Building a Hexagonal Kentucky Mountain Banjo
Added 2021-07-02 15:30:01 +0000 UTC
I refer to these instruments as "Kentucky" mountain banjos because most seem to have been made in the eastern part of that state. Besides the polygonal nature of their sound chambers, they differ from the more typical mountain banjos of Carolina and Tennessee in that they lack the former's internal metal tensioning system for the head, and they are typically fastened together with nails instead of the wood screws found on most Carolina mountain banjos.
Unidentified portrait, found in the archives of Alice Lloyd College, Kentucky (courtesy of Matthew Govig).
Photo of Addie Graham in Hindman, Kentucky, 1918 (courtesy of George Gibson).
Detail from family photo taken in Knott County, Kentucky, 1914 (Knott County Historical Society).
