Homemade Banjo

[TheUnfortunate9]

Beautiful



[DrSimpleton]

Man, that's great. Everything but the strings homemade. Sounds great too. Please check mine out (on my channel).  I can't play it as well as you do, but I give it my best shot.

[motocross2340]

Dude if you get really good at that and go play songs for some bands you can make a lot of money!

[thomasisatwin]

what's it made out of, can you give me instructions how to make one!!!

[BanjoMikeGregory]

Somebody over on BanjoHangOut wanted to know if wiper blades make good frets, so I linked your video to there. Now, 66,000 banjo players, worldwide, are in a position to see your video.

Great job on the scavenging. Sounds great, too.

[realderekbrothers]

dang i like this vid xD the song in the end made me wanna make one xDDDD

[dhavlena]

Great Job!

Dennis Havlena

[lwshore]

nice gloomy tone to it

[MrCollin419]

That sounds pretty darn good.

[excalebuir]

you look like jonh lennon

[4evergreendayfan]

hi do you also make tenor banjos? and if so do you put them on sale?

[curbshoppin]

sounds awesome love the videos...thanks for posting

[sjeter61]

great banjo & pickin, just watched this researching,, banjo build, you made a dang good banjo kudos Steve

[banjobubby]

you know i wasnt expecting much but i tell you what it sounds great love that song by the way. one more thing....you wouldnt happen to be related to john lennon are you!? haha

[lilsnidesorioles]

are you a hippie. just wonderin cause ur banjo is mad from all used materials that were saved

[Goatboy44spl]

Excellent

[dcracker2]

outstanding work and ingenuity. sound great

[williestratton]

how did you steam the maple?

[usernamesareforfools]

Awesome banjo =) Anyone ever tell you that you look a little like John Lennon?

[rubbishtunes]

@usernamesareforfools all the friggin time :)

[ystorm]

Definitely awesome.

[thekeddi]

That's some banjo! love it!! your very clever :-)

[phyrzomby]

i used to have one that was made from discarded wood and a cookie tin, some guy was selling them.

wow that sounds good.

[H0LL0WBELLY]

lovely warm tone.

[pedazocerda]

cute fine Lennon kee it rockin! 5*

[arbonac]

Sounds good. A+

[Milkshayx]

Using discarded wiper blades for frets is a pretty good idea. I assume you just used the long metal strips that hold the rubber blade? How did you put these in the neck, just with a hack saw to a certain depth and glued in?

[gregryf]

@Milkshayx I use a hacksaw blade sandwiched between two pieces of wood, set at the right depth and I use JB Weld to keep the metal strips in place. I once tried to remove one with pliers and couldn't do it.

[1955thekeeper]

Talent comes in all manners of expression. The fact that you made your own instrument from discarded components from your environment shows a wonderful talent to make beauty out of trash. And by trash, I mean that in the most complimentary way. Then you demonstrate you talents even further by playing a very light and airy composition on your homemade Banjo. Fantastic! Great effort and expression of all that is good with humanity.

[anragama]

Este tío es un artista.

[dhavlena]

HI

Great job, great sound, great playing and great video.

Love the ingenuity!

Dennis Havlena

[unchiprince]

r u john lennon? cuz u really look like him

[Robin18us]

It has to be very satisfying to have built your own banjo from odds and ends and have it come out so well. Neat sound too.

[mcarlson1970]

Nice, thanks!

Mark Carlson, Athens, TX

[onelonleyfarmer]

i love the sound that makes. you p[lay it well

[duececaboose]

well done man

[elmatto2006]

you know, thats pretty fucking cool!

[simonjandrews]

That sounds great, better then some you would have to pay a fair price for.

[rubbishtunes]

Thank you much

[gregryf]

@simonjandrews very nice!

[underkill2811]

I love the sound of your instrument man, and the fact that it's 100 percent made from cast off material. Very nice.

[mat1979chunk]

you hippy mother f.*~#er

[21stCenturyRock]

For a homemade, that thing is sweet and sounds good!

[Greerspudchuckers]

what song is that???

[rubbishtunes]

Mole In The Ground

[realderekbrothers]

@rubbishtunes love the banjo and whats the name of those glasess ive searched for them for a really long time :/ ...john lennon inspired me to get my glasess like that hahah

[BillyDa59]

Very cool. I'm trying to make one of these myself. Wish I could find an alternative to goatskin. I can't find it anywhere.

[rubbishtunes]

There are quite a number of places you can order tanned hides on line if all else fails.

[GoldenbanjoDJ]

your banjo sounds so nice

[Hikikomori013]

Stewart McDonald music supply has calfskin banjo heads.

[underkill2811]

Saw one made out of a tambourine which is what I'll be using on my second homemade banjo, since it's presumably mylar, like a lot of store bought banjos. I've seen pretty cheap ones (tambourines I mean). Also if you can't find a skin that suits you, cookie tins sound surprisingly good.

[Ukeffect]

nice clawhammer technique! Sounds great!

[drewbanjowebster]

Very Nice

[kevykev38]

Would love to hear a better recording of that. Seams you are too close to the mike and are getting some distortion and that sucks.

[rubbishtunes]

When you pull the hickory beads up the strings (which are attached to the skin), it makes the skin taut.

