Click on photos to see full-size

2012-01-30T18:56:00.000-08:00

Just finished up this banjo for a customer in New Mexico. The neck is an Ashborn copy, and the body based on banjos of the late 1860s and 1870s, with cast brass shields.

2012-01-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

14 banjo neck blanks in walnut, maple, and cherry just arrived from the sawyer. They're all from salvaged trees, either blown down by storms or taken from construction lots, and most are cut close to the quarter, with wonderful, straight grain.

2012-01-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

Finishing up on an Ashborn reproduction neck for John in New Mexico. Working on a couple other projects at the same time. It's been busy in the shop.

2011-10-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

The last several weeks have been spent in Vermont, working with Will Fielding, and then back in my shop, doing some significant retooling for some new kinds of projects. I've been doing tons of brass casting for new hardware, and a lot of planning in general. There will be many new and exciting projects in the coming year.

2011-10-03T04:03:00.000-07:00

I recently completed a project built around a bottle gourd, which I cut shallow to allow for a double-headed design. This was a custom order for a musician who wanted a banjo with a very specific, unusual look, and suggested the idea of a double-headed pear-shaped banjo.

2011-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today I visited Peter Szego's house. He is the co-author of "America's Instrument," and has amassed perhaps the finest private collection of early American banjos and guitars in this country. An amazing day of stringed instruments!

Above: a standard open-back Boucher, a double-tension model, and a mini-Boucher

2011-08-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

2011-07-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

2011-07-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

New batch of custom brass hardware on Mark's banjo:

2011-06-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Custom-cast brass hardware is finally here! I just did a run of federal shield brackets and hooks, and some different kinds of Boucher-style bracket shoes (for single and double-tension models). In the photo below, the shoe, hook, and nut on the right is the original ca. 1870 hardware, and on the left is my reproduction, along with one of the single-tension Boucher shoes.

2011-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Work is currently underway on several instruments, including a copy of an early Boucher double-tension banjo in birdseye maple. All hardware will be custom made, including the tension hoop with brackets peened onto it, and custom-cast brass nuts.

I am also casting a few different early federal shield brackets directly from originals that date from the 1860s through 1880s for future projects.

If you're interested in minstrel banjos with hardware other than the standard flat, Boucher-style shoes, now is the time to get in touch.

2011-04-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I hadn't realized that all of the individual pages in the gallery were corrupted during the server move. If you use Safari, you will not have been able to access any of these pages for at least a month. Those pages have all been repaired. If you are using Safari, please clear your cache so you can now view those pages, along with two new banjo entries to the gallery that were just updated.

2011-03-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

The site should be up and working again. If you're using safari, or any other browser that isn't firefox, you might have to clear your cache before proceeding. Anyhow, thanks for coming back to look at the site, even after all the problems I've been having keeping everything functional.

2011-03-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

2011-02-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Jeff's banjo almost finished

2011-02-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy as always in the shop. On of my most often-used tools, my band saw, died on me. I had been using a cheap Chinese saw for quite some time, and finally decided to move forward. And by forward I mean, as usual, backwards--a couple weeks ago I was able to pick up a Delta 14" drill press and band saw, both from 1947, both manufactured in the USA, and both made out of 100% real metal (not pot metal, not plastic). The band saw required extensive restoration, including all new bearings, tires, wheel shims, rust removal, paint, etc. The drill press was more or less ready to go.

Here are some before-and-after of the restoration process

The website might be a little screwy going forward. I just suffered a complete hard drive meltdown, and hadn't been backing up as vigilantly as I should have been. Lesson learned. Back up and running now, and back in the shop working on banjos again.

2011-01-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

Daniel's banjo is pretty much done

2011-01-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

2011-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

In June of 2010 a major storm passed through Northern Indiana. It felled trees and power lines and caused significant property damage. On one 20-acre lot over 60 trees of various species were felled by strong winds, including cherry, ash, maple, and walnut trees. One of the mills I work with handled the clean up of that lot. Rather than chipping the trees or cutting them into firewood, the logs were sawn and kiln dried, producing thousands of board feet of beautiful, high-quality lumber. My latest shipment of ash and cherry neck blanks were just a few of the many pieces of lumber that came out of that.

