Centralia 2011
08/27/11
Natalia, my daughter, and I set out for the Centralia Campout in our 1967 Land Rover, loaded with camping gear, banjos, banjo accessories, and a box of luthiers tools and banjo parts for fix and repair work for week of music and friends.
We had a fantastic week. Cool mornings, warm afternoons and so many kind new and old friends. Centralia Campout is sort-of like a festival but sort-of like a retreat. It is for families, friends, and music. Green grass, lots of ripe blackberries, and a small river at the boundaries of the camp keep things fun and interesting. There are no band competitions, just small dedicated groups of musicians gathering and playing music at most any time of the day with a dance every evening.
We recently designed a new banjo strap that is another exercise in simplicity...we sold out. Tally started getting my scraps of leather and made bracelets for sale. She set up shop under the awning attached to the Rover and by the end of the week, she had learned how to set the rivets herself. It was a “hot” item. Her sign read “Tallys Leather Bracelets” and beneath that ”and Doc's Banjos Accessories”. She had the proper order of things! How could you resist buying one of her bracelets? Her plans are to donate some of her profits to research of autism...not bad for a 7 year old!
We came with a very wide variety of sizes of our patent pending Cathedral Bridges™ which kept us very busy most of the week. Typically I advise folks “Beware if you try our Cathedral Bridge on your banjo! We have never yet had anyone put their old bridge back on”. We sold a record number of bridges, most custom fitted for just the right size and spacing of strings. It is all about the wood and the design and I seem to believe that being handmade, they may have secret powers. That may or may not be true, but they sure do sound terrific.
Our Oxbow Armrest™ was also custom fitted for a variety of banjos with a variety of hook numbers. It really has taken off, and I credit a combination of the right design, a great aesthetic, unusually strong tubing, and maximum comfort while playing. It does what it is supposed to do, very well. And the banjos... Our new Baroque model, represented in cello banjo #162, was a real hit. Our new, low-profile scalloped fretboard also brought a lot of attention. We sold several very fine banjos.
At the first music festival I ever attended, I had brought a few tools and supplies for fix and repair work. It just happened that someone brought an injured banjo to me, we were able to fix it and the player could now play the rest of the week. Nothing is quite so gratifying as being able to get an instrument playing again at a festival. This trip we fixed tuners, put some stained calf skins on banjos, did set-up work, fixed rattles, etc. My favorite fix was a pair clogging shoes! A young lady who had just started to learn clogging came to our booth with a pair of clogging shoes with some pointy nails sticking out. We got her clogging again with some simple fixes thanks to the right tools. Simple pleasures!
This is the second year that we raffled one of our banjos to help raise funds to support this wonderful event. This year Banjo #112 went to a lucky young player who is just getting started. His grandfather bought him the lucky ticket. Congratulations, we hope you grow old loving this banjo!
We made new friends with many people. Folks came from all across the country...North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska, California and of course all around the Pacific Northwest. It is a great way to spend a week in August. We hope you can make it next year! The Centralia Campout is simply the best old-time music festival I have ever experienced.
We had a fantastic week. Cool mornings, warm afternoons and so many kind new and old friends. Centralia Campout is sort-of like a festival but sort-of like a retreat. It is for families, friends, and music. Green grass, lots of ripe blackberries, and a small river at the boundaries of the camp keep things fun and interesting. There are no band competitions, just small dedicated groups of musicians gathering and playing music at most any time of the day with a dance every evening.
We recently designed a new banjo strap that is another exercise in simplicity...we sold out. Tally started getting my scraps of leather and made bracelets for sale. She set up shop under the awning attached to the Rover and by the end of the week, she had learned how to set the rivets herself. It was a “hot” item. Her sign read “Tallys Leather Bracelets” and beneath that ”and Doc's Banjos Accessories”. She had the proper order of things! How could you resist buying one of her bracelets? Her plans are to donate some of her profits to research of autism...not bad for a 7 year old!
We came with a very wide variety of sizes of our patent pending Cathedral Bridges™ which kept us very busy most of the week. Typically I advise folks “Beware if you try our Cathedral Bridge on your banjo! We have never yet had anyone put their old bridge back on”. We sold a record number of bridges, most custom fitted for just the right size and spacing of strings. It is all about the wood and the design and I seem to believe that being handmade, they may have secret powers. That may or may not be true, but they sure do sound terrific.
