Warty, This One's For You

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

I know that you are mad on guitars Warty old mate, but have a look at this.

I grew the gourd several summers ago but just finished making this banjo a few weeks back.

Forget guitars Warty and get a REAL American instrument. After all, the home of the five string banjo is the US, so get with it mate.

My understanding is that the "banjar" was introduced to the US by the slaves and they were originally made from a gourd.

So this is my version of that old time instrument and it sounds good too. I can't let you hear it as I have no way of recording it.

 

[SeniorSeeker]

Hey...that's pretty neat!

 

[mudpuppy]

Very cool! I bet thats a wallaby hide or a bandicoot maybe...could even be koala for all we know! Real find work there, no go and build up a digereedoo!
Mud

 

[7centsworth]

That is sweet. Banjos are my favorite instrument.

 

[warthog]

I really like what you have made,......What does it sound like????Sorry,Im a tried and true guitar man,but I have ALWAYS LOVED 5 string Bluegrass banjo!!!!!How long did it take you to make it???Do different gourd thicknesses/dimensions and sizes alter the sound???How long does it have to dry,before you can use it???Steve........

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

n/t

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

n/t

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

It is not a Bluegrass banjo Warty. I love Bluegrass banjo but this is an old time Clawhammer type and has nylon strings.

It has a sort of plunky sound that I really like, but it is very different to the Bluegrass sound.

It took me over a year to make it but that was mainly because of my wife's illness and during that time I did nothing.

I have made others in a few days, so it is not that time consuming. No frets, no sound board, pretty simple construction.

Every gourd banjo sounds different due to, as you suggest, the size and thickness of the gourd, the bridge and the strings used.

It is fitted with Nylgut strings for that authentic gut string sound, but without the problems of pure gut strings.

The gourds take a whole year to grow and dry out. Only then may they be used. There is nothing that can be done to speed up the process.

If I can get a way to record the sound I will put it up so that you may hear it. Right now I have no way of recording it.

Thanks too to SeniorSeeker and to 7 Centsworth, the good ole Kentucky Boy for your comments. KY Boy, if you didn't like banjo's they would probably hang you down that way.

Mudpuppy, sadly you are wrong. I am hoping to use Kangaroo or Wallaby skin on a future banjo, but have been unable to buy any suitable skins thus far.

I have plenty of tanned Kangaroo skins, but they need to be rawhide and these days I have no access to fresh skins.

So, to add to your ever-growing disappointment Mudpuppy, I will have to reveal the rather boring truth, it is goat skin.

Thanks everyone for showing an interest.

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

Whilst I was typing the above reply others made comments that I could not then see.

So, Mike and Ma, thanks for your comments as well.

Every one in the whole world must surely know "O Susannah" Ma. And I've been to Alabama too.

In fact, I am a southern boy at heart Ma and Australia is about as far south as anyone can get. Well almost anyway.

 

[mudpuppy]

Buy skins? Theres lots of roadkill out there! Heres my daughter skinning out one of our indigenous critters for some reason...I picked the poor thing off the road coming home from detecting. You really got a lot of us interested!
Mud

 

[7centsworth]

We are going to a bluegrass concert next week. I really like fiddles, banjos, and mandolins. And some may think I am crazy but I like the bagpipes also.

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

Mudpuppy: Thanks for the interesting pics. I've never heard of a raccoon being used as a skin for banjo, but I bet they do. I have heard of groundhogs.

Believe it or not, we don't see much road kill around where I live but, even if I did, it would take a Superman to lift a kangaroo. I struggled to lift one 35 years but I would have no hope now.

7 Centsworth: I'm with you on the bagpipes. I presume you mean the Scottish pipes, but there are also the Irish pipes (uilleann pipes) that sound great as well, but quite different to the Scottish pipes.

This weekend I too am off to a similar gathering of the Bluegrass Society mob in Sydney.

 

[Sgt. Silverman]

I'm speechless everyone. I feel like I've gained 10 years of knowledge just in this thread... I know zilch about country music; I know nothing about musical instruments (I have a hard time tuning a radio!); and I didn't know roadkill was a fantastic source of skins. Thank you to all that have posted a comment because this is some good stuff, that and I now feel like I've been living under a rock for 42 years!