3 more fun 20s/30s restos: 2 banjo ukes, 1 soprano

Jake Wildwood

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So, first up here's a "composite" banjo uke I built from a 20s Harmony neck mated to a 20s Oscar Schmidt 11" rim. The rest of the parent instruments weren't useful as they'd been badly damaged.

This makes it one of the larger-headed banjo ukes I've seen and it sounds darn cool in a low-G tuning.

Click here for the full blog post on this guy:

bigrim-1.jpg


Next, a cute Harmony-made "California" style banjo uke with a canoe scene decal -- click here for the blog post on this one:

caliup-1.jpg


And finally, a curious all-birch thinline uke from (probably) the 30s, with SS Stewart badging. Click here for the post on this one:

picku-1.jpg
 
That first frankenstein banjo-uke with an 11" head looks awesome. Too bad I'm broke!
-Tom
 
Thanks guys -- the big banjo uke is really cool -- I haven't decided whether to part with it or not. Totally different from the smaller-rim guys.
 
Hello Jake,

I really like your work. I wanted to put a resophonic cone on a california style uke I've got like you did, but gave up for the moment.

I think the first banjo is a melody banjo, isn't it?

That Regal is SO cool with that pickguard!
 
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Melody banjo, no, since the neck isn't built for steel and is specifically a borrowed uke neck. Melody banjos, it's true, were 4 string short-scale banjos (typically tuned GDAE with steel like a mandolin) and had big pots, but in a classic "what do we classify this as" -- I start with the neck, which in this case is built for gut/nylon. It's a Frankenstein instrument so in this sense, I'd call it a big-pot banjo uke. :D
 
Hey, no need to say sorry. It's like potato and potato... :D At least we're not discussing what's the proper terminology of mandolin-family instruments. That gets pretty crazy over the pond!

The Aquila reds sound, well, super friggin good on it. I'm loving those things, though they take a few days to become pitch-stable enough to enjoy playing.
 
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