with cabinet latches. The flange is cut from a scrap piece of aluminum. I used cheepie hooks and nuts and tension hoop. The tuners are Gotoh. The bridge is Kat Eyz, 11/16 radiused. Tailpiece is from my spare parts bin. The Tone ring shape (arch top) is turned into the segmented rubberwood rim. Still plenty of volume and tone with no metal tone ring. The banjo weighs in at 8 lbs which my back loves.
This was just meant to prove out all the tools and fixtures I made without spending a bunch on expensive material but, I have to say, I really like this banjo. I have played nothing else since I built it. Several mistakes were made and lessons learned. I've ordered some wood for my next one. Quarter sawn White Oak. The parts I made from Mahogany on the first one will be Padauk on the second. I'll be using Rickard tuners and hardware.
This is amazing! I love seeing different designs. The bear inlay on the resonator looks great.
Can you tell us more about your mistakes and lessons learned?
Here's a few things that gave me some trouble:
the shape of my neck viewing from the top was such that I couldn't use a pip for the 5th string. I had to use a RR spike instead.
no real problem but I would have preferred a pip.
I used maple dowel for the dot inlay on the fretboard. They almost disappeared when I put on the oil finish. Next time I'll be sure to get some good contrast with my inlays. The bear paw on the 5th fret area was done with a piece of rubber wood and shows up just fine.
I didn't take enough time/care on the resonator inlay. It's a little sloppy
I made the fretboard extra wide - 1.267" at the nut ; 1.83 at the 12th fret. I did this on purpose but I'm not sure I like the extra width. On my next one I'm going back to stock pre-war specs with a non-radiused board.
When I cut the heal I started with a 3 degree angle which proved to be too much. It took me a few tries to get the angle right and I ended up with hardly any distance passed the 22nd fret. Next time I'll start with 1 1/2 degrees and go the other way. That way you don't use up the real estate on the top side getting things where you want.
When I made a steam bending box for my resonator sides and binding, I just made it out of some more scrap rubber wood. It got me through this project but was completely warped and ruined at the end.
I'll make a new one with 4" abs pipe.
All in all I'm still very happy with this banjo. It plays and sounds great. Puts a smile on my face every time.
I love the bear designs! What a wonderful job, that banjo looks fun!
Nice looking - but Rubberwood? That's stretching the imagination. On a more serious note, I love the look of padauk, but occasionally can't control the oil in the wood and it ruins a finish. Do you have a foolproof method?
"..... mistakes were made and lessons learned...."
Indeed! If it is true that we learn from our mistakes, I otter be a GENIUS by now!
On the other hand, if it plays well and sound nice, none of the mistakes are bad ones.
banjowannabe , I have heard of the staining issue with Padauk and also some issues with gluing if not cleaned properly. I plan to just finish with an oil finish. I'll have to do some experimenting. Recording King has figured it out so . . . .
How good a wood that rubber wood is was a surprise to me but,come to find out, it is a known good tone wood. My intent all along was to make a banjo out of oak and then Deering did some actual research and concluded that White Oak was best for an all wood banjo. I'll be very curious to see the sound difference between Quarter Sawn White Oak (expensive) and Rubberwood (free).
