Just when I thought I couldn't get any dumber

I've been working on two new banjos on and off since August. Bought all of the hardware a couple of months ago or more, I checked the list when it came in to make sure everything was there. I never realized till I got the first one all ready yesterday that I forgot to order the strings. The good news is that the place where I order strings is having a 20% off sale, but now I have to wait till Wednesday or maybe Friday before I can string them up and see how they sound. Oh well, maybe I'll learn something, or maybe not. Just thought I'd post a couple of pictures of one of them to show what I've been doing when I should have been working on tractors.
Zach

Cool ! Wish I could hear you play. Maybe U Tube ?

I have one , but never learned to play it.

Looks really nice. I wish I could play one but I can't even manage to learn to play a guitar.

I have one like that. It's a Bell Brand. Very old. It belonged to my great grandfather and who knows before that. Brought it with him from WVA to Ohio in 1919. Tried to learn it but gave it up.

Nice job Zach! Are those frets set into the neck, or do you have a fingerboard? Are you an accomplished banjo picker?

A 96 year old lady in our church told me that she used to play the banjo. A couple of Sundays later, she asked if I'd re-string her banjo for her. I said, You mean you still have the banjo? She said yes, it belonged to her dad, and he bought it before he married her mom. It was a used instrument when he bought it. I picked up some strings and stopped by her house to get the banjo. The case was falling apart, but the instrument was in fine shape. It was a five string. Blond color. No name on it, but lots of inlay on the headstock and fretboard. Had a calfskin head, and no resonator. Friction pegs. Looked like a brass tone ring. It had a mandolin tailpiece on it, with some of the hooks broken off. Something I noticed on it - the dot markers on the fretboard were laid out like those on a guitar, rather than the common banjo layout. I strung it up, and it sounded pretty good. I left it tuned low (scared of the old calfskin head) and it had a neat John Hartford sound. I made her promise not to let some shyster talk her out of it. She was a widow with no children, and she gave it to her great nephew, who is a guitar player. It was truly a family heirloom. She passed away in 2008, and the old banjo is in good hands.

Wish you wasn't so darn far away - I love to back up a good banjo picker.

Paul

nice lookin banjer, i just started learning clawhammer. One of thse days i'll get an openback.For now i'm useing my stelling whitestar. Sounds good scrugg style but not really the right sound for claw.

Do you hang out on Banjohangout.org?

Beautiful craftsmanship. Very nice.

Went riding with a friend last Friday. Since it was just for the afternoon, I used the small horse trailer. That meant moving gear from tack room/big trailer to the small trailer. Got everything loaded and did a mental check of my gear to make sure I had everything.

Loaded my horse and left. When I got to the place we were going to ride, I unloaded my horse and started saddling up. Guess what! I forgot the girth. DUH!

Luckily Alice had an extra I could use.

I hate moving gear from trailer to tack room or from tack room to trailer.

I know where you are coming from, Now when I go riding the first rule is saddle your horse at home. I make my buddies do the same thing, saves a lot of embarrassment down the road. Vic