The Buick Banjo is Finished!

Today, I finished the banjo that I started to design and build in November 2012 -- nearly 7 years ago.  Better late than never!

What took so long?  Largely, it was distraction with other projects.  And then, there were those pesky navy spoons.  Somewhere, I got the goofy idea of using old navy spoons to make the clamps that put tension on the drum head that produces sound in the banjo.  Normally, these brackets are rather simple:

I had decided to do something a little more fancy that would pay tribute to the years I spent in the U.S. Navy:

I searched eBay for weeks to find my first batch.  They had to be teaspoons, I learned.  Tablespoon handles were much larger.  I learned that there were several patterns of navy silverware.  Then I learned how easily these spoons break when you try to form the hook that goes over the edge of the tension hoop.  Then I miscounted the number of replacement spoons I needed to replace the ones I broke.  Finally, I had to ask my friend Dan Shady to do all the tedious silver soldering that attaches a square nut at exactly the right angle to the back of the spoon.  All this takes time, but mostly, I kept getting distracted by changing priorities.

I bought a tailpiece a few weeks ago that turned out to be junk and wouldn't work on my "Buick" banjo.  Then I ordered a replacement that arrived yesterday.  

I already had acquired a bridge and a set of d'Addario strings.  So today, I was ready to perform the final assembly and set-up.

I installed the tailpiece and made the needed adjustments to get it in exactly the right position.  Then, I installed the third (center) string.  This gave me some tension to hold the bridge in place.  I then had to determine the exact location for the bridge so I would get a perfect octave note when I pressed the string down at the twelfth fret.  Then, I slowly added the other strings.  With each string installation I filed the v-shaped groove in the nut (the bridge near the tuners) until the string clears the first fret by a few thousandths of an inch.  The objective is to have a "low" action for ease of playing without producing a "buzz" when the string is plucked.  After a couple of hours of careful filing and testing on each string, I think I've got it about right.

I'm very happy with the results.  Now, I need to practice in preparation for my trip to West Virginia in October to take Old-time Clawhammer Banjo classes at the Augusta Heritage Center.