New banjo starting to come together - finished photos

stephen45710

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I’m in the finishing stage of my current banjo build. I’m so excited about how it is turning out I had to post some pictures. The rim is segmented curly maple with quilted maple shop-made veneer and shaped on router table (I don’t have a lathe). Neck is curly maple and headstock is maple burl. This is after 10 coats of tru oil - 5 more to go.

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DKMD

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That’s gorgeous! Can’t wait to see it finished!
 

T. Ben

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WOW,that’s is f’ng gorgeous!! I agree with the dr. Can’t wait to see it finished. :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
 

stephen45710

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Thanks everyone! I have to admit, it is the prettiest thing I’ve ever made. I keep feeling pressure not to screw it up.
 

stephen45710

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I built this banjo as an art entry into a local show called Art of Our Appalachian Woods. I obviously wanted to showcase the beauty of Maple, which is a native Appalachian wood. The segmented block rim is curly maple with a quilted maple veneer. The neck is curly maple with a maple burl headstock veneer. The fingerboard, heel cap, and rim cap is striped ebony (obviously not Appalachian; each entry had to be mostly Appalachian). F9998E66-B179-4F1F-9CC6-D4E1058DE8B1.jpeg C12565A0-23FC-491E-AB9E-6339D61816DE.jpeg

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ripjack13

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Well done again. I assume the missing bottom on the fret board to show off the wood?
 

Arn213

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I would assume that “scoop” drop down on a banjo fretboard is for playing clearance. They have something similar to a guitar for higher octave extension, except it transitions partially into the body area- but having a cut away horn makes playing easier accessibility because of finger clearance/access to higher octave with an “extended fretboard”.
 
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stephen45710

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As arn213 indicated the scoop is for finger clearance. There is a harmonic quality achieved by playing the banjo at that location on the fretboard, as opposed to playing over the head of the instrument. Rarely, one might fret the first or second string at the 17/18th fret but never the upper three strings-thus the shape is somewhat functional.
 

woodtickgreg

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What everyone above said. Just beautiful! Thank you for sharing this with us.
 

woodtickgreg

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I would love to see a build thread tutorial on one of these in The classroom.
 
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