2011-01-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

2010-12-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Work in the shop has been slow but steady of late. I've been on a little string of bad luck lately--a couple weeks ago I was in a bike accident on my way to work and hurt my shoulder, which made banjo work difficult, and I've been pretty ill for the past few days, so had to miss more opportunities to work. But fear not, if you have a banjo on order, I am working on it right now, and making quick progress!

2010-12-27T14:10:00.001-08:00

A sample of Tom's new banjo. It even sounds good with me playing it, which is saying a lot.

2010-12-25T15:02:00.001-08:00

There's a new banjo in the gallery. Click the photo below to take a look

I've got three other instruments on the bench right now. Stay tuned for more finished work soon.

2010-12-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

2010-12-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

There are a whole bunch of projects on my bench right now, all of which should be finished soon. Here's some hardware for the banjos, and one of the actual instruments in progress.

2010-11-24T17:42:00.001-08:00

2010-09-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

I recently had the good fortune to pick up an original edition of Frank Converse's Banjo without a master. Authored by Converse, then a renowned banjo player and performer, this nice little book, published in 1865, represents one of the earliest popularly available banjo tutors. It contains an extensive slice of the minstrel repertoire, with highly detailed, measure-by-measure instructions on how to play each tune.

2010-09-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

3 new banjo pages added to the gallery (click and see):

2010-08-29T22:37:00.001-07:00

Well, I have just about finished Lloyd's giant gourd banjo. After stringing it up and playing it this evening, which concludes several weeks of work, I think I can safely say that it is the finest sounding gourd banjo I have yet produced. Of course, I think that to be the case every time I finish any banjo, but it seems particularly true at the moment.

There are certain key structural differences that are working together to give this banjo a massive, deep, and full-blasting growl of a tone. First, the size. Lloyd wanted the neck to have a 28" scale to match the giant 14" pot tackhead I keep at home. Longer scale necessitates higher string tension, the end product of which is greater sustain and a richer (in my opinion) tone.

Second: the gourd. The gourd I used for this project came from Paul Sedgewick's shop. In the first place, it is gigantic, being about 13 inches in diameter. Another interesting thing is that it is also very thin. So thin, in fact, that I had to reinforce it with an epoxy resin. The resin coated the interior of the gourd, creating what is essentially one big resonator. Frequencies that would have been previously absorbed by the sound-deadening, soft, rough interior of the gourd are now projected with great clarity.

2010-08-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

The most tedious part of building a gourd banjo (the way I do it), comes in creating the fit between the heel of the neck and the gourd, with its multiples asymmetries.

Here is a photo of the banjo I'm working on right now, the fit for which is around 95% after 3.5 hours of work:

The heel:

A jumbo canteen gourd that I just reinforced with a two-part epoxy resin:

2010-08-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

walnut, cherry, and sugar maple: great ice cream flavors on their own, but also my favorite hardwoods. i've got a number of full sized billets of each headed here to my shop, as well as red and white oak, hickory, and butternut (i swear i dont pick my materials based on what sort of imaginary desserts they would make). they are all coming from sustainable, independent sources in wisconsin, indiana, and pennsylvania. i am particularly excited about the lumber on it way from pennsylvania, which is coming from a small milling operation that i have never worked with before.

after the stock of exotic hardwoods i have runs out, i am gong to make a concerted effort to only build with native species. even though its already too late to save the planet, i have reservations about the supply lines for some of the fancier african and asian hardwoods, regardless of claims that they have been harvested in accordance with CITES.

2010-08-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Things have been very busy in the shop this summer, with multiple banjos on my bench for the past several months. The upcoming months will be no different: I will have completed Stichter and Boucher copies, along with several other custom orders. In addition, I am happy to say that I am working with a very talented designer to completely overhaul the website. Aside from a new layout, there will be an expanded audio-visual section with new video and audio recordings, a better, more functional gallery, new text, and an all-around cleaner, richer visual experience for visitors. Keep a eye out for the new site to be rolled out in the next couple months.

