Man oh man, at exactly 8.59 the idea came to me... madness! It's that the first gourd opening gets cut lower than the end one and has it's own wee drum head and is so sympathetic strings can run under the fretboard and have a bridge on that. But then I think 'but how does the transfer occur?', that'd be tricky, but an internal 'tone arm', hooked on each end, bridge underside to bridge underside, and tension tied up into the waist (using slingshot elastic plastic?) should do it. ( I haven't even got any gourds yet!) I'm 62 and a baby boomer but somehow I think I was just a really early millennial!
4:33 pm, detetectives log: Dallas Page, an interesting character with a wrap sheet a mile long. Criminal history includes numerous banjo thefts. I'm on to you Dallas, don't worry, will be having a conversation before long🕵
Dallas is an alias. Finders keepers if you never see the sign to give it back, and if it were me, I’d want my reward for return a phat discount on my own custom Ben Greco Banjo. Someone out there is very pleased with their free found Ben Greco Banjo and everyone around them is telling them how good it sounds.
Hey Ben, I love your stuff. I'm also a banjo builder but my full time is wooden boats. I suggest you check out Jim Tolpin's book "Tablesaw magic". It will give you a bunch of ideas for tablesaw fixtures that will make a lot of operations safer and more accurate. It's a bit of work building them but really worthwhile in the long run, especially for those little jobsite saws.
Ben - some great playing! You know your songs well. May I suggest: Get a brush and re-purposed food container, & glove. Keep chemicals off skin. Great vid THANKS!
thanks! yeah you're right, I always use gloves when I'm working with epoxy and fiberglass, but I gotta start using them on shellac and other finishes as well. Especially shellac because it gets on my fingernails and doesn't come off for like a week.
1:31 ... insert obligatory joke here: what do you call a lost banjo going through a wood chipper? A good start!! 🤣🤣🤣😉 I love those double gourds, very similar looking to a Persian tar... 5:09 ... nope, use the appropriate tool for the job... a wide cut like that needs the bandsaw, not a tablesaw...
Hey Man, Awesome Videos. I discovered your channel a couple days ago. I especially liked your long build videos. Now i really want to build one on my own. Are there any important points I have to look out for, especially concerning the neck (size and shape) so that it will be tunable?