[xg419]

OHHHHH :-D thanks so much i didnt know that

[xg419]

how did you make the tention beads?

[rubbishtunes]

Hickory saplings have a soft phloem core that is iseasily removed when the sections are cut.

[xg419]

hmmmm how do they tention the skin?

[PsycheDistortion]

awesome and looks professionally made too :)

[rubbishtunes]

I have goat skin on this one. Sheepskin tends to be thinner and soaks up less moisture on humid days, however.

[Greerspudchuckers]

wow what a wonderfull banjo....im building one myself. what would you recommend for the skin or hide (whatever you want to call it

[AdditionToGuitar]

um my banjo sounds more like a guitar

[fgleich]

pretty slick ! Did you use plans for this or just take measurements or ?

[rubbishtunes]

The only measurements one needs are the fret to nut to bridge dimensions. After that you build the instrument around this.

[orlandobands]

Wow! Very impressive and inspiring to know the strange roots of each piece coming together to make such a unique instrument. Cant wait to see what you come up with next!

[khbgth]

You are one hell of a banjo player. The banjo sounds fine, but your playing is really good.

[rubbishtunes]

Thanks!

[2ndfret]

Is that wish I was a Mole

[rubbishtunes]

Yes. Or "Mole in the Ground".

[mostlymike]

nice looking banjo!

Love that it's made from discarded materials.

[yaycelesteyay]

how long did it take you

[danjames56]

that's a really nice sound!

[rubbishtunes]

No, I've never supped John Lennon...supped Yoko Ono once..can you say sushi?

[butlerKNOWSall]

sup john lennon?

[rubbishtunes]

I quite honestly don't even know that it's maple! It's sometimes difficult to ID wood that's been laying around a garage for years. What ever the wood, however, I used an aluminum drain spout plugged up at one end with a sock and the other end fitted to a kettle of boiling water. Slowly working it into a hoop and C-clamping the ends together. Otherwise one could use a belt clamp.

[adambomb479]

hey, i have another question for you.

what kind of maple did you use for the rim, and how did you bend it?

or i should say, how did you steam bend it?

thanks so much

adam

[devourment666]

use rock maple, really nice for bending

[badianou812]

don't know a thing about banjo...but this instrument sounds lovely....you allmost feel the warmth

nice job

[NuG919]

very cool

[thedevilsbox]

Love the ingenuity.

Goatherds tend your flocks with care; that banjo sounds great!

[tilly306]

great thanks for answering! im just getting stared on my own, i dont realy know anything about banjos or building instuments so i will probibly have some more questions as i get further along

[rubbishtunes]

Thanks. The purpose of the bridge is to convey the sound of the strings to the amplifying resonator of the drum head, so the bridge cannot be attached to anything. Rather it is held in place by the string tension. Likewise, the drum head must be free to act as a piston to convey the sound that you hear. The neck was whitled down with a pen knife, rasp, and ultimately glass bottle shards.

[tilly306]

thats sooo rad, i have a few questions tho; how did you do the bridge is it on top of the drum or does it come through and attach to the crib railing? can the crib railing be touching the goat skin? and what tools were used in makeing the neck?.... thanks alot, that is most likely the coolest thing iv seen on youtube

[cruzz903]

hippy man! wht it is brotha! :D

[brokenremedies]

thats amazing mad kudos for the banjo it sounds awesome too thanks for telling what it was made of

[satri36]

that's great...but what I would like to know is how did you come up with the nodal points (Where to put the frets)

[rubbishtunes]

There are (were?) a few fret-space calculators on the internet based on the length of your neck, ie. distance from nut to bridge.

[AcidSunBassist]

thats amazing!

[Addiction747]

Awesome man! Ok please tell me, what do you use for the strings, guitar strings? And next, what are the measurements for the fret distances... like distance between fret 1 and 2 and 3 and so on. Thanks.

[rubbishtunes]

Thanks. No-banjo strings. I used a fret space calculator from one of several websites.

[gardinner]

There's a lot of good in the world!

[ekserchina]

it's john lennon playing the banjo....wow. hehe cool one dude

[Lorichs]

A very nice sounding banjo. I am just finishing my first homemade banjo. I did'nt dare to take the challenge to put o frets, but thats ok. I love to have a fretles banjo.

[hunt4car]

beautiful im litterly leaving to my shed to start one now

keep it up and thankyou

[superbandace]

Im thinking about making one, got any tips?

[rubbishtunes]

Yes-Measure twice, cut once, use wood from old furniture, and have fun!

[superbandace]

thanks

[williestratton]

MAN!!! that's awesome!!!! excellent man

[Raftsmanship]

Great work in all respects! Lovely sound too.

Bravo

[Zayk54]

That is very nice, i've made myself a cookie tin banjo out of a cookie tin, some tuners, and some random wood and stuff, and i'm pretty proud of it myself, i would make a vid, but, i dont have a vid camera

[KelticCherokee]

That is a wonderful instrument, Sounds good and your playing is good also. Makes me want to go round up some things and build one.

Keep on a pickin

Ron  aka: The Keltic Cherokee

[baanjoguy]

Sounds nice ..Good job on the build

[banjodan99]

Definitely birch, a hardwood. I know more about wood than banjos. Nice job.