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Post pics and share your completed banjo kit here. (I’ve moved a few older threads here to make things more cohesive on this forum).
Without a hitch pretty much. Kudos to Carver for shipping a kit that:
a)actually fits together with no “tweaks” and actually works as it should.
b)looks great
c)sounds good too, authentic and plucky.
I stained the maple rim to match the neck, and then applied 2-3 coats of True Oil.
Used a True Oil kit that included a walnut dye and was very pleased how the maple rim turned out to match the neck and dowel.Welcome to the forum Patrick, thanks for posting! Your banjo looks great. I’m seeing a few customers are staining the rim to match the neck and I think that’s awesome.
A few threads below yours, there’s a member asking about staining the rim. Maybe you could pop into that thread or share a picture here of your rim? Specifically, the question is concerning the scarf joint taking stain as well as the rest of the rim.
The classic minstrel is my flagship kit and I have refined this kit over the years. I started making banjos just like this one almost 20 years ago! The price is a little higher than most other kits I offer, but I try to deliver on the quality. Thanks again, hope you enjoy your banjo for many years.Took a while to get to it but I got it done! Loving it so far. And going fretless wasn’t as daunting as I thought it would be. I highly recommend adding fret markers where the 2nd and third frets would be if you’re going fretless. I think it helps a lot.
The good: Plays and sounds great. Looks good although I wish I would’ve stained the rim. Very lightweight.
The not so good: The dowel hole was drilled a bit crooked so it’s not centered on the tailpiece. The tacks supplied were a bit too long. About 75% of them came through the other side of the rim. Too Lightweight? I know I put this in “The good” but I also wish it was heavier sometimes just so it would stay put while playing.
Things I wish were different: I wish the neck was thicker and rounded more. I’m sure that would up the price quite a bit though. Also I wish the scoop was about an inch longer. It would be nice to have a little more playing room there.
Cheers all, Thomas
Good job Thomas! Excellent pictures and review. Great to see these kits being put together. I like the added fret dot markers.
I can address the not so good points you made. They are valid points and I understand it is constructive feedback, which is always appreciated.
The frailing scoop is a little short, I put it there in all these necks though it could be longer on the fretless necks. I wanted a full 19 frets, so the scoop had to be shorter, it begins right after the 19th fret and that doesn’t leave a whole lot of length. You could extend the scoop easily since it’s a fretless neck.
The tacks will pass through the rim, you could test and trim the tacks before assembly. I talk about this in a lot of my previous assembly videos, I can’t remember if I mention it in the specific video for this kit.
The neck is what it is for thickness. I work with 1” lumber, so I understand but that’s not something we can change. As for roundness, you can shape the neck to your liking. I talk about this in my other assembly videos, but I left it out of this specific kit video.
The dowel is a bit wonky on yours. If it’s my error I sincerely apologize. It can happen because I was drilling the holes by eye, I’ve since developed a jig to help with the process. I’m not sure if it could have been glued into the neck at an angle to correct the offset or not. I’m glad the strings still line up and the banjo looks like it plays as intended.
I appreciate your feedback and pictures!I have made several of the Carver Banjo Kits and the best kit so far is the short scale banjo. I like the wood rim and the short neck length. I have modified the banjo to have mechanical tuners as i prefer them to the peg tuners. The banjo is fairly light ( not like the heaver Deering Banjo) and sounds great.
Pictures of short scale Banjo
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I’m really happy with how it came out. Adding the scroll was the right choice.
I used orange shellac on the walnut and garnet shellac on the walnut rim. The coffee on the goatskin came out darker than I thought it would, but it ended up being perfect. Laying down the shellac with the scroll in place was a bit of a pain. It might have been better to finish the peg head and the scroll separately and then glue the scroll into place.
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Hi everyone,
I’d like to share these photos here because this is my first Carver banjo that I’ve built and I’m very proud of the final result.
I followed Brian’s tutorial very carefully. I didn’t have any particular difficulty, but I was apprehensive when it came to placing the goatskin. In the end, I took my time and it turned out well. Actually, I was afraid of piercing the skin, but it’s impressive how strong it is.I applied three coats of dark “ebony” oil and since the nut and bridge are black, I thought it would be nice to have theses ebony pegs.
English isn’t my first language so I’m really sorry if I’ve written an incomprehensible sentence.Please let me know what you think 🙂
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Fun build finished in Tru Oil.
Looking forward to the next build!Looks great Ian, thanks for sharing!
I’m going to try to raise the size limit on attachments, so maybe you can try to repost that video and it might work.
I’m going to move this post over to the “completed kit builds” thread pinned to the top of this board. Trying to keep all the builds in one thread since it’s a pretty slow forum here.9 MB seems to be as large as I can go for file size on the forums. Hoping it’s large enough for pictures and sound clips if not videos. Thank you
Complete 20th anniversary build! Super happy with the look, feel, and sound! Was an easy build too.
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Thank you for posting matworsh! I love seeing complete kits, and tbh I didn’t put one of these celebration kits together myself, so it’s cool to see.
Hi Thomas. Can I ask which kit you are playing in the recording, and what strings you are using? Thanks!
Hi Bruce, welcome to the forum! I don’t want to speak for Thomas but I will answer because this forum is pretty slow. I believe he is using the provided nylon strings and probably tuned a few steps below standard. The kit he has is a 12” diy with a fretless minstrel neck.
Hope that helps!Great, thanks Brian! I hope all is well with you. I look forward to receiving my 12″ kit in the coming weeks. Bruce
Here’s a mountain banjo kit I made for my wife for Christmas. I think it came out really well. I used walnut furniture caps for the screw holes, and I monogrammed it with ink. I have one question: my kit came with 2 bridges, one slightly taller than the other. Which one should I use and why? Any suggestions?
The banjo looks really nice with the walnut caps and the monogram looks clean.
I suggest start with the tall bridge. It’s a matter of preference really, the taller bridge will have the strings higher off the neck but there is less likely going to be any fret buzz problems even in higher humidity conditions which could cause the skin to temporarily sag a little. If it plays better with the shorter bridge, go for that and keep the taller if ever need to counteract any humidity sag
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