Tip: you can use cotton sheet and white(pva) glue for inside reinforcing, strong as hell. Just takes a while, patience required. I found 7 layers to be sufficient, never had a gourd crack or break on me... Another one: with steel wire, bend your initials into two pieces, blowtorch em red hot and push into dowelstick with a scrap of wood by means of branding. You have to work fast, but works 2 out of 3 times for me. 😊
oh wow I've gotta try that, I just made an absolute mess trying to fiberglass 4 gourds at once, I'm really sick of it. I will definitely try the cotton and pva glue, and great idea for the brand! A homemade brand would fit my aesthetic better anyway
Beautiful instrument. That tip for the wood burner is probably the hardest to get little details with at least for me. I'll bet if you got a round one it would be easier to do the name and number and the results would be more what you want. The banjo sounds great too
thanks! yeah haha I actually realized afterward that I was using the worst tip, I used the round one on the last banjo I did and you're right, it's way easier
That is a bigass gourd. Also the distorted stuff at the end is what punk rock would have sounded like in another universe where minstrelsy never brought about the drum head and if guitar didn't catch on as the blues instrument
@@rasmusn.e.m1064 yeah I do use one now, especially when I'm cutting or sanding the gourd. Getting that dust in my lungs would mess me up for at least the entire day, it's really nasty stuff
Beautiful work, Sir! Whole lot of love in this build, the sound is amazing! PLEASE get a high-quality respirator, N 95 , the best you can get. You only get two lungs, you must take care of yourealf... Sorry, I don't mean to lecture you, I just want you around for a long time! Someday, we will have to talk about you doing a build for me.....
You should try making a Kora. Its an instrument from the Gambia and Senegal that's like a combination of a gourd banjo and a harp. Its one of the most beautiful sounding instruments out there.
I think some people use a cut-off reamer for the fifth peg, so you don't have to drill quite as far speaking of which, did you go for the inexpensive amazon/ebay/aliexpress reamer and shaver? I'm considering going that route but worried about wasting my money, ...but the name-brand violin stuff is shockingly expensive.
I think the cheaper ones work just fine. Mine was $21 and it works great. If I was making friction pegs all the time I would work towards upgrading but I usually am installing geared tuners. Do whatever ben is doing I'd say. His friction tuners work really well.
yeah like Jesse said I think the cheaper reamers are fine, I've used mine quite a bit and it hasn't dulled much at all yet, it was about $15 on amazon. I know a lot of people buy 2 reamers and cut one for the 5th peg, that seems like the way to go. I have one that I bought with the intention of cutting it, but the steel is so hard my hacksaw can't even make a dent in it lol. I need an angle grinder or something.
check out my recent videos, I build a gourd bass guitar and it came out really cool. I wanna do more stuff like that but it's been tough for me to track down really large gourds. I may start using calabash for stuff like that
I'm not a big banjo fan but I gotta say this is the best banjo sound I've ever heard. I like the warm hollow sounds more than the metallic twangy sound of a standard banjo.
Gorgeous instrument, man. Visually and acoustically. Good job. I want to make my own some day, and thankfully I have your videos to help me. Great work. That said, GET YOURSELF A RESPIRATOR. Fiberglass in the lungs is not good.
Just want to echo your statement about fiberglass fumes. You can dif hurt yourself and the more you expose yourself to the fumes the more your body can start reacting to contact. Im at the point where I will have a pretty extreme reaction on my skin should I make any contact with my dermis. I definitely recommend you use an auto body rated hepa filters with a respirator. Check out the one that has dark blue silicone and has a quick realse so you can lower the respo from your face without taking the whole thing off thats the most comfortable Iv found that you can find at Home Depo/ Lowes most of the time.
Thanks yeah I've been using a basic respirator mask and that works great for the gourd and fiberglass dust, but not so much for the fumes. I'll check those hepa filters out. I'm also getting some more noticeable skin reactions, really nasty stuff
Great build project. I’ve built a couple of acoustic guitars and I think this should be on my short list for a project. Where did you source the gourd?
Not saying it as a bad thing but you speak so slow and calm that if you play this at 2x speed you sound almost normal lol anyway love the video really cool what you can do with a gourd
0:40 in, my boy done used tha earth as a sanding block.. The kind of ingenuity we need on this site
It really comes alive in that lower tuning, very fine work.
Tip: you can use cotton sheet and white(pva) glue for inside reinforcing, strong as hell. Just takes a while, patience required. I found 7 layers to be sufficient, never had a gourd crack or break on me...
Another one: with steel wire, bend your initials into two pieces, blowtorch em red hot and push into dowelstick with a scrap of wood by means of branding. You have to work fast, but works 2 out of 3 times for me.