Our Oxbow Armrest™ was also custom fitted for a variety of banjos with a variety of hook numbers. It really has taken off, and I credit a combination of the right design, a great aesthetic, unusually strong tubing, and maximum comfort while playing. It does what it is supposed to do, very well. And the banjos... Our new Baroque model, represented in cello banjo #162, was a real hit. Our new, low-profile scalloped fretboard also brought a lot of attention. We sold several very fine banjos.
At the first music festival I ever attended, I had brought a few tools and supplies for fix and repair work. It just happened that someone brought an injured banjo to me, we were able to fix it and the player could now play the rest of the week. Nothing is quite so gratifying as being able to get an instrument playing again at a festival. This trip we fixed tuners, put some stained calf skins on banjos, did set-up work, fixed rattles, etc. My favorite fix was a pair clogging shoes! A young lady who had just started to learn clogging came to our booth with a pair of clogging shoes with some pointy nails sticking out. We got her clogging again with some simple fixes thanks to the right tools. Simple pleasures!
This is the second year that we raffled one of our banjos to help raise funds to support this wonderful event. This year Banjo #112 went to a lucky young player who is just getting started. His grandfather bought him the lucky ticket. Congratulations, we hope you grow old loving this banjo!
We made new friends with many people. Folks came from all across the country...North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska, California and of course all around the Pacific Northwest. It is a great way to spend a week in August. We hope you can make it next year! The Centralia Campout is simply the best old-time music festival I have ever experienced.
Guild of American Luthiers Show
08/03/11
The Guild of American Luthiers is an organization dedicated to bringing luthiers together to share ideas and learn about building musical instruments as well as the people that build them. While attending the NW Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit at Marylhurst College in Portland Oregon a few years ago, I was invited to become a member. The organization has an international conference every two years. The Guild is headquartered in Tacoma Washington and has the biannual conference at Pacific Lutheran University.
This year’s show was incredible! Luthiers, Artisans, suppliers, and musicians came from around the world, including the Americas, Europe, and Asia. This is a show for individual artisans, and I found none of the large commercial companies who build instruments in attendance.
The event was a blend of exhibiting instruments, sharing ideas, teaching, and other resources for the luthier. We were honored that Doc’s Banjos was the only banjo maker in attendance. We found that our work was a great surprise for many attendees as most people were unaware that banjos could sound or look like ours do.
The comments we heard over and over were ”Wow, these instruments are beautiful” and “I never thought a banjo could sound like this.” After running their fingers across the strings of our new Baroque Model banjo, many attendees described the sound as “harp-like”. This was truly music to my ears as I have always thought that a good banjo should sound harp-like. Especially an “old time” frailing banjo.
The features of Doc’s Banjos that were of special interest to attendees were the:
The lectures were mostly a sharing an exchange of ideas, technical information, and resources. The lecturers were people doing some of the finest instrument making in the world, as well as suppliers helping all of us find the tools and materials we need to do our profession.
I took some to time to play outside under the big beautiful trees on the PLU campus...it always drew a crowd of interest. It was not my playing—it was the “tone”. They simply hadn’t heard or seen a banjo like ours before.
We were proud to bring the banjo into this arena of international luthiers. We are also excited and honored to have an upcoming article about Doc’s Banjos appearing in the Guild of American Luthier’s publication.
This year’s show was incredible! Luthiers, Artisans, suppliers, and musicians came from around the world, including the Americas, Europe, and Asia. This is a show for individual artisans, and I found none of the large commercial companies who build instruments in attendance.
The event was a blend of exhibiting instruments, sharing ideas, teaching, and other resources for the luthier. We were honored that Doc’s Banjos was the only banjo maker in attendance. We found that our work was a great surprise for many attendees as most people were unaware that banjos could sound or look like ours do.
The comments we heard over and over were ”Wow, these instruments are beautiful” and “I never thought a banjo could sound like this.” After running their fingers across the strings of our new Baroque Model banjo, many attendees described the sound as “harp-like”. This was truly music to my ears as I have always thought that a good banjo should sound harp-like. Especially an “old time” frailing banjo.
The features of Doc’s Banjos that were of special interest to attendees were the:
- Scalloped fretboard. Most attendees had not seen this. Several ukelele and guitar makers were interested and had loads of questions about how to build one. Guitar makers sometimes do scallop frets on steel guitars so they can bend notes vertically but they do not do the low profile scallop that we have developed.
