Flatfoot Johnny: May 2014

In my old wooden cabin up in the hills of south east London I make banjos, canjos, cigarbox guitars and other things that go twang. Every instrument is fully hand made in the traditional way with a minimal use of power tools and usually using reclaimed timber (that way i can use exotic hard woods and sleep well at night). So if you are interested in buying a high quality unique instrument keep checking here or contact me if you would like to commission something. flatfootjohnny@hotmail.com

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Antique(ish) mountain banjo

A project to make an Appalachian mountain banjo that looks ancient. Lots of ageing techniques to learn and experiment with. Its made from reclaimed English elm. I must say that im pretty happy with the results (ironically it took more work to get this worn out beaten up wood-wormy look than to get a nice polish)

1920s banjo restoration update

After playing this banjo for a few weeks i felt that the neck warp was to much to live with. I attempted to straighten it using force (clamps etc) but to no avail. Then i decided to sand out the warp. This left me with hardly any fretboard material so i decided to replace it. on top of the original ebony i added, maple - walnut - maple veneer then a walnut fretboard. I also cut a bigger frailing scoop to allow for thumb action. Im very pleased with the results. and the banjo now plays and sounds great. Next will be to fit "PegHeds" tuning pegs and maybe a little tweak of the nut.