😊
oh wow I've gotta try that, I just made an absolute mess trying to fiberglass 4 gourds at once, I'm really sick of it. I will definitely try the cotton and pva glue, and great idea for the brand! A homemade brand would fit my aesthetic better anyway
Beautiful instrument. That tip for the wood burner is probably the hardest to get little details with at least for me. I'll bet if you got a round one it would be easier to do the name and number and the results would be more what you want. The banjo sounds great too
thanks! yeah haha I actually realized afterward that I was using the worst tip, I used the round one on the last banjo I did and you're right, it's way easier
That is a bigass gourd. Also the distorted stuff at the end is what punk rock would have sounded like in another universe where minstrelsy never brought about the drum head and if guitar didn't catch on as the blues instrument
that gourd can sing!
Definitely get a respirator. The gourd dust is also very fine and gets in your lungs. Take care.
I said the same thing the first time he uploaded this, I believe he got one now.
@@rasmusn.e.m1064 yeah I do use one now, especially when I'm cutting or sanding the gourd. Getting that dust in my lungs would mess me up for at least the entire day, it's really nasty stuff
Lol
Beautiful work, Sir! Whole lot of love in this build, the sound is amazing!
PLEASE get a high-quality respirator, N 95 , the best you can get. You only get two lungs, you must take care of yourealf... Sorry, I don't mean to lecture you, I just want you around for a long time! Someday, we will have to talk about you doing a build for me.....
You should try making a Kora. Its an instrument from the Gambia and Senegal that's like a combination of a gourd banjo and a harp. Its one of the most beautiful sounding instruments out there.
Yeah I miss the sound of slides when I listen to Korra music but it's certainly gorgeous. And making the bridge for one would be a good challenge !!
that bit at the very end sounded really amazing :DD you seem like a really cool human! thx for the build!!😊
Sounds cool. Nice work man! 👍
WOW GIANT!👍💪✌
I love your videos and your instruments even more!
Keep the rolls rolling,
One Eyed Banjo
I think some people use a cut-off reamer for the fifth peg, so you don't have to drill quite as far
speaking of which, did you go for the inexpensive amazon/ebay/aliexpress reamer and shaver? I'm considering going that route but worried about wasting my money, ...but the name-brand violin stuff is shockingly expensive.
I think the cheaper ones work just fine. Mine was $21 and it works great. If I was making friction pegs all the time I would work towards upgrading but I usually am installing geared tuners. Do whatever ben is doing I'd say. His friction tuners work really well.
yeah like Jesse said I think the cheaper reamers are fine, I've used mine quite a bit and it hasn't dulled much at all yet, it was about $15 on amazon.
I know a lot of people buy 2 reamers and cut one for the 5th peg, that seems like the way to go. I have one that I bought with the intention of cutting it, but the steel is so hard my hacksaw can't even make a dent in it lol. I need an angle grinder or something.
wow sounds great! What strings did you use on this one?
i wood really like to see you make a gourd bass or baratone banjo keep doin amazing work
check out my recent videos, I build a gourd bass guitar and it came out really cool. I wanna do more stuff like that but it's been tough for me to track down really large gourds. I may start using calabash for stuff like that
I'm not a big banjo fan but I gotta say this is the best banjo sound I've ever heard. I like the warm hollow sounds more than the metallic twangy sound of a standard banjo.
Woah crazy coincidence, Seth is my old roommate!
Damn that’s cool as hell
Gorgeous instrument, man. Visually and acoustically. Good job. I want to make my own some day, and thankfully I have your videos to help me. Great work.
That said, GET YOURSELF A RESPIRATOR. Fiberglass in the lungs is not good.
Beautiful!
nice job
sounds pretty good. keep it up
Awesome video Ben!
thanks!
This is so cool!
Just want to echo your statement about fiberglass fumes. You can dif hurt yourself and the more you expose yourself to the fumes the more your body can start reacting to contact. Im at the point where I will have a pretty extreme reaction on my skin should I make any contact with my dermis.
I definitely recommend you use an auto body rated hepa filters with a respirator. Check out the one that has dark blue silicone and has a quick realse so you can lower the respo from your face without taking the whole thing off thats the most comfortable Iv found that you can find at Home Depo/ Lowes most of the time.
Thanks yeah I've been using a basic respirator mask and that works great for the gourd and fiberglass dust, but not so much for the fumes. I'll check those hepa filters out.
I'm also getting some more noticeable skin reactions, really nasty stuff
Nice.
Great build project. I’ve built a couple of acoustic guitars and I think this should be on my short list for a project. Where did you source the gourd?
thanks! I got it from Wellburn Gourd Farm near Fallbrook, CA, really great place
Do you have any plans that you sell for your banjos? I’d love to build one following your plans!
How do you figure out the measurements for the neck?
Not saying it as a bad thing but you speak so slow and calm that if you play this at 2x speed you sound almost normal lol anyway love the video really cool what you can do with a gourd
Tell me what ist should look like and I make you a stamp for free