My Tubaphone Conversion

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White Mountain Banjo Fans

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This is a place for all you White Mountain lovers to discuss those fine banjos.

17 Members, Created 5/6/2013 -

Administrators: Crusty (owner)

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From Crusty on 5/24/2015 9:36:58 AM

Got some pictures today from Ron. The conversion of my Whyte Laydie to Tubaphone is coming along. I changed the group photo to a shot of my new cherry rim with bracket band and dowel stick. The Tubaphone spacer in this one is raw brass rather than nickel plated, which has been reported to sweeten the high end a little bit. I can't wait to get it back to play.

Ron was also going to replace some frets that were heavily grooved too so it will be easy to play again. Don't bang those strings too hard - there's better tone in a softer touch anyway.

6 Comments
	Crusty says: 5/24/2015 9:35:00 AM Some of you might be interested in this comment from Ron in an email to me. It's food for thought if you're considering a new banjo. "Since 2008, I've made a ton of banjos. Of those, I have a top 5 (my opinion) and of that 5 the best was a cherry rim and neck and it took me forever to sell it. Nobody wanted a cherry banjo. Go figure."
	roadkingjimmy says: 6/5/2015 1:56:46 PM Sweet!
	Crusty says: 6/19/2015 7:54:43 PM Had my Tubaphone conversion in my hands a couple of weeks now and I've hardly put it down, it's awesome! Along with the cherry rim and raw brass tone ring spacer, it's got a John Balch goatskin and a Fults tailpiece, plus today I made a copy of a Doc's cathedral bridge and man this thing is a tone monster. You just flick your finger in the vicinity of a string and you get a note. I'm also working on a way to mount my Snark tuner down in the corner by the neck heel and I'll post more about it once I'm happy with it.
	roadkingjimmy says: 6/23/2015 6:33:49 AM Hey Crusty,how's that new banjo Ron did for you? Still loving it?That is a fine looking bridge you made are you going to sell any,Jimmy
	Crusty says: 6/23/2015 9:45:56 AM My new WM TBP is awesome, especially since I've spent some time adjusting the setup for tone. I doubt I'll ever go back to a three footed bridge again too.
	Crusty says: 2/26/2016 1:02:45 PM Well, I have to correct a statement I made above. After making 50 or so bridges, I came to the conclusion that it's impossible to beat Mike Smith's Kat Eyz Spice Maple Peg Top bridges. The Rickard bridge is similar but the Kat Eyz still sounds the best to me.
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MP3: Internal Resonator Sound Sample Linked by Crusty 10 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by Crusty 11 years ago: Here's my Snark mount that I just installed. I like it much better in the corner than on the peghead.
MP3: (untitled) Linked by Crusty 11 years ago: This is my second bridge on my WM TBP and I've tuned the banjo a bit more in it.
MP3: (untitled) Linked by Crusty 11 years ago: Home made catherdral bridge on my White Mountain Tubaphone conversion.
	Wandering Boy Linked by Troy89 12 years ago