Who Am I?
Name: Bill (William) Battle
Age: I was born in 1963
Background:
I am a tool and die maker by training and by heart. I have about 30 years experience handling and working with metal working equipment. The tooling and manual machining business has depleted in the US for my entire career. Since 2005 I have been earning my living as a development engineering project manager. I am doing this for the same company that I previously worked in their research and development model shop.
I have a small machine shop in my barn that I still do a few jobs a year out of. Usually emergency jobs for some local companies, R&D, reworking and or supplying some quick turn parts.
My banjo back ground:
The Christmas of 2011 Kim, my wife, gave me a Mitchell banjo. I had inadvertently mentioned to her, before Christmas, that it would be cool to own a banjo. Now I’m obligated to learn something about banjos. Just for the record, I got her back. She mentioned harmonicas so I bought her a whole set for Valentine’s Day.
I have never before this, picked up a banjo or strummed across the strings. I have never really listened to banjo music. I’m an old punker so my music interests are more like The Ramones, Sexpistols, Devo, B 52’s etc.
My only exposure to banjo would have been, of course, Steve Martin and Boston based punk with bands like Flogging Molly. The former XM radio punk station Fungus had a show hosted by Lou Brutus called Hee Haw Hell. It showcased cowpunking and psychobilly bands. With Mojo Nixon, Dash Rip Rock, Goober and the Peas being some of my favorites. Now I am sampling the styling’s of Bela Fleck and such.
Since my wife bought me my first banjo, I have purchased a Concerter banjo and I constructed two banjo’s of my own designs in my small barn shop.
Why I am doing this:
I have found satisfaction building banjos. It is just an indescribable feeling to design build and play an instrument. If the instrument sounds good it’s a bonus. I might eventually try my hand in acoustic guitars but that takes a little more equipment and or different equipment than I have now.
With no name as a builder, no one is knocking at my door asking me to build them a banjo. I have little to no experience as a luthier. Becoming a professional banjo luthier just isn’t happening. So I decided to share my building experiences with others, my triumphs, failures innovative ideas etc.
(I will not call myself a Luthier but referred to myself as a builder. As a tool maker I have done plenty of welding but I am smart enough to never call myself a welder. Those guys have talent gained from 10 of thousands of hours of experience that I don’t have.)
With this blog I can advertise, maybe generating a little income to support my addiction, I mean habit umm hobby.
As I build the blog and you follow it, there may be some interest in the banjos that I’m making giving me an opportunity to unload them before I end up on the TV show Hoarders, with my family unable to navigate through our home due to all of the banjo’s. I’ve done the math. I’ve collected four banjos in just the first year. (Gasp!)
Why build my own:
Why not. I had a barn, tools and Hickory planks drying in my barn. I had no plans for the hickory. Also, I needed to make room in the barn to dry some oak. I thought build a banjo. If a hickory banjo sounds like crap, it can always be barn art.
I had the hickory because it stood where I wanted to build my barn. So I cut the tree down, gave allot of chips away to friends who smoke meat, used some for fire wood, built a log bench for my porch and stored some planks in my barn.
Name: Bill (William) Battle
Age: I was born in 1963
Background:
I am a tool and die maker by training and by heart. I have about 30 years experience handling and working with metal working equipment. The tooling and manual machining business has depleted in the US for my entire career. Since 2005 I have been earning my living as a development engineering project manager. I am doing this for the same company that I previously worked in their research and development model shop.
I have a small machine shop in my barn that I still do a few jobs a year out of. Usually emergency jobs for some local companies, R&D, reworking and or supplying some quick turn parts.
My banjo back ground:
The Christmas of 2011 Kim, my wife, gave me a Mitchell banjo. I had inadvertently mentioned to her, before Christmas, that it would be cool to own a banjo. Now I’m obligated to learn something about banjos. Just for the record, I got her back. She mentioned harmonicas so I bought her a whole set for Valentine’s Day.
