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Hey everyone,
I’m giving away a 12” rim diy banjo kit. Here’s how to win:
Create a user account for the forums.
Post in this thread before August 21, 2023. Say hi and why you enjoy the banjo. Tell me how you got into the banjo, what has inspired you. Just a few sentences is fine.
Post in this thread before August 21 and your username will go into a hat. I will randomly draw a winner by the end of the day. I will post the winner’s username here and how you can contact me with your shipping info. I will cover all shipping expenses. Pick any of the options for the 12” bent rim kit. Check out the kit here: https://carverbanjos.com/product/12-rim-banjo-kit/
The goal of this giveaway is to hopefully get more active users on this forum and build a little community here. I’ll post an example submission below. You can post as much as you want but only one post is required to enter this drawing. Thanks!Attachments:
(Example submission)
I first noticed the banjo when I was a kid, watching reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies. I was drawn to the sound. From there, I started listening to a lot of Earl Scruggs. I got my first banjo when I was about 16 and I tried learning the 3 finger Scruggs picking style. I had a lot of trouble getting the hang of this. Once I discovered Pete Seeger’s music I realized there are other ways to play and I took to the clawhammer playing style. Almost 20 years later and I’ve turned banjos into a complete way of life, but I still can’t pick a decent 3 finger (Scruggs) roll lol.Attachments:
My grandmother that’s from Serbia (my baba) used to play an instrument when she was in church called the Tamburica. She was the only one in our family to play an instrument. I knew she would really like to hear someone else in the family play something so I chose the banjo. I love America and I love its vast history and being Serbian-American I wanted an instrument that would represent my American side. Once I picked up the banjo I fell in love with it. I love the sound, the fast pace music you can play, and I also love the storytelling that the songs give off. I play clawhammer and two finger and I love to play songs like Pretty Polly and my favorite, Wild Bill Jones.
I am a big fan of all sorts of stringed musical instruments. When it come to the banjo, I play a little and have repaired a few banjos and banjo ukuleles. My next banjo project will be 5 string soprano banjo ukulele with a tunneled 5th string.
Thanks for the entries so far!
I am seeing a lot of sign ups but only a few posts. Running this forum is a learning experience for me. I’m thinking confirmation emails might be sent on a delay to new accounts. So if you haven’t been able to login or post yet, let’s give it 24 hours and see if those confirmation emails come through.
I will be working on this and if the issue persists I will extend the deadline or find a new way to do the giveaway. Thanks everyone!Have experience putting guitar kits together and play quite a bit would love to build and learn how to play the ol’ 5 string. Love what your doin man. Keeping the history of banjo alive
Building my first carver kit changed everything for me. I had a banjo I bought at guitar center and I was trying to learn, but I really had to force myself to practice. Once I built my mountain banjo I had to force myself to put it down. Now my americana is my main banjo and people ask me about it all the time. Hopefully at least some of them have come to the site and bought one for themselves. Thanks for bringing attention to these forums.
Been playing two finger thumb lead banjo for last couple years, arthritis put an end to being able to make guitar chords.
I currently play on a cheap 6 string banjo with the frets ripped out. It’s very heavy and hard for me to play. I would love a high quality instrument that won’t kill my shoulders.
This is such a fun idea! Well, I first picked up a banjo around 15 years ago and played it on and off and enjoyed it, but got busy, left it at my folks’ house, went to grad school, moved a few times, and it just kinda fell to the wayside. During the pandemic, I really got to focus on actually practicing instruments and was deep into practicing piano and guitar in a way I had never been able to before. Once I got reunited with the banjo, that was that. love playing in different styles, but clawhammer has been the one that stuck for me and I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Would love to win hopefully for a nice anniversary gift for my husband. He just started learning how to play the banjo. He enjoys building guitars and playing for our children.
Hi!
I got into the banjo after listening to a lot of acoustic/folk music on Spotify and started asking myself ‘what is that cool twangy instrument that keeps cutting through?’.