- The woods. Our pallet of woods is extensive and seemingly wider than anyone out there. There were many questions about the many unusual tone and aesthetic woods we use.
- Doc’s Banjos trademark features: Doc’s Built-in Tailpiece™, Frailing Platform™, Freestyle Neck/Pot Sculpturing, Modified Tension Hoop, Tunneled 5th String , Slotted Peghead with guitar tuners, Soprano and Cello banjos, Internal Resonators, Matched Grain Pots, and more.
- The brass. Our handmade and aged brass components really caught the eye of luthiers. We fielded lots of questions about our hardware.
The lectures were mostly a sharing an exchange of ideas, technical information, and resources. The lecturers were people doing some of the finest instrument making in the world, as well as suppliers helping all of us find the tools and materials we need to do our profession.
I took some to time to play outside under the big beautiful trees on the PLU campus...it always drew a crowd of interest. It was not my playing—it was the “tone”. They simply hadn’t heard or seen a banjo like ours before.
We were proud to bring the banjo into this arena of international luthiers. We are also excited and honored to have an upcoming article about Doc’s Banjos appearing in the Guild of American Luthier’s publication.
NW Handmade Instrument Show
05/05/11
The recent NW Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit was great! We exhibited lots of new banjos as well as bridges, armrests, stands, t-shirts, stickers, and more. We got great feedback about our new slotted peghead and slotted peghead with tunneled 5th string. We’re so excited about the new designs!
Saturday our friend Darren Jahn performed selection of his original work onstage on Doc's Banjos #141. Thank you Darren!
Scalloped Frets for Banjos?
03/27/11
Scalloped frets have been around for a long time. They came on board for banjos in the 1890s, but really never caught on. Today, they are sometimes found on rock guitars because of their suitability for extreme speed playing. On a rock guitar, however, the scallops are different: deep and not conducive for the reasons you would want them on your banjo.
I own an old Van Epps banjo with scalloped frets. If I can pretend to be a historian, I would say the original thinking for scallop design was based on the same reasons I am doing them now: their tonal qualities. Scalloped frets have a “fretless-like” sound that allows for slides up or down the neck similar in character to a fretless. The difference is that the scalloped frets have the same built-in capability for accurate intonation as a fretted neck.
A bold assumption I hold is that the reason scalloped frets did not catch on in the banjo world is that the shape of the scallop was not correct. The scallop dived downward immediately above the fret then gradually ramped up to be flush with the next fret. The result was, in my experience, unimpressive.
I have spent considerable thought trying to determine why the scalloped fret pioneers were not successful in incorporating their invention into the mainstream. I have experimented with multiple scallop designs. What I have ultimately discovered is that the scallop does not have to be as deep as one might expect...and to get that “smooth as silk” slide, the scallop has to be totally symmetrical when viewing its side profile.
The tolerances between what works like magic and what doesn't is very unforgiving. Scallop too shallow and you get buzzes, too deep and you get intonation changes. It was a classic “Michelangelo Rush” when I finished a fretboard with the scallop design that really worked. I was so excited! It was even more versatile and pleasing to play than I had imagined. It also has the bonus of an aesthetic beautify when built from the proper fretboard wood.
Creating my first successful scalloped fretboard took me 2 days of work. I found it a “zen-like” project. One has to be rested, free from interruptions, patient, and willing to sand it flush and start all over with every mistake. My longest battle involved 6-7 redoes on the same fretboard! I now utilize files, razor blades, scrapers and sandpaper.
Despite the many challenges, for some odd reason I really enjoy making them. One of the virtues in making the scalloped fretboard is that I do not believe it is possible to make a good one with machines. A successful banjo scallop is a handmade project (unlike the designs you see on guitars). I think this especially appeals to my love for hand-crafted work.
What does it play like? My scalloped fret banjos play great for both clawhammer/frailing and 3 finger picking. Slides are smooth as no frets protrude above the fretboard. The action is lower the entire length of the neck than a fretted banjo. You get an accurately intoned note anywhere in the “valley”. The tonal quality is much like a fretless. It also plays “faster” than a fretted banjo because of the smaller distance and lesser pressure needed to make a note ring clearly.
