My entire family was legitimately from the roots of the Appalachian, talking moonshiners to coal miners, and all through the years at least one family member from every generation has played the banjo, I’m glad to be who I am and I love the instrument I play.
I cant find any detailed information on the course, is it all online, do I watch and build at my own pace, how long do I have access to the course, is course available on DVD
I live in a rural part of North eastern India but I am always fascinated by the Appalachian culture and the Banjo. I have no knowledge about banjos as there's no one here who builds or sells it. I don't even know to play it but thanks to TH-cam tutorials I have now built about 7 or 8 mountain banjos and all of them sound really nice. I am proud of my builds. I hope someday I may be able to visit ya'll. Thank you and God bless!
Well I got you covered there if you want to learn! th-cam.com/video/bNmIbzFoGh4/w-d-xo.html it is an online class you can learn at your own pace. I would love to see your banjos one day!
It is great to play especially for people just learning. That is one of the reasons I made the class. I made a banjo just like this to learn on, because the first one I made didnt have frets so I made a second one to get used to before playing the fretless one again.
@@JDanielGraham I really want a banjo with frets to advance my clawhammer studies. A fretless is cool, and I love playing it, but above the 5th fret it's like terra incognito, and I want to learn play up there.
That appalachian banjo sounds very sweet! I've knocked together a few banjoes, and I don't know what makes some sound good and others sound like a pile of wet cardboard being whacked with a stick. One guy I met said all his were either squawkers or barkers and he didn't know which one it'd be till he strung it up. (Neither name sounded very pleasant, but those banjoes sure did.) Good job! Very good job.
The one I made in the video course is out of ambrosia maple and cherry. But you can use any wood you wish if you want to build your own. Some are preferred over others due to density, specifically in the neck you don't want to have something to soft. But I mainly really enjoyed the contrast and color combination of the woods.
do you use a slight downwards angle (e.g. 3 degrees) that traditional banjo have. The neck looks perfectly level and parallel (0 degrees) to the pot/head. My guess is you do not use any neck angle and still achieve a good action just by an appropriate height of bridge. Thanks.
For metal string banjos I do a neck angle of 2.5-3º but for mountain banjos I keep them flat. For me the nylon strings (because of their range of motion when they are hit) end up buzzing more often with the angled neck and you have to have a taller bridge. So I keep most everything designed for nylon strings with 0º neck angle. Also in the case of the classes, for people just learning to make a banjo it makes life a lot easier! Hope that answers it for your. Thanks for the question.
@@JDanielGraham - Thank you. Some people tell me you always need some kind of angle on the neck for stringed instruments. I couldn't understand why. primitive and older stringed instruments don't look like they have an angle. It is likely more a relatively new thing. Probably to achieve lower string action for playing comfort. Thanks for clarifying. What tools do you need for building a mountain banjo in your course?
@@jeetray11 Yeah its a more recent things and exactly for what you said. It is for fretting higher up the neck, comfort and for higher angle tension on metal strings. I currently have two banjo building courses. One for folks who have some tooling available. Like a bandsaw, chop saw, table saw, scroll saw. The second is one that is made with the most basic of tools..a hand saw, a coping saw, a hand drill and a file (and a reamer if you want to make your own pegs). Here is that one th-cam.com/video/xLWuYPbx4ZQ/w-d-xo.html They are both fun but different. I am hoping to do a canjo banjo course and a gourd banjo course at some point as well as time permits.
And here is a link to the trailer if you want to watch it. Thanks for your interest and let me know if you have any questions. th-cam.com/video/xLWuYPbx4ZQ/w-d-xo.html
@@quintinpace2627 I thought it would be fun to make an electric one. But it stops sounding like a banjo to me. Still fun to play and all but its just not the same. Somehow you loose something in it.
My entire family was legitimately from the roots of the Appalachian, talking moonshiners to coal miners, and all through the years at least one family member from every generation has played the banjo, I’m glad to be who I am and I love the instrument I play.
Thats fantastic! Its something for sure to be proud of.
I cant find any detailed information on the course, is it all online, do I watch and build at my own pace, how long do I have access to the course, is course available on DVD
I live in a rural part of North eastern India but I am always fascinated by the Appalachian culture and the Banjo. I have no knowledge about banjos as there's no one here who builds or sells it. I don't even know to play it but thanks to TH-cam tutorials I have now built about 7 or 8 mountain banjos and all of them sound really nice. I am proud of my builds. I hope someday I may be able to visit ya'll. Thank you and God bless!
