TO SUPER HART'S NEW BANJO PROJECT PAGE!
I've finally constructed my very own Prototype Banjo from the ground up. The concept crossed my mind in February, 1998. I was planning to have my first total hip replacement surgery done in early June and I wanted to have a project lined up to prevent terminal boredom during my recovery time. I also know that I would have my other hip done in November so that would give me something nice to play with during the SECOND recovery period. Nothing beats good planning. The ideas that I wanted to incorporate were: 1. Unique one of a kind appearance; 2. Classic Mastertone construction and sound; 3. Extensive use of elaborate Pearl and Abalone Inlay.
My first step was to contact Bill Sullivan at First Quality Musical Supply with my ideas. I think we both had a ball developing the designs for this instrument. Bill put me in touch with Bryan England Custom Inlay who had some really fantastic ideas for the fretboard, headstock, and resonator. The first display below consists of photos and drawings of the concepts to be used in arriving at the final design. Curly Maple was chosen as the wood species with ebony for the fretboard. The finish stain color approximates the Gibson Earl Scruggs Special. There is extensive use of abalone stacked binding similar to that of the Stelling Staghorn and the Gibson Scruggs Special. The peghead will is bound in Abalone and a Pearl and Abalone vine design is inlayed on the front and back of the peghead. Overall construction is modelled after the Gibson Mastertone. All hadware is Florentine Engraved and 24k Gold Plated. A Tennessee 20 Flathead Tonering is the chosen one. This instrument has become the first HARTMANN prototype banjo (Well, I can't very well call it a Gibson, can I?)
The first photo shows the proposed Vine of Life design using Pearl and Green Abalone set on a ebony fretboard.
Next is a photograph of the proposed Vine Headstock design, The name HARTMANN will be in Brushed Script and placed on the headstock between the upper and lower Vine Designs.
The next drawing shows the right half of the design to be placed on the back of the resonator using Pearl and Green Abalone.
Next you will see a color photo of a resonator having the outer floral ring only, and then a side view showing the abalone stacked binding which will be used on the resonator as well as the sides of the fretboard on the neck. These two color photos were borrowed from Bryan England's Web Site and show an example of his fine Inlay work from a previous job. Visit his Website and see his awesome work by clicking on the following link Bryan England Custom Inlay.
The last photo shows engraved hardware similar to what I plan to use. I believe Florentine Engraving is not only art but something which is very beautiful to look at. The pattern I plan to use comes from First Quality Musical Supply Co.
Just in case anyone really wants to know what parts, hardware, etc. goes into building a Mastertone banjo as well as what a project like this costs, I have posted the Invoice Sheets from First Quality Musical Supply and Bryan England's Custom Inlay here. A large part of the cost is due to Engraving, Inlaying, and Gold Plating. One can build a really nice Mastertone clone for much less. Remember, this project was intended to build a truly elegant, one-of-a-kind banjo and is not intended to suggest that anyone should necessarily consider investing as much money as I have. I financed this project by selling off part of my record collection.
Now for some photos of the pieces as received from Bill Sullivan at First Quality Musical Supply and Bryan England Custom Inlay.
Here is the resonator back showing the pearl and abalone inlay. All of the inlay and abalone binding was done by Bryan England Custom Inlay in Leitchfield, KY. I am considering doing some engraving on the pearl pieces but have to practice and see if I can do it well enough to attempt the designs. Bryan was most helpful in suggesting ideas which evolved into the final design which you see here.
This photo shows the side binding including the heel cutout, bound in abalone like Gibson's Earl Scruggs Special. I thought the extra peaks in the resonator binding was a neat idea. The resonator is flamed maple and I hope to stain it to accentuate the grain pattern and impart a warm reddish brown color to the wood.
Here are several photos of the neck as received from First Quality. As you can see, there is still a lot of work to do to it, ie., binding, fretting, shaping the hand stop, shaping and finish sanding the profile of the headstock, finish rounding the neck body, staining, and finishing. The abalone stacked binding on the sides of the fretboard and heel matches the resonator. Because of the abalone binding on the surface of the fingerboard, I chose to bind the neck before installing the frets. Since the frets therefore overlay the binding the fret tangs must be backcut to clear the abalone trim. Stu-Mac has a wonderful tool available which performs this process easily. I also used a Stu-Mac fret press with a straight caul on my drill press to seat the frets rather than a hammer. This prevents the frets from "springing" upwards at the ends causing a poor fit. Also, hammering can and does break off pieces of inlay which is definitely NOT desireable. The binding was secured using Stu-Mac binding cement and scraped flush with a good quality freshly honed cabinet scraper. Delicate scraping was performed with a fresh single-edged razor blade.