Often at a show or in our shop, people will pick up one of our scallop fretted banjos without noticing the fretboard and start playing on it. Intonation and ease of playability are so natural that often people don’t realize the unique fretboard, simply commenting about how good the neck feels. When we point out the scalloped fretboard we always gets a “Wow”! The scalloped fretboard feels great and sounds even better.
I own an old Van Epps banjo with scalloped frets. If I can pretend to be a historian, I would say the original thinking for scallop design was based on the same reasons I am doing them now: their tonal qualities. Scalloped frets have a “fretless-like” sound that allows for slides up or down the neck similar in character to a fretless. The difference is that the scalloped frets have the same built-in capability for accurate intonation as a fretted neck.
A bold assumption I hold is that the reason scalloped frets did not catch on in the banjo world is that the shape of the scallop was not correct. The scallop dived downward immediately above the fret then gradually ramped up to be flush with the next fret. The result was, in my experience, unimpressive.
I have spent considerable thought trying to determine why the scalloped fret pioneers were not successful in incorporating their invention into the mainstream. I have experimented with multiple scallop designs. What I have ultimately discovered is that the scallop does not have to be as deep as one might expect...and to get that “smooth as silk” slide, the scallop has to be totally symmetrical when viewing its side profile.
The tolerances between what works like magic and what doesn't is very unforgiving. Scallop too shallow and you get buzzes, too deep and you get intonation changes. It was a classic “Michelangelo Rush” when I finished a fretboard with the scallop design that really worked. I was so excited! It was even more versatile and pleasing to play than I had imagined. It also has the bonus of an aesthetic beautify when built from the proper fretboard wood.
Creating my first successful scalloped fretboard took me 2 days of work. I found it a “zen-like” project. One has to be rested, free from interruptions, patient, and willing to sand it flush and start all over with every mistake. My longest battle involved 6-7 redoes on the same fretboard! I now utilize files, razor blades, scrapers and sandpaper.
Despite the many challenges, for some odd reason I really enjoy making them. One of the virtues in making the scalloped fretboard is that I do not believe it is possible to make a good one with machines. A successful banjo scallop is a handmade project (unlike the designs you see on guitars). I think this especially appeals to my love for hand-crafted work.
What does it play like? My scalloped fret banjos play great for both clawhammer/frailing and 3 finger picking. Slides are smooth as no frets protrude above the fretboard. The action is lower the entire length of the neck than a fretted banjo. You get an accurately intoned note anywhere in the “valley”. The tonal quality is much like a fretless. It also plays “faster” than a fretted banjo because of the smaller distance and lesser pressure needed to make a note ring clearly.
Often at a show or in our shop, people will pick up one of our scallop fretted banjos without noticing the fretboard and start playing on it. Intonation and ease of playability are so natural that often people don’t realize the unique fretboard, simply commenting about how good the neck feels. When we point out the scalloped fretboard we always gets a “Wow”! The scalloped fretboard feels great and sounds even better.
Travelling the Architecture of the Wood
02/17/11
Since the beginning of my banjo making, I have thought and built intuitively. One of the things I have always said is that I feel that if wood is going to effect the tone of your banjo, the sound energy has to travel through the architecture of the wood. It has to “ride the grain train”. That has been the fundamental key to our approach in joinery, why we go to extremes to align and match the grain when gluing up our pots and necks.
Now, 8 years later, I realize that the tuning fork I was trained to use as a physician was probably at the root of this intuitive thought. Just yesterday I made this connection.
I was thinking about how we test for nerve loss by stimulating the tuning fork and placing it just outside the ear canal, but when testing for conduction loss we place the tuning fork on the mastoid process, just behind the ear. The vibrational energy from the tuning fork “travels the architecture” (bone in this case) and stimulates the hearing apparatus in the middle ear. This is how you hear sound.
I have often used the tuning fork to listen to various species of wood by hitting the fork on the end of the board to “activate” it then placing the handle of the fork on the wood. Interestingly, different woods manipulate this micro-vibration in the “buzz” coming from the wood in different ways. Some will even change the pitch of the vibration!
Similarly, I also use a pine limb with a pitch ball in the end to thumb boards to hear their sound; the implications are the same. Tone is generated by the vibrations of sound energy passing through an instrument. Understanding the unique characteristics of different woods, how they interact, and how to maximize the tone that comes from them is ultimately tacit: intuitive, inarticulate knowledge. It always surprises me how much of my tacit understanding comes from my background as a Doctor. In the last 8 years it has been my willingness to trust my intuition, rather than to accept what is traditional, that has led to my greatest successes in building banjos.