I have never before this, picked up a banjo or strummed across the strings. I have never really listened to banjo music. I’m an old punker so my music interests are more like The Ramones, Sexpistols, Devo, B 52’s etc.
My only exposure to banjo would have been, of course, Steve Martin and Boston based punk with bands like Flogging Molly. The former XM radio punk station Fungus had a show hosted by Lou Brutus called Hee Haw Hell. It showcased cowpunking and psychobilly bands. With Mojo Nixon, Dash Rip Rock, Goober and the Peas being some of my favorites. Now I am sampling the styling’s of Bela Fleck and such.
Since my wife bought me my first banjo, I have purchased a Concerter banjo and I constructed two banjo’s of my own designs in my small barn shop.
Why I am doing this:
I have found satisfaction building banjos. It is just an indescribable feeling to design build and play an instrument. If the instrument sounds good it’s a bonus. I might eventually try my hand in acoustic guitars but that takes a little more equipment and or different equipment than I have now.
With no name as a builder, no one is knocking at my door asking me to build them a banjo. I have little to no experience as a luthier. Becoming a professional banjo luthier just isn’t happening. So I decided to share my building experiences with others, my triumphs, failures innovative ideas etc.
(I will not call myself a Luthier but referred to myself as a builder. As a tool maker I have done plenty of welding but I am smart enough to never call myself a welder. Those guys have talent gained from 10 of thousands of hours of experience that I don’t have.)
With this blog I can advertise, maybe generating a little income to support my addiction, I mean habit umm hobby.
As I build the blog and you follow it, there may be some interest in the banjos that I’m making giving me an opportunity to unload them before I end up on the TV show Hoarders, with my family unable to navigate through our home due to all of the banjo’s. I’ve done the math. I’ve collected four banjos in just the first year. (Gasp!)
Why build my own:
Why not. I had a barn, tools and Hickory planks drying in my barn. I had no plans for the hickory. Also, I needed to make room in the barn to dry some oak. I thought build a banjo. If a hickory banjo sounds like crap, it can always be barn art.
I had the hickory because it stood where I wanted to build my barn. So I cut the tree down, gave allot of chips away to friends who smoke meat, used some for fire wood, built a log bench for my porch and stored some planks in my barn.
Getting Started:
Why build what I can buy? I wanted a design of my own with innovations good or bad, improvements yet to be discovered. So I started with what would I want different from my Mitchell?
1. First of all I have fat fingers I need more space between the strings.
2. I also need more space between the lowest most D string and my fingers. I keep inadvertently muting the string as I play.
3. I am tired of pulling the resonator off to adjust the head.
4. I don’t want to have truss rods to adjust and I still want a straight neck with low action.
5. I want to be able to change the neck angle / string to fret action-clearance without removing the resonator.
I purchased some books for my Kindle. The first “How to Set Up the Best Sounding Banjo” written by Roger H Siminoff
Some basic points that I learned from this book was:
1. The mass of the tub contributes to the banjos ability to sustain a tone.
2. The head skin makes a difference. Thicker painted heads give lower tones and mellow sounds, less or unpainted heads give higher tones and sharper sounds
3. The head tension ring stiffness brightens the tone. A 24 bolt tension ring is stiffer so the tone should be brighter.
4. The fret board needs to be in contact with the head tension ring. I have not identified why but I have been following this practice.
5. A 9 ½” inch active head area is prefered. Regardless of the actual head size the tone ring should restrict the active area to 9 ½” (this is probably an argument able point. It may be that it is easier to obtain a proper tension and get the correct note from an active area of 9 ½”)
6. The importance of a tone ring.
7. The affect different strings will have on sound / tone.
8. On a resonator banjo, the purpose of a resonator is to return the sound waves back to the banjo head / sounding board to make the sound sustain / resonate.
You may learn other points, read it for yourself. Also, do your own experiments and you will have a better understanding of how and why your banjo sounds like it does.
Initially I used this information to help me change the sound of my Mitchell banjo and achieve a sharper tone from it even though it is tone ring less. I did this by basically changing to light weight strings and a clear unpainted head.