2010-07-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

quarter-sawn oak. the king of all woods, and sort of a nightmare to work with. but the end results are, without fail, beautiful. here is the neck for a jumbo gourd banjo im making for lloyd here in boston. i am inlaying 12 flush-frets after the style of the 1860s and '70s.

2010-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Jim Bollman and his extraordinary collection of banjos and banjo-related ephemera last night. It was a fantastic experience, and I hope to return often. The purpose of my visit was, ostensibly, to visit one instrument in particular—the ca. 1848 Henry Stichter banjo, which I am currently working to reproduce. The banjo itself was built by Stichter when he was just 16 years old, and the features of its construction are marvelous and bizarre.

The banjo originally had two drone strings—one on each side of the neck—but one has since been removed, leaving the more familiar 5-string construction intact. The oak rim itself, which is enormous, is only 3/16” thick, and joined only to a radiused block of wood by way of four screws, rather than the scarf joint that is more typical of a single-ply rim from that era. The numerous quirks represent a challenge where reproduction is concerned: should a copy be 100% faithful, the banjo itself would be difficult to play and feature modes of construction that would make it a somewhat undesirable option where durability is concerned. Thus, the challenge in this project is to strike a balance between modern standards of playability and an adherence to the original design and overall aesthetic. In short, this banjo would be faithful in appearance to the original but far more playable and a lot more sturdy. It should be done some time in September. Keep an eye out.

In the mean time, I am working on a number of interesting custom projects to be completed in the coming weeks.

2010-07-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you're feeling lucky, you can head over to the banjo hangout and enter to win the banjo pictured here (click for full size):

I built this instrument specifically for the banjohangout. It's a great site worthy of your support if you are at all interested in the banjo, so check it out.

2010-03-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

My workshop is once again located on dry land, and I only had to stay up until 4AM pumping water out of the basement twice in a row. Tomorrow I will have to put the whole shop back together (not the easiest task), and production should be up and running by Friday.

On an unrelated note, the cost of tool black is appallingly high. Oh, the price we are willing to pay to make new things look old. . .

2010-03-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

New England is being obliterated by a massive nor'easter right now. High winds and some of the most incredible flooding I've ever seen in this area. The real problem for me, though, is that my workshop is currently flooded out. I had to tear it apart at high speed to save my tools and supplies from water. It'll be a bit before I can rebuild it.

2010-02-25T19:28:00.000-08:00

I made this banjo for mark a couple years ago. It was a pleasure to build and a joy to play. I hated to put it in the mail, but I'm glad to see it found such a happy home.

Find more videos like this on Minstrel Banjo

2010-02-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

002 is born

2010-02-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

New custom-order neck. Lucas asked me to make him a minstrel banjo with a double ogee and a horizontal 5th-string peg. It's looking good so far.

2010-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

2010-01-07T19:24:00.001-08:00

new oak and cherry neck blanks fresh from the sawyer's kiln.

2010-01-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hardware!

2009-12-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

2009-12-29T16:09:00.001-08:00

First banjo to ship with a full set of minstrel hardware is nearing completion. My friend Aaron at Trimount Ironworks in Boston lent his expertise to the project, and we hammered out some very nice looking parts.

2009-12-24T07:36:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone -

Emails through the website have been filtered to my spam folder for some unknown reason. So sorry if I haven't been getting back to you. Normally I take a long time to reply to emails, but not this long!

2009-09-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

New Project:

2009-06-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Banjo season is back, and so am I. Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, flickr season seems to have passed: I changed the permissions on my account, and it also—to my surprise—changed all the URLs of my photos, turning this blog into a huge mess of "this photo is currently unavailable" messages.

I will slowly be bringing the photos back over the next couple weeks so the blog will actually useful again.

I'm currently working on two banjos at once—twins, as it were. Both will feature cherry necks with flush ebony frets and aged brass hardware. They should be done by the end of the month. Here they are getting ready to take shape. . .

More photos to come.

2009-03-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a lot of banjo inquiries of late. Unfortunately at this time the demands of my day job, along with the grad program I'm in make it impossible for me to also dedicate the time and attention necessary for custom instrument work. In order to keep up with demand I have also sold off several pieces from my personal collection and no longer have any banjos in stock or for sale. This is why I will not be able to take on any new projects until after the semester comes to a close in May. If you are interested in arranging something with that time period in mind, please feel free to get in touch with me.

