Short Scale Fretless Salad Bowl Banjo

This is about a 22 1/2" scale banjo. I'm making a couple of similar ones so CJ can have her pick! Angelina Baker is a great old song from the 1800's.

[@chuckbowen5024]

Very nice work! I have built a half dozen dulcimers and my son is a Luthier. I have been wanting to build a banjo. No time like the present I guess. My dad built the first dulcimer I ever saw and gave it to me. If he only knew he started.

[@morbanjo2503]

@@chuckbowen5024 Thank you. I made one banjo after I retired and couldn't stop making stuff, lol. Banjos aren't too hard. My first was fretless because I was nervous about fret work. I'm over that now.

[@valley_robot]

Fantastic, I wish we were neighbours . We would have a many a good Sunday afternoon jam

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks jason. That would be fun.

[@delorissamuelson6988]

Wow!! Nice!!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you!

[@splatbabylon]

Great stuff. I’d buy your album no doubt!!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks for your kind words Drew!

[@chicaloca9065]

Angeline

[@bennyblanko3]

Great instrument, and beautiful playing/singing. I've never seen a pick like that. I always leave the corner of my 2nd and 3rd finger nails a little longer - heh heh. Sounded great with the nylon strings though.

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks. The pick is a Fred Kelly Freedom made for clawhammer. I started using it when I injured my finger and sort of got used to it.

[@bennyblanko3]

@@morbanjo2503 Thanks! I watched a bunch of your other instruments. Excellent work and playing! I'm a violinist, but play fiddle and old time, bass, mando, claw hammer banjo, guitar, etc and also started building instruments. Really enjoy your art!

[@morbanjo2503]

@@bennyblanko3 Thank you!

[@SlowHoundCBGs]

Old Timey on sunny Sunday. doesn't get much better.

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks SlowHound.

[@johnkaay]

Very nice tone! I’m gonna be looking for a salad bowl now. Great job with the tacks, by the way. I know from experience that isn’t easy.

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you! Yeah, I sometimes get the tacks all crooked looking but it gets a little better the more I make.

[@thomasd9237]

👍👍 nice I like the tone a lot. Bet it sounds fantastic with 2 or 3 other banjo's. It's no fun if they all sound the same, you need that different tonal mix to keep it interesting ☺️

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks. I agree!

[@-jank-willson]

have a bunch of different ones with different scale lengths. like a piccolo banjorine, this one, a bass banjo, some can have frets, some can be fretless. This is what minstrel orchestras (and later ragtime) did, there are a huge variety of different varients to the banjo from the late 1800's/early 1900's

[@CircuitsAndStrings]

Love it. Another A+ build.

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Daniel. I appreciate your kind words.

[@monkeyshark100]

Lovely job and great sound as always. Thanks

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks!

[@MomusFilms]

Another outstanding and beautiful build!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you David.

[@bearshield7138]

very nice job

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you.

[@kurtlens5901]

What a sound!! Great stuff...

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Kurt!

[@mwarnken1234]

this is excellent!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you! Sorry about the left hand being sort of hidden.

[@user-uw6ox2nx5p]

Awesome

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you!

[@ryutubejp]

Lovely tone !

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you Ryuji.

[@melindamcdaniel2479]

It has a pretty sound!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you.

[@williamscott7563]

Sounds good

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks William.

[@jayjack6299]

I wonder how different an original banjo from the 1600s/1700s would sound compared to this. This is basically what they were like when the instrument came over from Africa, as far as I have read

[@morbanjo2503]

I like to think that the tone is very similar to those early banjos.

[@alanpayton547]

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuperb Build Jim

[@morbanjo2503]

Ha, thanks Alan.

[@Sean13114]

Sounds great!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks!

[@jeremyreagan9085]

Really wonderful work sir and great Sound! i tbought a means to use guitar Tuners and one for the 5th string peg. You could simply use a block of Wood on the side of neck drill a hole in it and have the peg face uppwards with the turner Standing out of the block and thread the string that way.

[@morbanjo2503]

That's a good plan!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Sean

[@MrMike81800]

I love this. I want to make one, too. Where you get your finger pick. How do you keep the head tight. Do the violin tuner work well?

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you. The pick is a Fred Kelly clawhammer pick. If the head loosens up, I use some heat from a hair dryer to tighten it. The violin tuners work great if you use a tapered reamer to match up with the tapered pegs.

[@MrMike81800]

Thanks for the info.

[@-jank-willson]

do you make any of your instruments electric? If you put a metal spring somewhere in the interier of the instrument, you can have a magnetic coil pickup (like a singlecoil or humbucker) pick up that metal spring, so you can still use nylon/gut strings and still get humbucker sounds out of it!

[@-jank-willson]

has a very different sound to modern banjos.

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes it does.

[@-jank-willson]

@@morbanjo2503 I honestly like the sound of this much better then modern banjos. more elegant and refined sounding

[@JohnRobertson22]

What strings are you using and what's the tuning for this? LOVE that sound!

[@morbanjo2503]

These are Aqwuila Nylgut strings tuned to double C tuning but down a few steps around double A.

[@MrMike81800]

Have you ever tried making a uke with small salad bowl

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes, I've made several like that. Here's one of them kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmqUdX-Nlr-spdksi=bjFriFwyJSHuGuwm

[@lespaul9078]

What tuning is this i kinda wanna make one

[@jillgeary1313]

Did you sell this banjo? Would you consider making another one like it (fretless/short scale)? Maybe with peghead-style tuners? Thank you.

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes, this one is still available. email me at [e-mail]

[@KentGriswold]

Loving the sound! If selling it, how much?

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Kent. This one is spoken for(I think) I usually sell them for around $200.

[@KentGriswold]

Thanks if it falls through let me know as I may be interested, though I've never played fretless...love that sound!

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Kent, I'll keep that in mind. If you already play fretted there is a small learning curve to fretless but most folks adapt pretty quickly. I usually put indicators on the side of the neck so you can see where frets would be. That helps me a lot since I mostly play fretted.

[@clawhammer704]

These fiddle pegs and nylon strings are tough to keep in tune.

[@morbanjo2503]

They certainly can be!

[@DrDickNose]

What a great idea. Was thinking of making a gourd banjo but might try making one of these first.

[@morbanjo2503]

Thank you! I make my gourd instruments the same way as these salad bowl instruments. In some ways, salad bowls are easier and sound quite similar to gourds.

[@luisitocigarbox]

Bonito banjo, y suena muy bien :)

[@morbanjo2503]

Gracias Luis.

[@jeetray11]

what is the scale length? 24"? Can you make one for me?

[@stephengura4208]

Great sound! But can I get the soup instead of the salad? :)

[@morbanjo2503]

Thanks Stephen. How about a soup can canjo?

[@stephengura4208]

Sure, I'd buy that. Chicken soup is good for the soul, I hear.

[@morbanjo2503]

Soup cans worked for Andy Warhol!

[@stephengura4208]

I was serious about buying a canjo. A lot of sound for not much instrument. Not sure how a soup can would sound--aren't they a little thick?

[@morbanjo2503]

We'll talk Stephen. Soup cans don't resonate quite as well as a good 24 0z beer can does but they're not bad. Hmm, what kind of beer goes with soup?

[@-jank-willson]

nylon strings?

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes, they're Aquila Nylgut strings.

[@splatbabylon]

Do you make these to sell?

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes I do Drew. This one was made for a client who changed her mind so it's available.

[@splatbabylon]

Well I was hoping to ask you about a ore custom thing. How much for this one?

[@morbanjo2503]

I'd be happy with $150 plus shipping for this one since the buyer changed her mind. You can email me at [e-mail]