Make Your Own Banjo

A banjo is a wonderful instrument and when played well you get a great sound. Now you could go out and buy a Banjo but if you are a little bit handy you can actually make you own. It isn’t that difficult and is a lot of fun to do. This hub has the steps to making your own Banjo.

1. You need to work out what basic materials you will need. For this example we are using 3/4 inch scrap plywood, 1/8 inch Masonite composite board, and 1/4 inch Luaun plywood.

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2. Now work out how big you are going to make your banjo. Because you need to scribe a neat circle consider using something such as an inverted 5 gallon bucket

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3. You need to mark two circles the diameter of banjo's body. Using a jigsaw cut these out. Make sure you  follow the line as closely as possible, since these will be mated pieces.

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4. You want the finished plywood to form a ring so scribe a line about 3/4 inch inside your first cut. Leave some wider places on opposite sides for attaching the instrument's neck. Cut these with your jigsaw, as well as some blocks about two inches long and 3/4 inch wide on roughly the same radius for spacers.

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5. Now you need to fit the two plywood rings making sure they match closely. If they are not very round, make marks on their edges, so they can be refitted in the same position when they are fastened together permanently.

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6. Attach two stacked spacer blocks at 5 or 6 locations around one of your rings, then place the other ring on top, and fasten through the top ring and spacers into the bottom ring using wood screws, and preferably, wood glue.

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7. Cut a piece of finished grade plywood to fit one side of your soundbox. You can scribe it with the box itself, or the bucket or other item you originally scribed the first rings with, and if you like, allow it to be slightly oversized so it can be sanded to fit nicely.

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8. Cut a piece of 1/8 inch Masonite composite sheeting or other material to wrap this assembly. Attach one end near where you think the intrument's neck will be attached, then wrap it around the frame, securing it will glue and small wood screws.

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9. Cut your banjo's neck from a piece of 2X4 lumber. Make it about 24-26 inches long, tapered from 3 1/2 inches on one end to about 1 1/2 inches on the other. Attach this to the soundbox through one of the blocking spacers you have previously added, using heavy wood screws predrilled through the soundbox. Bevel the last two inches of the opposite end to attach the endpiece.

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10. Cut out the endpiece for the banjo neck, tapering it from about 2 inches to 3 inches in with, 1/2 to 1 inch in thickness, 4 or 4 1/2 inches long. Attach this with two wood screws, keeping it aligned with the neck.

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11. Stretch the drum material over the face of the soundbox, tacking or screwing the material you use to side. Plasic, fabric, or even natural animal membrane can be used for this. In the example in the pictures, a faux leather was purchased for this purpose. Make sure that the  material is stretched very tightly.

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12. Attach eyescrews at the endpiece of the neck for the number of strings you intend to use. Attach a simple block on the end of the soundbox opposite the neck, and attach eyescrews here, also. Do not tighten these screws all the way down, as they may need to have space on the screw thread to turn for tuning the banjo.

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13.  Cut lengths of string for stringing the instrument. You will need to cut them a few inches longer than the distance from the eyes screws on each end, allowing for tying a simple knot to secure them. Use varying sizes of string, for example, if you use nylon monofilament fishing line, use 100 pound, 60 pound, 30 pound, and 15 pound test lines, to vary the pitch of each. Larger diameter (higher pound test) lines will produce a lower pitched sound, and adjusting the tightness of these strings by twisting the eyescrews allowing the strings to wrap the shank will fine-tune the pitch.

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14. Cut blocks of wood about 3/8 inch wide and 2 inches or so long, for frets, tapering them so the tops will be narrow when they are attached to the banjo neck. These can be spaced depending on your preference, but experiment to locate a convenient fingering location, which will depend on how you grip the neck when playing.

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15. Cut an extra block in the previous step to attach to the diaphram. This will bridge the gap between the strings and the diaphram, transmitting vibrations from the strings, which are acoustically modified and amplified by it.

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16. Sand or use a block plane to smooth and/or round any rough edges that will be exposed, then finish the wood with stain and varnish, paint, plastic decals, or any other method you choose. Keep in mind, this is intended to be a fun project, so limit the amount of rules you impose on yourself.

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17. Tune and play around with your banjo, keeping in mind that the original instruments were made from gourds and bamboo limbs, with animal skin thongs for strings, fashioned with hand tools, and evolved into the chrome and lacquer decendants you see in professional musician's hands today.