I was just playing around with "Bango" (My 1930s Banjo Uke), and just thought how cool this thing really is. And who played it over the years, and where are they now? Are they still alive, and/or playing..
This is a Harmony Banjo Uke circa 1930s. Very similar to the Gibson one, but not near as rare or valuable. I bought Bango awhile back not playable, and restored it, but wanted to keep it as original, with scars and all as I could. First thing I did was replace the trashed friction tuners with a decent set of geared tuners. The old ones just were simply trashed, and didn't even have them all if I remember. I then cut and made a new bone nut. Bought a maple/ebony/bone bridge, and filed it and the nut to a playable level. Polished and leveled the frets. ALLOT of cleaning up the wood, clamps, and ring. Kept the original real hyde head skin, but wet it and re-stretched it to tighten it up. Put a set of strings from Jasper Happy of the UK. I really love this thing, and enjoy playing it...
Im not quite done with the resonator. This didn't have one when I got it, and really don't think it ever had one. But, really does need one, so I made one out of a piece of solid 5/16" Mahogany. Makes a huge difference in it's sound and volume. I plan to finish the resonator some day.. But for now, it works fine..
This is the original lambs hyde head.. I think it is cool to think that this came from a lamb that lived over 80 years ago..
This is a Harmony Banjo Uke circa 1930s. Very similar to the Gibson one, but not near as rare or valuable. I bought Bango awhile back not playable, and restored it, but wanted to keep it as original, with scars and all as I could. First thing I did was replace the trashed friction tuners with a decent set of geared tuners. The old ones just were simply trashed, and didn't even have them all if I remember. I then cut and made a new bone nut. Bought a maple/ebony/bone bridge, and filed it and the nut to a playable level. Polished and leveled the frets. ALLOT of cleaning up the wood, clamps, and ring. Kept the original real hyde head skin, but wet it and re-stretched it to tighten it up. Put a set of strings from Jasper Happy of the UK. I really love this thing, and enjoy playing it...
Im not quite done with the resonator. This didn't have one when I got it, and really don't think it ever had one. But, really does need one, so I made one out of a piece of solid 5/16" Mahogany. Makes a huge difference in it's sound and volume. I plan to finish the resonator some day.. But for now, it works fine..
This is the original lambs hyde head.. I think it is cool to think that this came from a lamb that lived over 80 years ago..
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