Now, 8 years later, I realize that the tuning fork I was trained to use as a physician was probably at the root of this intuitive thought. Just yesterday I made this connection.
I was thinking about how we test for nerve loss by stimulating the tuning fork and placing it just outside the ear canal, but when testing for conduction loss we place the tuning fork on the mastoid process, just behind the ear. The vibrational energy from the tuning fork “travels the architecture” (bone in this case) and stimulates the hearing apparatus in the middle ear. This is how you hear sound.
I have often used the tuning fork to listen to various species of wood by hitting the fork on the end of the board to “activate” it then placing the handle of the fork on the wood. Interestingly, different woods manipulate this micro-vibration in the “buzz” coming from the wood in different ways. Some will even change the pitch of the vibration!
Similarly, I also use a pine limb with a pitch ball in the end to thumb boards to hear their sound; the implications are the same. Tone is generated by the vibrations of sound energy passing through an instrument. Understanding the unique characteristics of different woods, how they interact, and how to maximize the tone that comes from them is ultimately tacit: intuitive, inarticulate knowledge. It always surprises me how much of my tacit understanding comes from my background as a Doctor. In the last 8 years it has been my willingness to trust my intuition, rather than to accept what is traditional, that has led to my greatest successes in building banjos.
2011 Festival Dates
02/04/11
We’ll be at the following events in the upcoming months. We hope to see you there!
Northwest handmade instrument Makers Show, Portland Oregon April 30th to May 1st
Wintergrass, Bellvue WashingtonFebruary 24th to 27th
National Fiddle Championship, Weiser Idaho June 19th-25th
Centralia Campout, August 14th to 21st.
Northwest handmade instrument Makers Show, Portland Oregon April 30th to May 1st
Wintergrass, Bellvue WashingtonFebruary 24th to 27th
National Fiddle Championship, Weiser Idaho June 19th-25th
Centralia Campout, August 14th to 21st.
Bubinga
09/20/10
Bubinga, also called African Rosewood and about a dozen common names in West Africa, is an incredibly beautiful and remarkable tone wood. I first ran across this wood while working in West Africa, doing medical/humanitarian work.
The first intriguing thing about this wood was discovering that it is a "token wood” for the Africans living in the areas where it grows. No matter how rich or how poor residents are, they seek something made of Bubinga to put in their home. Small object or large, it does not matter—their belief is that tokens made of Bubinga provide "protection" for themselves and their family.
The trees we saw in the forest can be up to 8 feet across and many interesting grain patterns occur. All of the Bubinga I have used for building banjos to date I have hand picked from roadside wood lots and carried home from Africa. (The system I regularly used was to leave everything I carried to Africa in Africa, coming home with chests filled wood).
Bubinga is a very hard wood, beautiful with red-burgundy color. It has tremendous tonal properties, which is why we we utilize it in both banjos in our trademark Cathedral Bridge™. We have used Bubinga as a tone ring, as the block rimmed body of the pot, as a neck, as a peghead veneer, and even as fretboard and trim, though never all off these at once. I will discuss in a later post why you never want a banjo made of all one wood.
Feel free to call me if you’d like to learn more about this amazing wood and what we can build with it.
The first intriguing thing about this wood was discovering that it is a "token wood” for the Africans living in the areas where it grows. No matter how rich or how poor residents are, they seek something made of Bubinga to put in their home. Small object or large, it does not matter—their belief is that tokens made of Bubinga provide "protection" for themselves and their family.
The trees we saw in the forest can be up to 8 feet across and many interesting grain patterns occur. All of the Bubinga I have used for building banjos to date I have hand picked from roadside wood lots and carried home from Africa. (The system I regularly used was to leave everything I carried to Africa in Africa, coming home with chests filled wood).
Bubinga is a very hard wood, beautiful with red-burgundy color. It has tremendous tonal properties, which is why we we utilize it in both banjos in our trademark Cathedral Bridge™. We have used Bubinga as a tone ring, as the block rimmed body of the pot, as a neck, as a peghead veneer, and even as fretboard and trim, though never all off these at once. I will discuss in a later post why you never want a banjo made of all one wood.
Feel free to call me if you’d like to learn more about this amazing wood and what we can build with it.
