Congratulations to Eric Banjitar!
This unique instrument was dreamed of, designed, built, wired and finished by the owner as his first attempt at building an instrument. The stain was mixed and applied using dyes and mineral spirits. The finish is a rattle-can nitro-cellulose lacquer hand rubbed with polishing compound.
The neck is a Warmoth flame-maple angled-paddle, standard shape 10/16, gold 6105 frets, rosewood fretboard with Graph Tech Black nut. It has Gold,locking Schaller tuners. The headstock was designed, shaped and carved by owner/builder. The design was influenced (obviously, I guess) by a mandolin.
All banjo parts were purchased from Gold Tone Musical Instruments: 6 string "es" tailpiece, aluminum tone rim (I polished the contact surface), gold 8" tension hoop. I handmade a compensated 5/8" radius bridge (Pictures can be found at: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=15886.45 )and a 10" clear Mylar drum head.
This banjo has a stereo output running two separate circuits.One side of the output(transducer) feeds an acoustic amp (Acoustic AG60), the other leg goes to effects and then a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. The pickups are switched with a three-way switch (neck, both, body ). Each pickup has its own volume pot. There are no tone knobs. Tone comes from amps/effects. The Neck pickup is a Lollar Vintage tele framed by a gold, reversed strat flange. All flanges are recessed to flush. The EMG-HZ pick up is modified with a under-the-pickup spring and bolting configuration designed to force the pickup firmly onto the underside of the head as far toward the neck as possible. The EMG HZ pickup is coil tapped with a push/pull knob. The acoustic pickup is a newly installed Schatten bj-02. It gives a nearly perfect banjo sound which is then blended (or not) with the electric tone. Yum.
The back of the body is a book-matched quilted maple. With a transparent head installed, you can see the quilted maple of the back through the head from the front. The front is a hippie-sandwich of swamp ash, and walnut with cherry and maple veneer stripes. The middle (between back and front of guitar body) is mahogany. This guitjo-banjitar monster weighs nearly 10 pounds (lots of metal parts). It can sound clean and very banjo-like or sound more like an electric guitar and the transitions are blend-able using volume knobs and foot pedals. It is fast to play and sounds as unique as it looks.
Thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement from forum-folk and Warmoth employees. You guys rock!
This unique instrument was dreamed of, designed, built, wired and finished by the owner as his first attempt at building an instrument. The stain was mixed and applied using dyes and mineral spirits. The finish is a rattle-can nitro-cellulose lacquer hand rubbed with polishing compound.
The neck is a Warmoth flame-maple angled-paddle, standard shape 10/16, gold 6105 frets, rosewood fretboard with Graph Tech Black nut. It has Gold,locking Schaller tuners. The headstock was designed, shaped and carved by owner/builder. The design was influenced (obviously, I guess) by a mandolin.
All banjo parts were purchased from Gold Tone Musical Instruments: 6 string "es" tailpiece, aluminum tone rim (I polished the contact surface), gold 8" tension hoop. I handmade a compensated 5/8" radius bridge (Pictures can be found at: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=15886.45 )and a 10" clear Mylar drum head.
This banjo has a stereo output running two separate circuits.One side of the output(transducer) feeds an acoustic amp (Acoustic AG60), the other leg goes to effects and then a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. The pickups are switched with a three-way switch (neck, both, body ). Each pickup has its own volume pot. There are no tone knobs. Tone comes from amps/effects. The Neck pickup is a Lollar Vintage tele framed by a gold, reversed strat flange. All flanges are recessed to flush. The EMG-HZ pick up is modified with a under-the-pickup spring and bolting configuration designed to force the pickup firmly onto the underside of the head as far toward the neck as possible. The EMG HZ pickup is coil tapped with a push/pull knob. The acoustic pickup is a newly installed Schatten bj-02. It gives a nearly perfect banjo sound which is then blended (or not) with the electric tone. Yum.
The back of the body is a book-matched quilted maple. With a transparent head installed, you can see the quilted maple of the back through the head from the front. The front is a hippie-sandwich of swamp ash, and walnut with cherry and maple veneer stripes. The middle (between back and front of guitar body) is mahogany. This guitjo-banjitar monster weighs nearly 10 pounds (lots of metal parts). It can sound clean and very banjo-like or sound more like an electric guitar and the transitions are blend-able using volume knobs and foot pedals. It is fast to play and sounds as unique as it looks.
Thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement from forum-folk and Warmoth employees. You guys rock!
