Simple gourd

Click here to see a high resolution image of this banjo that's larger than the real thing.

Just completed a new banjo for an exhibit at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. Built around an authentic, 19th-century grain measure, it features an ash neck, hand-turned pegs, and an extensively distressed finish the simulate 170 years of patina.

      

New cherry, ebony, and maple burl steel-string

Just finished up this custom banjo for a customer in New York. It's built around a 12" three-ply cherry rim and features a two-piece cherry neck, simple brass tone ring, ebony fingerboard and rim cap, maple burl headstock and heel overlays, along with mother of pearl inlays. It sounds wonderful, and plays great too.

In addition to banjo making, my dogs bring me great joy. Sadly Tempo, one of my two beloved greyhounds (pictured above) died recently. Only 6 years old and barely a year off the track, he was diagnosed with an incurable form of bone cancer in March of this year. I spent the past six months doing everything I could to help him, but he died in September. This year, therefore, has been very quiet where banjos are concerned. Spending so much time and energy, both physically and emotionally, on caring for my dying dog left me too busy to work on banjos when I wanted to work, and too uninspired to work on them when I had time.

Greyhounds are odd animals, and many of them can not live solitary lives after their days at the track are over. Having grown accustomed to the rigorously structured life of the kennels, where they spend 23 hours per day in a cage, they are never away from other dogs until they retire. So I immediately got another greyhound to keep my remaining dog company. Unfortunately, just this week, that new greyhound sustained a freak eye injury that will require surgery. Added to the cost of care for my dog Tempo (pictured above), the amount of money becomes staggering. In order to help pay off the sizable debt that I have recently incurred as a result, I will soon embark on the creation of a series of gourd banjos. Small, punchy, and built around 10" canteen gourds, they will be fun instruments that sound wonderful. So if you're in the market for a gourd banjo, now is the time to contact me. Each instrument will be in the $500-$600 range.

Had a chance to pay a visit to this famous all-scrimshaw banjo at the New Bedford Whaling Museum this weekend. What an odd beauty. . .

Paul's gourd banjo

Steel-strung

Here is a recently completed banjo

Just finished up this banjo for a customer in New Mexico. The neck is an Ashborn copy, and the body based on banjos of the late 1860s and 1870s, with cast brass shields.

14 banjo neck blanks in walnut, maple, and cherry just arrived from the sawyer. They're all from salvaged trees, either blown down by storms or taken from construction lots, and most are cut close to the quarter, with wonderful, straight grain.

Finishing up on an Ashborn reproduction neck for John in New Mexico. Working on a couple other projects at the same time. It's been busy in the shop.

The last several weeks have been spent in Vermont, working with Will Fielding, and then back in my shop, doing some significant retooling for some new kinds of projects. I've been doing tons of brass casting for new hardware, and a lot of planning in general. There will be many new and exciting projects in the coming year.

I recently completed a project built around a bottle gourd, which I cut shallow to allow for a double-headed design. This was a custom order for a musician who wanted a banjo with a very specific, unusual look, and suggested the idea of a double-headed pear-shaped banjo.