2008-11-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

FREIHEIT

2008-10-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Marks' banjo has been added to the gallery. See photos here.

2008-10-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Testing out Mark's new Banjo

2008-10-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Finished, save for the final coats of oil

2008-10-02T14:47:00.001-07:00

Another reason to love Ralph Stanley!

2008-09-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

Inlay

2008-09-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

2008-09-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

More Progress:

2008-09-21T20:32:00.001-07:00

2008-09-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sanded the neck down to a glassy-smooth surface, applied some test stain, drilled and reamed peg holes, glued dowel to neck, mapped out f-holes. I took these photos with my phone, so they're not exactly super crisp.

2008-09-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Progress

2008-09-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you don't properly level off the base of a new bridge after cutting it. (takes a minute to load if you've got a slow connection)

2008-09-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just spent several hours fitting the heel of the neck to the gourd. To be perfectly honest, this is by far my least favorite part of the process. You have to match the exact shape of the gourd vertically, horizontally and with respect to the proper neck pitch. In order to accomplish this, a contour gauge (pictured below) is extremely helpful. Right now the fit is about 95% complete. I'll clean it up tomorrow, and then fit the neck/dowel through the gourd. As always, click the thumbnails for full sized images.

Contour gauge

Measuring the outer shell of the gourd

Heel carved out to match the gourd.

Neck fit about 95% perfectly to gourd. A little more work and this will be done.

2008-09-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

The most unpleasant part of the process is cleaning out the gourd. It's full of toxic molds and fine particles that irritate the lungs, both of which take a long time to clean out.

Gourd just after being cut open, note the seed balls and detritus:

After being arduously scraped clean:

2008-09-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

Neck shaping is done; dowel stick is cut.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but the figure has come out spectacularly well. I can't wait to see it with stain and oil. Finish sanding won't take place until after assembly is done, but before stain is applied.

2008-08-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

I was got to use the laser cutter for the first time. It took a while to get the hang of, but the results are tremendous! This opens up a lot of possibilities.

Here's a quick little video of the marquetry stars i made for Mark's banjo.

2008-08-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

nearly finished shaping the neck for marks banjo. fate keeps stepping in every time i settle down to work on this. notwithstanding, should be done with shaping tomorrow, and done with the banjo early next week.

this piece of maple is actually highly figured, though its hard to see in these photos. it will look absolutely incredible once its stained.

2008-07-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

to those waiting for banjos -

i was in a bit of a traffic accident recently. nothing serious, but it resulted in a somewhat mangled right arm and, in particular, a nicely sprained right wrist. aside from not being able to play the banjo (farewell clifftop trip!), it is very hard for me to carry out the finery necessary to make my banjos. the accident was a week ago, and i anticipate at least one more week until i can get back into the shop again.

sorry for the delay!

2008-05-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Alabama Joe played on one of my tackheads.

Of the many questions people ask about my banjos, one of the most common is regarding their ability to hold up in high humidity. People have either read a lot about sagging tackhead skins or played inferior instruments - either way, the concern is understandable. While humidity does affect the feel and sound of any banjo with a skin head, mine included, a properly mounted tackhead will hold up and be playable in extreme weather, especially with a set of different sized bridges. Here is a quick little clip of one of my 12" tackheads at 78 degrees and 93% humidity (during the eveniing and between two thunderstorms). The head is a little softer, to be sure, but I'm still using the original short bridge.

2008-05-24T19:07:00.001-07:00

4 new black cherry neck blanks just in from indiana

2008-05-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

After much experimenting, I finally figured out how to steal Tim's videos of my banjos from youtube and save them as .mov files. The result is that a bunch of them are now hosted directly at jaymoschella.com. Check them out in the listen section!

2008-05-02T20:06:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to work on banjos since I finished the last two tackheads. The end of the semester has been very, very busy. I've had a couple of presentations and papers, as well as a final project that entailed researching and cataloging an unprocessed collection of about 60 original civil war photographs. But school finally ends next Tuesday, and then it's back to the workshop - this time to hash out some brass hardware and tension hoops for a new series of banjos with adjustable heads.