Then I used the same information to fix the Conceter and make it playable. I am not sure about this banjo. I cannot find any information on it. I believe that it is Korean made. It has a cast aluminum pot. It was used and well abused. I’m not sure they were ever sold in the US. I purchased it off the gumtree when I was in Centurion South Africa.
The next book I down loaded was also by Roger H. Siminoff, “Constructing a 5_string banjo a complete technical guide”. I have never met this Siminoff guy but, as an R&D engineering guy and a machinist, I am qualified to point out that he is one of the sharper tools in the shed.
Unlike the previous book with lots o f theory, this book is the nuts and bolts. What tools, glues how to do etc. etc. Even If you never plan to build your own, I would suggest reading this book. It will give you respect for the guy who constructs your banjo. It will also help you understand what to look for in a banjo when you are in the market.
Roger H. Siminoff has another piece of work “The Luthier's Handbook”. It will be on my Kindle soon. Roger also offers Luthier camps where you build a mandolin from a kit. Check out his site.
Contact me: bill.battle@hickorybanjo.com
Why build what I can buy? I wanted a design of my own with innovations good or bad, improvements yet to be discovered. So I started with what would I want different from my Mitchell?
1. First of all I have fat fingers I need more space between the strings.
2. I also need more space between the lowest most D string and my fingers. I keep inadvertently muting the string as I play.
3. I am tired of pulling the resonator off to adjust the head.
4. I don’t want to have truss rods to adjust and I still want a straight neck with low action.
5. I want to be able to change the neck angle / string to fret action-clearance without removing the resonator.
I purchased some books for my Kindle. The first “How to Set Up the Best Sounding Banjo” written by Roger H Siminoff
Some basic points that I learned from this book was:
1. The mass of the tub contributes to the banjos ability to sustain a tone.
2. The head skin makes a difference. Thicker painted heads give lower tones and mellow sounds, less or unpainted heads give higher tones and sharper sounds
3. The head tension ring stiffness brightens the tone. A 24 bolt tension ring is stiffer so the tone should be brighter.
4. The fret board needs to be in contact with the head tension ring. I have not identified why but I have been following this practice.
5. A 9 ½” inch active head area is prefered. Regardless of the actual head size the tone ring should restrict the active area to 9 ½” (this is probably an argument able point. It may be that it is easier to obtain a proper tension and get the correct note from an active area of 9 ½”)
6. The importance of a tone ring.
7. The affect different strings will have on sound / tone.
8. On a resonator banjo, the purpose of a resonator is to return the sound waves back to the banjo head / sounding board to make the sound sustain / resonate.
You may learn other points, read it for yourself. Also, do your own experiments and you will have a better understanding of how and why your banjo sounds like it does.
Initially I used this information to help me change the sound of my Mitchell banjo and achieve a sharper tone from it even though it is tone ring less. I did this by basically changing to light weight strings and a clear unpainted head.
Then I used the same information to fix the Conceter and make it playable. I am not sure about this banjo. I cannot find any information on it. I believe that it is Korean made. It has a cast aluminum pot. It was used and well abused. I’m not sure they were ever sold in the US. I purchased it off the gumtree when I was in Centurion South Africa.
The next book I down loaded was also by Roger H. Siminoff, “Constructing a 5_string banjo a complete technical guide”. I have never met this Siminoff guy but, as an R&D engineering guy and a machinist, I am qualified to point out that he is one of the sharper tools in the shed.
Unlike the previous book with lots o f theory, this book is the nuts and bolts. What tools, glues how to do etc. etc. Even If you never plan to build your own, I would suggest reading this book. It will give you respect for the guy who constructs your banjo. It will also help you understand what to look for in a banjo when you are in the market.
Roger H. Siminoff has another piece of work “The Luthier's Handbook”. It will be on my Kindle soon. Roger also offers Luthier camps where you build a mandolin from a kit. Check out his site.
Contact me: bill.battle@hickorybanjo.com
