frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  04:43:02

Here is a video describing how I made my fretless bowl banjo. As a fella whose been tightrope walking the edge of the poverty line all his life, I'm glad that re-purposing stuff is finally cool again. Us hillbillies been doing it all our lives, but now people don't make fun as much.

Please disregard the mistakes in my playing here, it's pretty bad, worse than usual. Enjoy, and if you have any questions, I'll answer them as best I can.

youtube.com/watch?v=hltZgHhbAYE

LNP - Posted - 09/02/2011:  05:15:54

That's a pretty neat banjo Frank sounds good too  Larry

Sultans of Claw - Posted - 09/02/2011:  05:20:18

Outstanding!

beegee - Posted - 09/02/2011:  05:28:31

What kind of strings?

frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  06:40:21

Hey, thanks everyone! I appreciate the kind words. Sorry, I forgot to put in the video that it's strung with Nyl-Guts with the unwound 4th string.

Banjolution - Posted - 09/02/2011:  06:51:02

What an awesome instrument,and it sounds awesome!! Thanks for sharing Frank. You got me thinkin about makin a Banjo on the cheap now. Your hardware is really impressive!! Have fun pickin man! 

mike gregory - Posted - 09/02/2011:  08:40:30

In a word, Wow!

frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  08:53:19

Thanks a whole bunch fellas. Really makes me happy that you enjoyed it.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration from some of the brilliant banjo makers on here, and I'm proud to give a tiny portion back. Oh crap, I'm gonna get all teary eyed....

8daypsalmist - Posted - 09/02/2011:  10:57:37

Dude - you are my hero!

Seriously :)

Well done!

Peace,

James

aeroweenie - Posted - 09/02/2011:  14:09:38

Nice work! The first banjo I made used a bamboo steamer for the pot. For the second, I debated whether to use a salad bowl or a drum shell, I ended up ordering a 12" drum shell a couple days ago. This time I am cheating and using a bunch of store-bought hardware. I hope it sounds as good as your banjo, it will certainly lack the creativity you've brought to bear. By the way, I am a born & bred Hoosier though I haven't lived there in a long time. Thanks for sharing!

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 09/02/2011:  14:51:28

Very pretty work frankiej73, but I particularly wanted to comment on your uke version of Nadine - one of my favourite Chuck Berry songs - I preferred him in the early days when he wasn't writing to Dick Clark's taste. Great sound. Is the distortion built into the uke or in the amp? What do you think of the Epi LP Uke as an instrument? I also have a tenor uke - It's my favourite size for ukes at this point  because I can play it sitting in an easy chair. I spend more time on it than on my banjos these days.

frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  20:55:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by 8daypsalmist

Dude - you are my hero!

Seriously :)

Well done!

 

Peace,

 

James

---

Thanks a lot for the kind words! If only my son had this attitude lol. Thanks man!

frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  20:59:36

quote:

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Originally posted by aeroweenie

Nice work! The first banjo I made used a bamboo steamer for the pot. For the second, I debated whether to use a salad bowl or a drum shell, I ended up ordering a 12" drum shell a couple days ago. This time I am cheating and using a bunch of store-bought hardware. I hope it sounds as good as your banjo, it will certainly lack the creativity you've brought to bear. By the way, I am a born & bred Hoosier though I haven't lived there in a long time. Thanks for sharing!

---

Hey, thank for the nice words! How did the bamboo steamer work out? Yeah, after this one turned out so well, I've been seeing banjo pots every time I go to Goodwill. If its hollow and sorta round, my thinking tackle fires up. Oh, sorry about you being a Hoosier (just kidding, I love this state.) Take care!

frankiej73 - Posted - 09/02/2011:  21:20:42

quote:

---

Originally posted by oldwoodchuckb

Very pretty work frankiej73, but I particularly wanted to comment on your uke version of Nadine - one of my favourite Chuck Berry songs - I preferred him in the early days when he wasn't writing to Dick Clark's taste. Great sound. Is the distortion built into the uke or in the amp? What do you think of the Epi LP Uke as an instrument? I also have a tenor uke - It's my favourite size for ukes at this point  because I can play it sitting in an easy chair. I spend more time on it than on my banjos these days.

---

Thanks a lot for your nice remarks! Thanks for taking the time to watch my other vids as well. I've been a huge Chuck Berry fan for a long time. I bought a copy of "The Great Twenty-Eight" on cassette back when I was learning the guitar and wore the tape OUT trying to learn all his licks. Seeing him on Johnny Carson was one of the moments that made me get into playing music.

I can't recommend the LP uke highly enough. It's the best hundred dollars I've ever spent. If you are a real super picky snobby type it may not be your thing, but if you just like to have fun playing, it's well worth the money. Out of the box it's pretty good (I've got a video up of me doing Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have To Go" with the factory setup. It's got a cheap plastic nut and saddle, the action and nut is a bit high, which causes the intonation to be a bit off, and it has some cheapo GHS black plastic strings on it. It's definitely playable and sounds good out of the box, especially given the price. It's really at its best plugged in, as the acoustic tone is a bit quieter than a typical acoustic uke. It's not bad though, and I would gladly play it acoustically in most situations. It just doesn't cut through as much as some other acoustic instruments.

On mine, I changed the strings to Aquila Nyl-Guts and I made a new nut and saddle from a chunk of Corian that I had. When I installed these, I lowered the action a bit as well. This cured all the intonation problems (at least to my ears, i don't own a tuner) and it increased the acoustic and electric volume and tone DRAMATICALLY. It feels like a uke costing three times as much now, for an investment of less than ten dollars and an hour of my time.

The distortion is not built into the ukulele. It has a piezo pickup under the saddle, which sends a clean signal out. I added the overdrive with a Boss Blues Driver, and i ran it into my Fender Pro Junior.  It sounds really good clean too. I find I have to turn the highs down a bit with this one though.

Yeah, ukes are a blast. I spend way more time playing uke than I do the banjo. I really want to spend more time on the banjo and get good at it, but I keep getting seduced by my ukes. There's just something fun and unassuming about them. The expectations aren't as high, and there's not as much pretentiousness.

Well, I hope I answered your questions. If I didn't, or you have anymore, let me know. It's the least I can do for you since I've taken my fair share of looks at RSB. Take care!

oldpuppy53 - Posted - 09/07/2011:  13:49:38

Really nice. I've been saying for a long time that I was going to start building a banjo from "stuff". I have all the "stuff" except the motivation. This might be the kick in the @^* I need. Thanks alot!! Keep it up!

stigandr5 - Posted - 09/07/2011:  17:00:05

Ain't recycling fun?

eddie83 - Posted - 09/07/2011:  17:16:29

Nice! I just got a sweet bowl for 2 dollars at a good will...making a banjo with it:)

gansen - Posted - 09/07/2011:  17:24:10

That's a purdy nice banjar you have there. It has a nice sound to it. However, one should never pass up a perfect opertunity to poke fun at a fellow hillbilly, neckred, or as my kids are now calling it "hobo". So you might be a redreck if you find yourself rebuilding your salad bowls into banjo's. Lol

Jonnycake White - Posted - 09/08/2011:  08:20:25

Great banjo. I've got a salad bowl or two myself to turn into banjos. I especially liked the way you described of making brackets out of those big coupling nuts. You're right its a lot of work but it's all good fun, right?

pfc54u - Posted - 09/08/2011:  17:41:25

Loved your Nadine groove on the uke!