What about the different banjos sizes and configurations?
07/14/10
People often ask me, “Why would I like a 12 inch banjo instead of an 11 inch?” or “What would I use a Soprano banjo for?” or “What would I like about an Internal Resonator banjo?” These are all great questions. My answer is usually begins with another question: “What kind of banjo music do you like to listen to and what do you want your banjo to sound like?”
First I really think that every banjo, from the Ukelele banjo to the Cello banjo, has characteristics for a certain kind of music and or tonal qualities. Each model really stand on their own merits, but it’s important to realize that they can all be played within the whole range of musical preferences. In other words, the Soprano banjo can be found playing right alongside the Cello banjo.
A Ukelele banjo is not a toy, nor is the Cello banjo a dinosaur. The Soprano banjo, often chosen as a travel banjo, can be played in a variety of musical styles and in its area of music is played by master musicians.
The Cello banjo is an amazing instrument that stands on its own, with a relationship to smaller banjos analogous to a Cello to the Violin. It is part of a family of instruments. You can think of the 10, 11, 12, and 13 inch banjos are more or less in the average tonal ranges and are heard in many styles of music.
Folks ultimately choose a banjo based on their own personal tonal preferences, their objectives with a particular instrument, how big it is to carry, what most of the friends are playing, and their lifestyle. Some people play their banjo at home exclusively, while others like to take a banjo with them everywhere they go, including while on vacation or traveling. Some people are buying their second, third, fourth...or even tenth banjo and are after a very specific sound—something they can’t achieve with the instruments they already own.
One of my favorite parts of building custom instruments is having these conversations with customers. I just love the process of interacting with people and working together to narrow down and target exactly the banjo a person is dreaming about.
What’s my favorite? I personally enjoy having a Soprano banjo, a 12 inch banjo, and a Cello banjo.
First I really think that every banjo, from the Ukelele banjo to the Cello banjo, has characteristics for a certain kind of music and or tonal qualities. Each model really stand on their own merits, but it’s important to realize that they can all be played within the whole range of musical preferences. In other words, the Soprano banjo can be found playing right alongside the Cello banjo.
A Ukelele banjo is not a toy, nor is the Cello banjo a dinosaur. The Soprano banjo, often chosen as a travel banjo, can be played in a variety of musical styles and in its area of music is played by master musicians.
The Cello banjo is an amazing instrument that stands on its own, with a relationship to smaller banjos analogous to a Cello to the Violin. It is part of a family of instruments. You can think of the 10, 11, 12, and 13 inch banjos are more or less in the average tonal ranges and are heard in many styles of music.
Folks ultimately choose a banjo based on their own personal tonal preferences, their objectives with a particular instrument, how big it is to carry, what most of the friends are playing, and their lifestyle. Some people play their banjo at home exclusively, while others like to take a banjo with them everywhere they go, including while on vacation or traveling. Some people are buying their second, third, fourth...or even tenth banjo and are after a very specific sound—something they can’t achieve with the instruments they already own.
One of my favorite parts of building custom instruments is having these conversations with customers. I just love the process of interacting with people and working together to narrow down and target exactly the banjo a person is dreaming about.
What’s my favorite? I personally enjoy having a Soprano banjo, a 12 inch banjo, and a Cello banjo.
American School of Luthiers
05/24/10
I am a member of the Guild of American Luthiers and will be submitting an article for publication in the American Lutherie magazine in the near future. It will feature our unique design and innovative trademark options.
We’ll let you know when it’s published!
We’ll let you know when it’s published!
Northwest Handmade Musical Instruments Show
05/22/10
The Northwest Handmade Instrument show at Marylhust College in Portland was a great success for us. Natalia (my 6 yr old daughter) and I showed our instruments, gave a performance and checked out some of the best Handmade Instruments one will ever find.
Our favorite remark heard over and over being "I never knew a banjo could look and sound so beautiful". Special attention from fellow builders were our banjos with scalloped frets. Our cello and short scale banjos (9 inch pot, 18 1/2 inch scale) were very popular.
In April of every year, it is a show you do not want to miss.
Our favorite remark heard over and over being "I never knew a banjo could look and sound so beautiful". Special attention from fellow builders were our banjos with scalloped frets. Our cello and short scale banjos (9 inch pot, 18 1/2 inch scale) were very popular.
In April of every year, it is a show you do not want to miss.