Bluestemstrings.com Open Back Banjo Plan and notes

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Bluestem open back banjo features:


Click HERE for OPEN BACK BANJO PLAN in PDF format.

Click HERE for NECK LAYOUT TIP SHEET in PDF format.

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My take on open back design (IMHO, YMMV.)

The open back banjo is a unique instrument that has remained basically unchanged from designs that had reached their pinnacle of development in the later portion of the 19th century. Part of the reason the instrument did not evolve beyond these designs was due to lack of a good alternative head material which would increase stability and encourage alternate pot designs. The 5 string banjo did undergo major design changes when jazz and bluegrass demanded an increase in volume from the instruments. This resulted in the modern resonator banjo of today with massive tone rings mated to high tension synthetic head materials. The open back was relegated to the poor cousin status, and players of open backs were forced to be content with the existing designs.
Development of new open back designs was also impeded by reluctance of many players to consider anything other than “traditional” instruments, even if that meant putting up with uncomfortable designs and slipping planetary pegs.
Modern designs presented by the new crop of open back banjo builders are meeting with wider acceptance by today's players. I believe that information sharing via the internet and other sources has been in no small part responsible for the change in attitudes and willingness of players to try new designs. We are truly in the renaissance of instrument construction as knowledge and materials have become more readily available.

I’ve got a few traditional open backs under my belt, but one of my favorites for comfort and playability is a test design I did using an internally tensioned mylar drum head and guitar style tuners used in a slotted peghead design. That banjo came about as a result of reviewing all of the areas about traditional designs that I felt could be improved upon. Those areas included comfort, playability, stability, and cost. That’s a lot to tackle, but after much deliberation I felt that I’d made improvements in all of those areas. (That original design can be found HERE at my other website.)

I’ve modified that original design somewhat and offer the new version of the plan for use, misuse, or plain old abuse as anyone sees fit. The plan and basic dimensions can be used as a point of departure to build a 5 string openback banjo in any style that you wish. Alternate scale fretboards and fret placement charts are shown for 22-1/2", 23-1/2", 24-1/2", and 25-1/2" scale instruments. Several traditional peghead designs are also shown so you can modify the neck shape and add a standard 5th string tuner if you wish to build a more conventional banjo from the plan. That's a lotta info in one place!
I’m not saying that this is the ultimate in design, but it addresses many shortcomings of the standard designs and makes a fine go-to instrument to kick around with. It is not a design for traditionalists, but it just may become your favorite player if given a chance.

In light of a recent (as of 2008) discussion at Banjo Hangout (HERE) about a possible alternative head material, I've posted this plan as you could easily use this design in conjunction with the new material by combining it with the method of head material attachment used in my original design which can be found HERE.

Notes regarding this particular banjo design

The following information is meant to give you a quick overview of this particular instrument and how it differs from what you'll usually see being played. The traditionally designed banjo is uncomfortable to hold, has a neck design that restricts free hand movement, and utilizes tuners that are expensive and prone to string slippage, and many pieces of individual hardware to loosen. This version of the five string open back banjo resulted from an attempt to address and change the areas of the traditional design that I felt were problematic.

Peghead design:
Three and two tuner layout allows the fifth string tuner to be relocated to the peghead which eliminates the exaggerated neck and fingerboard asymmetry resultant of the 5th string tuner location at the 5th fret. This improves overall playability and prevents the fifth string tuner from interfering with left hand positioning.

Tuners:
Traditional banjo tuners have one thing in their favor... tradition. They are more prone to slipping due to their 4:1 ratio and often need frequent adjustment of their button screws to hold the string tension. Many early banjos were fitted with peg-style friction tuners that were fine for the lower tension that gut strings imposed on them, but with the advent of steel strings designers determined early on that a gear reduction peg would be necessary to tune easily and hold the string tension reliably. Somewhere along the line the banjo froze in this natural evolutionary process. My supposition is that 4:1 ratio tuners were considered good enough for use with the strings, head materials, and tensioning designs that were in common use.
Modern banjo steel string tension is certainly lower than that of the guitar, but an argument for the use of wider ratio tuning machines can certainly be made considering the higher pitches and shorter scales that are commonly used today, especially in old time music. Additionally, quality banjo tuners are several times the cost of good guitar-style machines and contribute significantly to a instrument's bottom line. The geared Ukulele tuners were chosen as an alternative because they are attractive, low cost, and work well.

Neck:
The fifth string hump of the traditional neck has been eliminated for reason of comfort and improved playability by relocating the fifth string tuner to the headstock and housing the string in a small diameter stainless steel tube up to its exit position between the 4th and 5th frets.

Pot assembly:
The pot assembly also departs radically from the standard traditional design. The protruding hardware has been eliminated by using a design that harkens back to a 1866 William Tilton design. It incorporates an internal tensioning system which works opposite to that of conventional designs. Rather than pulling the tension band down over a stationary tone ring, this design holds the outer edge of the head in a fixed position and raises the tone ring to tension the head. The net effect of this is to produce a pot that has no uncomfortable external hardware, but is easily adjusted by socket head set screws which are accessible from the rear face of the rim.

Armrest:
The armrest is formed from a single piece of polished stainless steel and has a contoured ebony top attached to it's surface. It fastens to the rim side with two stainless steel screws.

Tailpiece:
The nonadjustable tailpiece is formed of solid stainless steel and features a rear "comb" that allows quick attachment of either ball or loop end strings. The tailpiece front has a simple design which incorporates holes that the stringsare passed through to slightly increase the downward force on the bridge.

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Please visit my other website designed to provide information on musical instrument construction. There are free plans as well as construction tips and techniques available at the present time.

Rudy's Sketchbook of Musical Instrument Plans, Ideas, and Inspiration

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If you desire to contact me about Bluestem Strings products:

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