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February banjos
February was a busy month in the shop, and I was able to get quite a lot of time in the shop to get it all done. My first completed project was banjo #193, an ash 12″ with a kind of archtop tone ring system consisting of an 11″ brass ring mounted in a rabbet
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January banjos and a nameless oddity
January was a busy month in the shop, and I was able to get more time than usual away from my ‘day job’. The first banjo completed was #186, a 12″ walnut banjo pretty similar to #180 but with a streaky ebony fretboard. Next came #187, a mahogany 12″ with a 1/4″ brass tone hoop
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December banjos and an archtop guitar
I am three weeks late in posting this update about December, but that’s life sometimes. I started off the month with a batch of 5 banjos. #181 was the only custom build, a Boucher-styled design with some more modern elements. This was also my first foray into making hooks and shoes, which were fun to
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November banjos, dulcimers and a fiddle
My first project in November was a pair of cherry dulcimers. #50 is shown on the Dulcimers page at the regular price and #51 is a second, due to the neck being slightly off center on the sound box. This does not affect the playability, it is just a cosmetic flaw. #51 is available for
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October banjos and a dulcimer
October was a 6 banjo month with had three stock banjos and three custom banjos to build. #170 was an 11″ curly maple banjo with a Silver Bell tone ring from Bill Rickard. The customer asked for aged hardware, and to have the banjo sent unfinished so he could do that part himself. Banjo #171
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September banjos and necks
The first job I completed in September was one I had begun toward the end of August but failed to finish on time. It’s a curly maple neck for a vintage pot. Next came a custom banjo. #168 is my first semi-fretless with a brass plate instead of a wooden one in the fretless portion
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August banjos and an octave mandolin
August was a good month, though it got a little frantic as it tends to do with things coming in from the garden. My first project for the month was to put the finish on the octave mandolin and set it up, I’ve been working on it a little at a time for the last
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July banjos
This was the busiest July I’ve ever had in the shop, with 6 banjos and a neck on the agenda. The first one was #158, a walnut 12″ with a Dobson tone ring and John Balch head from Balsam Banjo Works and a radiused fretboard. Next was #159, a curly maple and hickory banjo uke
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June banjos
My first project in June was a batch of 12″ stock banjos to replace what had been bought in May. Banjos 153, 154 and 155 are all shown on the Banjos page. Banjo #156 was my only custom banjo in June, it is a walnut 12″ with just a few differences from what I normally
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May banjos
I made 5 banjos in May, the first one to be completed was #148. It is a 12″ banjo with a wood tone ring, made from a variety of woods. Next came #149, a walnut banjo with a Tubaphone tone ring and a bracket band. The customer did all the inlay work and drew the