Amidst all the stress of full-time work, plus two nights a week in the master's program I'm doing, I've taken to the bracing thrill of collecting 19th century photographic processes. I've mostly been going in for daguerreotypes and ambrotypes - nothing fancy, but I've been looking for portraits with interesting or appealing sitters. Here are a few samples of what I've been picking up:

2008-04-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made a recording of Lor Bres de Ladies, from Buckley's Guide for the Banjo (1868). It's played on this gourd. Click the image to hear.

2008-04-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a video - one of many - that Tim Twiss just made using his newest tackhead, which I just sent out to him last week.

I'm going to be posting a lot of his other incredible video clips on the site in the near future.

And while we're on the topic of videos, here's a cool one from Paul Sedgwick's website, which is slowly populating itself with more and more interesting material

2008-04-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

I now have a new myspace page for my banjo making. Click the photo to see it. "Add" me!

2008-03-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

New item for sale. See the gallery...

2008-03-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

John Barr, reenactor with the 2nd Delaware Volunteer Infantry, playing his Jay Moschella banjo.

2008-03-29T23:33:00.001-07:00

Important, long-overdue addition to the shop!

2008-03-28T21:12:00.001-07:00

new photos in the gallery.

2008-03-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

focus-group testing the new product (they seemed to approve)...

2008-03-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

1. I like tackhead banjos.

2. This banjo is fantastic.

2008-03-22T18:56:00.001-07:00

Here is a mini photo essay I posted on the banjohangout, on the tacking of skin heads

(Click photo below for full size)

In the first photo (top left), you can see that I have taped over the exposed parts of the rim with painters tape. Also note that I have pre-drilled all the tack holes. This allows me to make sure the are all evenly spaced. The holes are barely smaller than the shanks on the tack, so the hold when pushed in, but are not to hard to apply. I use a small mallot to band them in completely. In addition, I have laminated the top of the inner rim with a single, 1/8" thick, .75" wide strip of maple. When the skin tightens up, it can really pull on the rim, sometimes forcing it slightly out of round, especially with a 1/4 inch rim. Nothing is worse than shaping your heel precisely for a snug fit, and then having to redo it completely once the rim shifts!

In the second photo (top right), you can see the glue having been applied. I soak skins for 25 to 30 minutes, and apply the glue 15 minutes before I take the skin out of the water, to allow time to get tacky.

In the third photo (bottom left), you can see that I have rough cut the excess skin. Note that I use two large rubber bands to hold the skin down and to help mitigate wrinkling. Once the rubber bands are on, I hold the side of the rim up to a space heater, and slowly rotate it, allowing even exposure of the sides to heat. Once the sides are dry, I begin to dry the top.

In the final photo (bottom right) I am slicing off the excess skin while it is still slightly moist, and therefore much more pliable. Always use a new blade for this so you dont have to press too hard and slice into the wood of the rim.

A lot of people swear by the practice of leaving the skin out to dry. This works fine, but I am impatient. I have never had a problem drying the skin this way, and it's then ready to use in about an hour. The only important precaution is to make sure you have dried the sides before focusing on the top. That way, when the head starts to contract, It will already be nicely anchored, otherwise it will pull the wet skin up from under the tacks, and tear, ruining your head. Wait to do your final skin trimming until everything is nice and dry, as the slice-line can move noticeably once the skin shrinks.

I hope people find this helpful. I don't want to clutter up the hangout - most everything I post here is posted in the banjo building blog on my website. I may just keep posting there instead, so definitely bookmark it if you're interested in making tackheads.

tackhead minstrel banjos made to order
www.jaymoschella.com

2008-03-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

I sanded off all the stain that I put on yesterday because I didn't like the way it came out and I didn't like the color. I mixed some new dye, and now it looks a lot better.

I've been feeling pretty sick for the past couple days. I think I just need to rest, so I'm going to set this project aside for a bit (I hope). In any event, it's amazing how much faster a banjo comes along when you don't have to design it from scratch, but can just copy it.

2008-03-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a copy of Tim's banjo that I'm making for myself. It's got a few little differences here and there, but will basically be the same banjo.

