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How I build banjos, step by step
I spend a fair amount of time on the forums at BanjoHangout.org and have enjoyed reading some journals of other people’s banjo builds there. I figured I would put together one of my own in the hope that it might be interesting or helpful to someone. I’m posting it both on BHO and hoytbanjos.com. BHO has
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My first banjo uke
This was a custom build around a 9-1/8″ metal clad pot that I had bought a couple of years ago from someone. I put a new calfskin head on it from Smakula Fretted Instruments. I had never mounted a skin head but it was not as hard as I had feared. The combination of animal
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Back from my trip
I had a very good trip this year, and if anyone is interested I wrote a trip report on the Adirondack forum, and there is a link from there to pictures I took. The short version of the story is that I rode a bicycle to Indian Lake while pulling a canoe on a trailer and
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Gone August 14-20
I will be taking my annual vacation, bicycle camping in the Adirondacks from August 14-20. I will be out of reach of email during that time but will respond to all messages by the end of the 21st. I’m sorry to be out of reach if you are trying to contact me.
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Learning to do inlay
I have shied away from learning to inlay things into instruments but I finally gave it a try and found that it was not as hard as I had feared it would be. A customer particularly wanted some inlays in a neck I was making for him, so he sent me the pieces he wanted
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Making a 3 layer backstrap
I have not had much that was new and exciting going on in the shop for a while, just making more rims, putting together another stock model banjo (#28 under the Banjos link) and working on a custom neck. I made a little progress on the walnut guitar early in the month but that has
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New custom banjo completed
This one was in progress from March 21-28 and now it is in the mail. Here are a few pictures of the building process. To see more pictures and a video of the completed banjo please follow the link below: http://hoytbanjos.com/banjos/banjo-27-custom-11-walnut-flush-fret-sold/
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Completed internal resonator pot
I got this done last Sunday and shipped it out on Monday. It is a bit heavy at just under 6 pounds but 4 of that is the metal hardware. It was an interesting project, especially learning to veneer the rim. Yesterday I went to a sale where a furniture maker was selling out and
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A one-piece cherry neck
Last week’s shop project was making a one-piece neck out of cherry for a customer. He brought the wood he wanted it made from and the pot is is to fit, and we went over all of the details so it could be made to his specifications. The fretboard is curly maple and the peghead
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Making an internal resonator rim
This winter someone asked me to make an internal resonator rim. This is the first time I’ve made one and and I didn’t know much about them before. After asking a lot of questions of the customer I have finally gotten it put together. The inner and outer rims are both made from cherry blocks like the rims