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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…
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April banjos and a guitar
Banjo #145 was my first completed instrument in April. It is a C scale made from cherry with somewhat wavy grain, not tight enough to be called curly. The other two April banjos are #146 and #147, both 12″, curly maple and cherry respectively. They are both shown on the Banjos page. My last project…
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March banjos and a fiddle, and a new situation
This past month has been unusual. We have not yet been directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but it is changing how we do a lot of things. I work alone when building instruments, and the workshop is here at the farm where I live, so my ability to work has not been affected by…
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February banjos and guitars
February is a short month, and it was a busy one in the shop for me this year. I worked on all 5 instruments concomitantly and put the finish on them all on the same day, while I had the wood stove going in the winter finishing room. The first one I got set up…
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January banjos and dulcimers
My first job in January was to make a banjo pot and fit it to a neck I had made for someone last year. He supplied the hardware and I made the rim and put it all together. Then came a batch of 5 banjos. Banjo #134 was a walnut 10″ A scale slot head.…
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December instruments
December started off with two 12″ walnut in-stock banjos, 130 and 131. 131 is shown on the Banjos page, 130 doesn’t appear there because a customer asked for first refusal on my next walnut 12″, so I made two and posted the one he didn’t buy. My next project was a rim and neck to…