Now for the pot assembly. All the metalwork is florentine engraved and gold plated. The pot needs only stain and finish.
If anyone is considering building their own banjo, first obtain catalogs from Bill Sullivan at First Quality Musical Supply for banjo parts and Stewart MacDonald Supply for tools and finishing supplies. A catalog from Luthier's Mercantile would be a good idea also. Next, obtain the book "Constructing a 5-String Banjo" by Roger Siminoff. This book can be obtained from any of the above sources. Read the book first, then contact Bill and let him know what you want to do. He will not steer you wrong. He has given me much solid advise in the past and I trust his opinion to the end. One word of caution, if you have absolutely no woodworking or finishing aptitude OR you don't think you can get someone to help you who DOES, don't try this project. Building a musical instrument is not an easy task. It is at least a skill level 3 out of 4. Bill Sullivan's necks are semi-finished. This means that there is still a load of work remaining to do such as fretting; binding; shaping the heel and handstop; cutting, shaping, and notching the nut; drilling and attaching the legbolts; and staining and finishing the assembly. There IS an alternative to the woodworking skill needed to completely finish this neck. You can purchase a finished, ready to play neck in your choice of wood and inlay from Janet Davis for around $495.00. For a small additional charge, you can have your name inlayed in the headstock. Her charge for a finished neck really isn't that much more than the semi-finished neck once you figure in the cost of the neck, binding, frets, and nuts. The neck is THE item that requires the bulk of the tools and finishing skill. Getting past that item should open the door to many more players who want to build their own banjo. She also sells pot assemblies and resonators plus hardware and supplies. As far as the resonator, gluing on the binding and purfling, cutting the notch for the heel of the neck, staining and finishing is about all that is required. The rim needs only staining and finishing and attaching the resonator brackets under the flange.
Well, Folks, the project banjo was finally completed in September, 1998. It took me 60+ hours to take the parts as recieved from the suppliers and produce the finished product. I have to say that this instrument turned out every bit as fine as I had intended and for a fraction of the cost I would have paid if I had the Gibson Custom Shop build it for me. Remember, this project was intended to build a one-of-a-kind banjo and I truly feel that I have accomplished that very thing. I hope that one day when I go to join the great Bluegrass Band in the sky that my kids will appreciate the workmanship that went into producing this banjo. Only time will tell.
The instrument has been outfitted with Gibson Earl Scruggs medium weight strings and a 5/8" Snuffy Smith bridge on a Tennesee 20 Tonering snugged to 9kg/cm. Believe me, the sound of this thing rivals any banjo I've ever heard; loud, crisp, good low end, and moderate sustain without overtones.
Now for the photos.
Although I would be happy to answer any and all questions that anyone would have regarding the construction and finishing methods used in this project, there are a couple of items that I will mention here. I attempted to copy the finish color of the Gibson Earl Scruggs Special banjo and this was accomplished by using First Quality Musical Supplies' Water Base Stain Kit and Curly Maple Amplifier. First, a coat of Curly Maple Amplifier was applied to the bare maple, rubbed in, and allowed to dry overnight. Next, a coat of Yellow Maple was applied and allowed to dry, followed by a coat of Brown Mahogany. Excess stain was removed with damp paper towels the following day. Any grain that was raised was then carefully leveled. I then applied McFadden's Musical Instrument Lacquer according to the following schedule which is used by Mike Lennon of the Apprentice Shop in Spring Hill, Tennessee: Day 1: two double-coats of unthinned lacquer were applied allowing 2-3 hours between each double-coat; Day 2: repeat schedule of Day 1; Day 3: repeat the same schedule. The parts were set aside for a couple of days and then sanded smooth with 400 grit paper using Martin-Senour FinLwash as a lubricant to prevent clogging of the paper. Then, one additional coat of unthinned lacquer was applied with 10% retarder and a few drops of fisheye eliminator added to aid flowout. All parts were then set aside for two weeks to cure before final buffing with Polishing Compound was done. Finally, a coat of auto polish (not containing wax) was applied and the instrument assembled. Mike Lennon suggested that sanding and total finishing time was significantly reduced by following the above schedule and he is quite correct.
If anyone viewing this Page has any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer. If anyone who followed these pages becomes inspired to build their own banjo, I would love to hear from you.
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