DIY Network

Handmade Gourd-Banjo, Part 2: Building the Neck From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-206

A traditional gourd banjo on display at the historic Laurel Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee. The theater and its parent organization Jubilee Community Arts is dedicated to preserving the culture and traditional performing arts of the Southern Appalachian region -- as well as the long heritage and cultural roots that gave rise to those traditions.

In this episode of DIY's Handmade Music, luthier Matt Morelock creates a gourd banjo -- a primitive version of the instrument that was first played around five centuries ago. The body of the banjo is made from an actual hollowed-out gourd. In this segment, after having prepped the gourd, work gets underway on the mahogany neck.

Materials used in this episode:

Large dried gourd
Calfskin or goatskin
Quarter-sawn mahogany stock
Ebony for the nut
White pine for bridge
Rawhide strip
Wooden dowel
Wooden blocks
Gut string
Violin pegs
Peg reamer
Band saw
Cordless drill and bits
Bit-aligning tool
Hand saw
Scraper
Files and rasps
Sharp chisel
Sandpaper
Hole punch
Poster board
Woodworker's glue
Clamps
Gunstock finish
Carpenter's pencil

Safety Alert: Always wear eye protection and follow proper safety precautions when using power tools.

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Building the Neck

The banjo's neck is made from a single piece of mahogany stock. Luthier Matt Morelock marks the neck profile (figure A) which includes three components. From a continuous forty-one inch piece of wood, Matt gets a five-inch headstock, a nineteen-inch neck, and seventeen inches for the dowel-stick. The dowel-stick is also called a spike.

The heel is at the base of the neck and Matt free-hands its shape. The heel joins the neck and the gourd so it needs to be pretty substantial. After all three neck components are sketched out on the stock, Matt cuts the profile using a band saw (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

The width of the dowel stick is mapped out next and it's trimmed-up again with the band saw. At this point Matt wants the spike to be three-quarters of an inch wide. While still at the band saw, he cuts out a peg head at the other end of the stock.

Those cuts create a rough blank (figure C) that can soon be transformed into the finished neck.

Transforming the rough blank begins by tapering the spike or dowel-stick. Most of the spike is unseen, but it's performing a vital task. As it passes through the gourd its taper wedges the neck and the gourd together (figure D). It really is the only thing holding the two components together.

The thickness from the heel to the end of the spike is decreased slightly with a band saw, and then with a plane.

Figure C

Figure D

Matt also shapes the heel at this stage. A contour-gauge helps replicate the gourd's shape (figure E), and from that outline Matt trims away most of the wood that gets in the way of a perfect fit.

When he cuts away the excess he's ready to begin the first of many test fittings.

The neck and the gourd's head will be on the same plane. With a T-square, Matt is able to transfer the dowel stick's position (figure F). He determines the spike is five inches under the plane of the neck, so it will enter the gourd five inches under the plane of the head.

Figure E

Figure F

Next he cuts an entry hole for the dowel stick (figure G). It's not wise to cut it to the final dimension just yet. The fit is so critical that cutting too big would be a disaster.

Once the entry hole has been cut, Matt pushes the spike through the gourd until it contacts the other side (figure H).

Figure G

Figure H

The location of the contact gives a reference for marking the spike's exit hole. It is critical that Matt monitor the neck's plane. It should remain level with the head while he marks the position and size of the opening (figure I).

He cuts this one smaller as well, again mindful of the snug fit required. Adjustments to the fit are made a little at a time. Patience is a virtue, but for luthiers it's the difference between success and firewood -- so Matt takes it slow. After several rounds of filing and adjusting the fit, the spike passes through so that it fits snugly (figure J).

Figure I

Figure J

	Figure K
	Figure L
	Figure M

Though he now has achieved a good snug fit where the dowel stick passes into the gourd, he still will have to fit the heel to the gourd since it is not yet flush (figure K). The fit will be addressed later when Matt carves the neck.

Matt finishes roughing in the neck with his band saw. He already cut a profile, but now he gets the width closer to its final size (figure L). With the neck taking shape (figure M), Matt also sands both sides of the peg head.

In the segment that follows, work continues with shaping of the neck and peg-head.

RESOURCES :

African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions
(Publications of the American Folklore Society New Series)
Author: Cecelia Conway
ISBN: 0870498932
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press (1995)
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture
(Music in American Life)
Author: Karen Linn
Publisher: University of Illinois Press; Illini Books ed edition (August 1994)
ISBN: 025206433X
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Ninteenth Century
Authors: Philip F. Gura, James F. Bollman
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press (September, 1999)
ISBN: 0807824844
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

Ring the Banjar
Authors: Robert L. Webb, Margaret Hutchinson
Publisher: Centerstream Publications (2nd edition, 1996)
ISBN: 1574240161
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo
Author: Patrick Costello
Publisher: Pik-Ware Publishing (September, 2003)
ISBN: 0974419001
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

Jubilee Community Arts is a regional, community cultural center dedicated to preserving and presenting the traditional arts of the Southern Appalachians. The organization's stated mission is "to promote, preserve and present the performing arts of the Southern region and to nurture the cultural milieu responsible for the birth and evolution of these and related art forms." The organization owns and operates the Laurel Theater, a 19th century converted church located in the Fort Sanders community of Knoxville. The building now houses an acoustically and visually excellent concert hall and archives of concert and field recordings.
Web site: www.jubileearts.org

WDVX
WDVX is a regionally focused, public-supported grass-roots radio station broadcasting from East Tennessee. Emphasis is on old-time and traditional mountain music, bluegrass, Americana, classic country, folk and other traditional and roots-based musical styles.
Web-site and worldwide online-streaming: www.wdvx.com

Welburn Gourd Farm
Organically grown hard-shell gourds.
Fallbrook, CA
The Welburn Gourd Farm is the largest supplier of quality, organic hard-shell gourds in the USA, producing over 375,000 gourds each year. They also host the annual International Gourd Art Festival.
Web site: www.welburngourdfarm.com/

Pick 'n' Grin
Knoxville, TN
Web site: www.pickngrin.com

GUESTS :

Matt Morelock, luthier, banjoist, music teacher, happy camper.
On the web: http://www.wdvx.com/DJS/MattM.htm