Well I got you covered there if you want to learn! th-cam.com/video/bNmIbzFoGh4/w-d-xo.html it is an online class you can learn at your own pace. I would love to see your banjos one day!
Very cool!!! The fretted option is almost irresistible, as well as unexpected.😊
It is great to play especially for people just learning. That is one of the reasons I made the class. I made a banjo just like this to learn on, because the first one I made didnt have frets so I made a second one to get used to before playing the fretless one again.
@@JDanielGraham I really want a banjo with frets to advance my clawhammer studies. A fretless is cool, and I love playing it, but above the 5th fret it's like terra incognito, and I want to learn play up there.
@@drewby613 Well now you need to make one!
@@JDanielGraham 😄
I am excited to start this project, thanks for sharing!
Im excited to see it all come together! make sure to share some photos when you are done!
Ciao , sarebbe possibile avere i disegni con le misure ,per la costruzione del banjo?
The drawings and all measurements come with the course.
That appalachian banjo sounds very sweet! I've knocked together a few banjoes, and I don't know what makes some sound good and others sound like a pile of wet cardboard being whacked with a stick. One guy I met said all his were either squawkers or barkers and he didn't know which one it'd be till he strung it up. (Neither name sounded very pleasant, but those banjoes sure did.) Good job! Very good job.
haha. Thanks. Its all the the small decisions as to the sound. The wood the skin, how tight, nut, bridge all of it adds up.
Hello friend, how beautiful your banjos... what is the value of a banjo? I am from Chile. Regards
It depends on the banjo. They range from $800 to $3,000
What kind of wood are you using?
The one I made in the video course is out of ambrosia maple and cherry. But you can use any wood you wish if you want to build your own. Some are preferred over others due to density, specifically in the neck you don't want to have something to soft. But I mainly really enjoyed the contrast and color combination of the woods.
@@JDanielGraham thanks and i agree i loved the combination and contrast of the wood
do you use a slight downwards angle (e.g. 3 degrees) that traditional banjo have. The neck looks perfectly level and parallel (0 degrees) to the pot/head. My guess is you do not use any neck angle and still achieve a good action just by an appropriate height of bridge. Thanks.
For metal string banjos I do a neck angle of 2.5-3º but for mountain banjos I keep them flat. For me the nylon strings (because of their range of motion when they are hit) end up buzzing more often with the angled neck and you have to have a taller bridge. So I keep most everything designed for nylon strings with 0º neck angle. Also in the case of the classes, for people just learning to make a banjo it makes life a lot easier! Hope that answers it for your. Thanks for the question.
@@JDanielGraham - Thank you. Some people tell me you always need some kind of angle on the neck for stringed instruments. I couldn't understand why. primitive and older stringed instruments don't look like they have an angle. It is likely more a relatively new thing. Probably to achieve lower string action for playing comfort. Thanks for clarifying. What tools do you need for building a mountain banjo in your course?
@@jeetray11 Yeah its a more recent things and exactly for what you said. It is for fretting higher up the neck, comfort and for higher angle tension on metal strings. I currently have two banjo building courses. One for folks who have some tooling available. Like a bandsaw, chop saw, table saw, scroll saw. The second is one that is made with the most basic of tools..a hand saw, a coping saw, a hand drill and a file (and a reamer if you want to make your own pegs). Here is that one th-cam.com/video/xLWuYPbx4ZQ/w-d-xo.html They are both fun but different. I am hoping to do a canjo banjo course and a gourd banjo course at some point as well as time permits.
At 1:10 you mention a second course on building a banjo with just basic tools. Please provide me a link to that course. Thanks!
Here is a link to the course! jdgraham.net/product/fretless-octagon-kentucky-banjo-build/
And here is a link to the trailer if you want to watch it. Thanks for your interest and let me know if you have any questions.
th-cam.com/video/xLWuYPbx4ZQ/w-d-xo.html
I know what I (hope) to be doing this summer
Great! Yeah it is a super fun one to make! I would love to see you make one.
@@JDanielGraham Sweet. It reminded me of those old aluminum fry-pan steels tone-wise. Pretty cool to do for a banjo.
@@quintinpace2627 I thought it would be fun to make an electric one. But it stops sounding like a banjo to me. Still fun to play and all but its just not the same. Somehow you loose something in it.