Original 1840s Minstrel Banjo
Added 2022-11-11 16:00:09 +0000 UTCWilliam E. Boucher, a drum maker in Baltimore, Maryland, built this early fretless banjo around 1845. Among other achievements, Boucher seems to have been the original developer of the metal screw tension system still in use today.
The neck is made from two poplar boards glued together and painted. The rim is a single ply, steam bent board (probably ash). The entire instrument was originally painted red; the neck was also decorated with a faux wood grain pattern.
The stepped beehive-shaped finial at the tip of the peghead is a separate piece of wood, hand turned and glued in place.
The double ogee shape carved into the edge of the fingerboard serves as a fret position marker.
The neck is secured to the rim by a heavy gauge wire pin:
The end of the dowel fits into reinforced hole:
Boucher's original maker's mark is clearly evident, as are initials/signatures left by later owners.
The tailpiece was copied from an original by Jeff Menzies in Kingston, Jamaica.
Comments
Instead of using tacks to hold the skin in place, I used screw inserts cut down to 1/4 inch long. Then I epoxied the head of a tack to a flat head bolt. This is not a significant improvement. Just a faster way to attach the skin, and also there is less chance to the nail part of the tack coming loose. Which could happen if you had to put on a new skin. The holes made by the nail getting larger over time if you had to change the skin a few times.
Robert Britten
2023-03-14 18:46:14 +0000 UTCAnd salad bowel banjos ? A modern thing ?
Robert Britten
2023-03-14 18:39:55 +0000 UTC
