Banjo building is an excellent entry point to stringed instrument making. The banjo’s elegant simplicity and flexibility are unmatched. There are gourd banjos, tackhead banjos, open-back banjos, and resonator banjos, among others. If you haven’t already, find some recorded music that you like that prominently features the banjo and findContinue Reading
Banjo hardware and parts can be specialized or rather commonplace depending on the build style of the instrument. When it comes to vintage and hand crafted banjos there is a good deal of variety. Most modern bracket-style banjo hardware cannot be found in a typical hardware store and must beContinue Reading
The dowel stick brings the rim and the neck together. The dowel can take different forms. I use a wooden dowel stick. Many banjos feature a steel rod that serves as a dowel. Some banjos even have two steel rods that may be adjusted to change the neck angle. InContinue Reading
Scale length is the length of the string from the nut to the bridge. This is the active part of the string that vibrates when struck. Scale length measurements do not include string ends above the nut and below the bridge. Generally, a longer scale length means a greater distanceContinue Reading