2008-03-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here is my meager attempt at playing Ethiopian Cracovienne on the new banjo. I recorded it through the tiny built-in macbook mic, so it's definitely not capturing the full spectrum of sound, but I thought people might be interested.

2008-03-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

new banjo is now officially up in the gallery.

2008-03-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's done. This banjo has a distinct, extremely loud, extremely clear tone. The maple neck is solid, smooth as glass, and very easy to play. My only regret is that I made the fifth-string peg slightly too close to the fourth. It doesn't buzz or hit the string at all, but you can just barely notice it with your right thumb when playing. I will either wind it the other way, or make a couple bridges with the space between the fifth and fourth string slightly compensated. It's actually not really bad at all, and in fact the appearance may be the thing that bugs me the most, but as a builder, it inevitably rubs my OCD tendencies the wrong way. Anyhow, click for full size.

2008-03-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here I have cut the holes in the rim for the dowel, achieved a snug fit between the heel and rim and, in the bottom two shots, I have glued the neck onto the dowel stick. I use a straight edge clamped to the fingerboard area to assure that everything stays aligned while the glue is drying.

2008-03-09T21:40:00.001-07:00

2008-03-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

The rim has been stained. Here it is cozied up to the neck. I now have to mate the heel to the pot, cut and attach the dowel stick, and fit it through the rim.

2008-03-08T21:55:00.001-08:00

Bending the reinforcing band that will fit inside the rim. Disregard the Kermit the Frog oven mitt (if you are planning to continue respecting me).

2008-03-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

The new neck is now basically finished. It looks less dark and shows more figure in better lighting.

2008-03-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

Had a great banjo weekend. On Saturday I went with a couple friends to Paul's studio. His brother, who is also gourd instrument maker, was there. It was quite a scene - the wood stove burning in the corner while we crowded into the shop, snow piled up just outside the glass doors, and instruments of every kind coming down off the shelves - akontings, didgeridoos made of everything from snake gourds to PVC pipe, banjos, hand drums, kora, xalam. I was happy to see Paul's Hartel, which I hadn't known about, and good times were had all around.

Otherwise, I have been busy with school and work for the past week or so, so Tim's banjo has been coming a little slowly. I did get a chance to make two new sets of bones today. I will now be selling bones to those who want them. They will be $15 per pair, or $30 for a set of four.

I have decided that, once Tim's banjo is done, I am going to focus all my efforts on machining hardware and rolling rims in order to start making minstrel banjos with adjustable heads. My first one is going to be a Boucher copy.

2008-02-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

2008-02-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

2008-02-23T23:07:00.000-08:00

The new banjo has begun.

2008-02-23T14:12:00.001-08:00

Well, today I went out to my friend Sage's workshop to surface a half dozen neck blanks. He's got a really cool shop where he does carpentry and builds extremely unusual (and great sounding) travel guitars. It snowed here in Boston last night, but there was a little wood stove inside the shop, so that helped.

Here's one of the amazing guitars

And here's a 3-D repeating router he built (note the hand carving he made using it)

2008-02-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

Just finished another one - this time based on the banjo I just shipped to Rick. It was simply too nice a banjo to resist, so now I have my own. It's a little fancier, so it took a little longer to build. Heres a shot of the tailpiece before and after the inlay was set.

And here are the photos of the banjo itself.

2008-02-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

It seems that people are always contacting me and asking if I can build banjos with adjustable heads and hardware. Well, the answer is yes, I can. However, I am not building them right now. I haven't gotten tackheads out of my system yet, but will be turning to banjos with hardware very soon, and plan to be building and selling such instruments by this summer. I am in the process of retooling my shop a bit, and also thinking about different hardware designs. I won't be doing any casting, but will instead by machining parts out of brass and steel. I'll be building a few for myself, first, and then they'll hit the market.

Also, I updated the "listen" section with a couple new tunes from Tim Twiss - Sugar in De' Gourd, and Ethiopian Cracovienne. They are fantastic recordings, so check them out when you can.

2008-01-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

Click image for full size.

I have finally succeeded in making a neck that looks exactly like my oak floor.