When making a banjo fingerboard I ask myself two questions. What kind of material will the fingerboard be made from? Will it have frets? There are lots of options for fingerboard materials. Ebony is the traditional material of choice for fingerboards. Rosewood is a popular choice as well. There areContinue Reading

In the case that the peghead surface of the neck blank is less than 3″ wide, put some ears on the peghead to make it a little wider. The ears are small pieces of wood that are the length of the peghead, the thickness of the peghead, and as wideContinue Reading

Banjo neck reinforcement makes long-term stability and playability much more likely. There are different ways to reinforce a banjo neck. I use 1/8″ thick by 1/2″ wide hot rolled steel bar stock to reinforce my necks. It can be found at most hardware stores. Some builders prefer to use trussContinue Reading

In its most basic representation the banjo neck side profile pattern consists of three rectangles; one for the peghead, one for the neck, and one for the heel. The scale length of the instrument determines how long the neck should be. If you haven’t thought about the scale length ofContinue Reading

Banjo neck blank preparation begins with the choice of suitable wood. Take a good long look at your lumber before you begin. Hold it. Tap it. Think it over a little. Look down the length of the board and try to identify any warps or irregularities. Look across the boardContinue Reading

The banjo is an incredibly flexible and resilient instrument. It takes on a wide variety of physical forms and can be found to produce a wide variety of sounds and music. A banjo may be constructed from a wooden spoon, a soda can, and a piece of thread. Yet again,Continue Reading

The no-knot banjo tailpiece

The banjo’s tailpiece, as the name suggests, attaches at the tail of the instrument. It provides a way to attach the strings at the tail of the instrument. The tailpiece can take a variety of forms. Different types of banjos have different types of tailpieces. Some of the banjos IContinue Reading

A banjo’s tone ring filters out some tones from the string and head, allowing others to come through. It’s kind of like an equalizer. The banjo’s strings are the main energetic drivers of the instrument. Their sound is amplified by the head. The head’s ability to amplify the string’s energyContinue Reading

The banjo’s head is its primary tone generator. While guitars and many other stringed instruments have a wooden soundboard, the banjo has the head, a stretched membrane that amplifies the string’s vibrations. The head makes or breaks the sound of a banjo. If the head is too loose it willContinue Reading