QUICKIE BANJOLELE PROJECT

scott spencer

Member
Messages
953
Location
Rochester, NY
I made this "banjolele" for my youngest daughter's 17th birthday. It's not exactly fine woodworking, but she likes it, and it was fun to do.

For those interested, it's really pretty easy too. It's mostly a matter of sourcing some parts, and assembling them. You can make the whole thing from scratch if you want, but I just bought components from Ebay....concert size mahogany ukulele neck and rosewood fretboard, a 10" Suzuki hand drum (8" or 12" would work too, and/or you could use a tambourine with the jingles removed), then appropriate hardware like tuning pegs, bridge/saddle, tail piece, etc. The decals and electro-luminescent tape were optional! (the banjo head lights up on this one)

The main assembly includes just bolting the neck to the hand drum body. I sanded a slight curve on the inside of the neck where it mates to the body, and drilled some holes for two hangar bolts. I also made a small cut out in the neck for the tensioning ring around the drum head. You can also buy a hand drum that's doesn't have the tension hooks. The most important part is getting the neck flush with the drum head so the fret board sits just above it. Some paint and stain, and voila...a banjolele! A great easy way to get acquainted with building string instruments for ~ $50.

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Scott, Scott, Scott.

My wife is going to have to have a talk with you about not tempting me to take on new projects!!!

I love this! That is so cool, and great pictures as well!
 
Scott, Scott, Scott.

My wife is going to have to have a talk with you about not tempting me to take on new projects!!!

I love this! That is so cool, and great pictures as well!

This so much this :rofl:

Nice job Scott! :thumb:

I'm assuming with the lightweight strings you're using you can skip the dowel rod/perch pole through the center of the drum?

I've spent a fair bit of time reading http://www.bluestemstrings.com/pageBanjoDesign.html which explained a lot of how these things go together for me (but haven't quite gotten up enough gumption to do it yet). The assembly of parts like this looks like a really fantastic way to dip my toes in the water so thanks again for the great idea!
 
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