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July-an octave mandolin and not much else
I realized today that I had failed to post an update on July instruments. The only instrument I actually made in July was an octave mandolin, shown on the Mandolins page. Early in the month I was finishing off some June instruments for a few days, then at the end of the month I began…
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June banjos and a neck
I meant to write a June report a couple of weeks ago, but July has been busier than I expected out of the shop and I lost track of it. My first completed instrument in June was banjo #220, a curly maple 12″ tenor with a Whyte Laydie tone ring. The customer gave me a…
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May banjos and an octave mandolin
I was late getting my May banjos set up, since I started more than I had time to complete during the month. I think June 8 was when the last one got done. June is a 3-1/2 banjo month this year, so I should be able to get done on time even though I started…
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April banjos
My first completed banjo in April was a custom 8″ cherry banjo with an 18″ scale length neck. It’s always fun to make mini banjos, and this is as small of a 5 string as I have made. #208 was a custom walnut 11″ banjo which involved the first inlay I have ever cut out.…
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March banjos and necks
March started off with two custom banjos. #201 was an ash 11″ with cherry trim, a hop-hornbeam fretboard, a paddle peghead and a Dobson heel. Banjo #202 was a 10″ walnut C scale with aged brass hardware. This is the first banjo I have made with a brass plate in the scoop. The plate is…
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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…