Wow, I’ve never seen a gourd banjo before. It looks fantastic. So much to learn in life!

Glad your fingers are all there. I try to do fewer stupid things as I get older. Some days I succeed. Probably good that I don’t have too many power tools. :)

It was a close call but I was able to avoid any thing getting cut on my band saw and I was doing something that I knew better i was trying to make the tail piece thinner after shaping it  by taking a 1/8 inch slice off and the blade grabbed the tail piece when i got about half way through and flipped it pulling my hand towards the blade it was a stark reminder that accidents happen when you least expect them, the bad part is i knew better than to do what i was attempting it was a stupid thing on my part that i will not do again and yes at 62 people still do stupid thing LOL me included

Super cool! Glad you're back with us.

Don, it's wonderful you're going to build gourd banjos for your kids and grandkids!  

Oh, I'm so glad you kept all your fingers in the process of working that snakewood!

To start I tuned it to standard G tuning which I did for a reason I wanted to see if it would hold up to the strain or literally come apart I left it that way for 4-5 days and then i de tuned it down to C# A C# E A that tuning is starting at the fifth going to first strings.

The moon inlays I hand cut out of a 8mill copper sheet with a pair of scissors I used Jacks green patina to age the moon inlays, since I wanted it fretless I wanted some kind of markers for as to where all the frets would have been if they were there

the sound hole is also man in the moons facing each other the neck is hand carved from a 2x4 piece of zebra wood i had laying around the peg head is the only thing I had to use a power tool to cut out

I am pretty happy with the way it came out but there are things i will not do the same on my next one like bolting the neck on solid which made it extremely difficult to install the goat skin head  i have four more I will be building because my son and daughter want one and two grand kids also want one

this one i just finished is my trial run to learn what and what not to do

I currently have it strung with nylon La Bella (Classic 17) .019, .022, .028, .025, .019

forgot to add my twist on the tail piece I used a piece of snake wood I had laying around that I cut out with my band saw and almost lost some fingers in the process, LOL

Love that gourd banjer!  The moon inlay! And the copper tacks?

Wow i bet it has a wonderful deep voice. How are you tuning it Don?

I like the sound of gourd banjos with deep voices, Don.  Enjoy playing your new build!  

Thank you @ken-longfield it only took me about 6 months to build but i am happy with the way it came out the gourd pot is just over 12 inches across and 4.5 inches deep it has a very deep old voice

Very nice Don. Have fun playing it. Welcome back.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well I have been fairly busy for awhile between taking care of my wife and building her a Dulcimer and me a Gourd Banjo I have finally completed my Gourd banjo and wanted to post up a couple of photos

so here they are

gourd banjo.jpg  •  41KB

gourd banjo2.jpg  •  154KB

gourd banjo neck 1.jpg  •  31KB

banjo neck.jpg  •  111KB

gourd banjo 4.jpg  •  279KB