Fancy Early 1880s Minstrel Banjo

[@daveclarke05443]

You truly appreciate this instrument.Clifton. It’s great to see . I’d love an old banjo. Think I’m going to have a look online .

[@TheGrover1968]

I love how the inboard portion of the neck drops out from under the fingerboard.

[@bennyblanko3]

Thanks for all the content! I'm a violin player, and love seeing instruments. You made a fine bridge. Quite thin, but not so bad that it will fall any second. Beautiful banjo!

[@davem5308]

Thanks for showing all the features and details. Better yet, thanks for bringing it to life!

[@joeycovington4681]

Nice! Thanks .

[@apacolypse990]

Cool looking banjo, has a cool plunky sound as well.

[@toadeepants]

Looooove this banjer!! Sounds and looks great!

[@colinplaysbanjo3860]

Awesome banjo. Looks fun to play.

[@bobmartin770]

Nice!

[@DanDDirges]

Fine right hand work! Great intro tune! Nice rim oak grain!

[@Liloandstitchfan15]

Hi Clifton I'm new to the Banjo your Chanel is fantastic and the two finger style is the way forward for me...can you play more open g songs would help tremendously thanks again :)

[@fastheartmartvideos]

Very interesting! Thanks Clifton! I hope you find that tail piece soon. I think I prefer thin bridges too. Never had a two footed one though...

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

If my dog hasn't already eaten it I will find it! Tenor and plectrum pickers still prefer the old two-leg bridges, as do members of the growing "classic" banjo scene. I carve them this way for all of my folk banjo builds and will make one when needed for an antique banjo like this one.

[@fastheartmartvideos]

@@CliftonHicksbanjo Ha! I hope your dog didn't eat it! Interesting. I don't know if I've ever even played a banjo with a two footed bridge. I imagine it must be a bit brighter as there is less material touching the head? I'm always trying to get my banjo brighter so I'll keep a lookout for one :)

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

I know that with a two footed bridge, yes you'll have less material muffling the head so a "brighter" sound. With nylons I would recommend one-piece, two-legged bridges as thin as possible.

[@fastheartmartvideos]

@@CliftonHicksbanjo Good to know! Thanks!

[@crisblack7899]

Back when people built with pride

[@DovidM]

There was a music store in Chicago with Ludwig in its name that made tenor and plectrum banjos for a short period of time: 1925 - 1933. It is probably not the source of the skin since I’ve never come across anything with the store’s name as Ludwig & Ludwig. I remember selling a tenor banjo that was under the Ludwig label.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Thanks for that interesting information. Turns out Ludwig drum company started out as "Ludwig & Ludwig" in 1909 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Drums

[@CousinErn]

Talk about a growl. JEEZ

[@nicpiperdebreit8211]

fire welded straps?

[@sterlingprice5963]

I'm no expert, but I know a little bit about hardwood. It looks to me like white oak with walnut inlay. Whatever it's made of it's a great banjo surviving all of these years. The story of it being found in Europe makes me wonder how it got there. Maybe an American serviceman from WWI took it with him. Great piece Clifton. Peace.

[@Weymann63]

Nice playing.. I think the two finger style suits the guts strings better than brush stroke. The notes are clearer.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

I tend to agree with ya! Might be one reason why so many professional banjoists began transitioning to finger style after the 1860s.

[@kennkid9912]

The peg head and neck are like the Dobson.Gura claims Dobson had no factory.Buckbee parts, better Buckbee? One of the banjos Dobson sold in England?

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

I have seen no evidence of there ever having been a Dobson factory. I think the general idea is that the Dobsons themselves may have made a few, but clearly they sold many, many "Dobsons" that were slapped together in the infamous Buckbee factory.

[@kennkid9912]

Gura says Dobson took a load of banjos to the UK and sold them at high prices.They were not all Dobson type so...That banjo looks unused or is it restored?

[@porkyfedwell]

I can't tell where the banjo was made, but the flies crawling over the lens are a dead giveaway that the video was made in Georgia. :)

[@wardbreeden6573]

Do you mind me asking if you could try making a close up/ lesson of Old Blue on your patreon, please? I would love to learn that song.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Will do.

[@benmogerman8230]

Great vid clifton. Very cool banjo. Completely random question, can anyone identify the species of bird singing in the background of the video? I remember that beautiful sound from my childhood home in Missouri ive been gone a while now but would love to know

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Wish I could say. We have quite a few different kinds of birds here. Brown thrashers, doves, woodpeckers, cardinals, bluejays, turkeys, king fishers, herons, hawks, owls, crows, buzzards, hummingbirds and about a million little tiny ones I can't name.

[@kennkid9912]

I do support you onPatreon.I would like to build this banjo. Did you measure it by chance.?Great tone and that hdwe.looks like it should be On the Monitor.!!!

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Kenn, I'm not able to find the Patreon post on this particular banjo, although I may very well have provided measurements. I did measure this late 1870s banjo: www.patreon.com/posts/rare-early-banjo-23315498 Approximately 25.5" scale 11.5" pot 2.5" rim depth 16.75" from rim to nut 22.5" total neck length 1.5" across the nut, .75" depth 2 and 5/16" at the rim 5.5" x 2.25" peg head 10/16" thick peg head

[@kennkid9912]

Thanks for the info. I thought you might have measured it. I appreciate it.K

[@snakepit101]

Could you please say what strings you are using. I like the nylgut 4th string

[@snakepit101]

Oops, typed that before seeing the end of the video. Thanks!

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

www.gamutmusic.com/

[@1955mrjim]

Is it acceptable to ask if it is for sale?

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

It is for sale. Email [e-mail] to discuss.

[@clockguy2]

Sure looks like an oak pot. Federal Shield seems like a give away that it's northern US made. A Southerner wouldn't use a federal shield that close to the end of the Civil War. Great look and sound! Kerplunk!

[@kennkid9912]

Why are flush fret banjos not more common? Seems like the best of both worlds? Also, how many tension hooks are enuf ?Older ones had 10? 12? Why do new ones have 24? Really.Are you going to tighten every inch?Probably a sign of the industrial banjo? I guess we will all be,staying home and practicing on the banjo for a while.

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

I guess because it still requires a lot more skill & effort to get "perfect" notes out of a flush-fretted fingerboard. When the frets are raised, notes come out true even when your finger doesn't land exactly right. As for the brackets, They realized that 4 or 6 wasn't really cutting it and the rest is history. By 1890 false advertising had convinced thousands of people of the old myth: "the more brackets the better!" Personnally, I think the sweet spot is somewhere between 10 and 20 of em.

[@bennyblanko3]

Man, I don't love those tuners though. Kinda lame being fancy with a white dot, stolen from a guy who thought practice would help him/her. Hey, whip yourself, and wait till the next life ... Don't know what I'd suggest. But, since the frets are ground smooth, and you grind the white dot smooth. You know the white isn't a baby seal tooth right?