Then the pandemic hit and I decided it was a great time to start learning to play! I’ve been having fun ever since – practicing and discovering more about the banjo and the historic fiddle tunes that underpin a lot of the music I play today.
Hey I play fretless and fretted banjo as well as Irish banjo a friend of mine has one of your kit banjos and when they allowed me to play it and get my thoughts on it I got to say not only are your kits well made but they give that true old time raw tone sound and feel that most modern ones have lost sadly so whether I win or not they will not regret getin your kit thanks again
Hello!
I’ve loved listening to the banjo for a long time, and I had wanted to learn it since I was a teenager. I took a liking to Clawhammer after I was introduced to the music of Abigail Washburn. I finally started to learn when my dad bought me a beginner banjo for Christmas in 2019 while I was going through some difficult times. I started taking lessons with an old banjo player named Dave Shapiro until I moved. I built my first carver banjo (the travel banjo) last year, and I’m looking forward to building one with a bit more volume in the future.
Hey! I’ve been loving the building videos. I haven’t been into banjos long. I built myself one out of a gourd a couple months ago and I’m hooked. Super proud of this banjo, call her “Scratch”. I’ve lived my life all around the American South and picked up my love of old time and bluegrass on my own. Spent a few years in Kentucky and visit Appalachia often. Haven’t been playing long and I’m looking to make more banjos but I’ve been looking at Carver tack heads for a while now. That classic style is so nice to look at with wonderful sound.
Hello! I grew up around hearing banjo off and on in bluegrass. I became more interested after listening to bands like The Pogues. I play tenor style, but I have been more recently interested in learning 5 string clawhammer after listening to Frank Proffitt. In fact, I found the site through the Frank Proffitt tag.
I think what you’re doing here is fantastic. I really like the designs and materials that you use. Keeping it simple. I hope you keep it up for many years to come!
Thank you for this giveaway opportunity.I have played the guitar since I was 5. I built my own ukulele early in the pandemic from a StewMac kit and learned to play that. In early 2021, I purchased a Carver Americana kit and built that. It is absolutely beautiful and I love playing it at home, but would get so much more practice time in with a second kit at work as well.
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Hi there, I am super new to banjo but first fell in love with the sound hearing a friend of mine play one when we were in primary school here in Australia, and have since spent the last three decades enjoying American music: bluegrass and blues. Recently I lucked out and found a very cheap (but Chinese-made) banjo at a thrift store and I’ve been trying to teach myself how to play from YouTube – so much fun!
I googled DIY banjo kits a few minutes ago, as I’m a wood burner and I wanted to find a quality, unfinished kit that I might be able to customise and as further luck would have it, I found this community and giveaway. It’s great to meet you all! I’m excited to have a look through these forums, check out some awesome builds, and hear some building/playing tips. Good luck to everyone in here! 🙂
I first got into the banjo during COVID – I was inspired to learn to play from watching the Ken Burns documentary on Country Music. not a direct line, but that’s the story I’m sticking with.
Learning basic tunes and workings of the banjo have opened up my mind to the versatility of the Banjo, and fueling my desire to grow with the instrument.
I mainly focus on 2 finger and clawhammer styles, as they are similar, slower, and I think a bit more emotive. I found Carver Banjo through Mandy on Banjo Lemonade, and was instantly hooked. I am a big believer in an old adage from my father – If you build it, you truly own it.Thanks!
SPF
Hi all.
My journey to the banjo started with guitar, then ukulele, then banjo ukulele which I first learned clawhammer on. That inspired me to get a full sized banjo to play. Fretless and building my own is the next step.
Hey everyone!
I got into the banjo one day while skipping school at a music store. I went in to try some bass guitars and walked out with a gold tone bluegrass banjo while knowing nothing about it.
When I got home I started doing my research and became completely captivated by the history and simple complexity of the instrument. From there forward I used to dream of finding an affordable fretless banjo and one day I stumbled upon carver banjos!
After saving some cash, I managed to buy a minstrel banjo kit in the early days of the vivid 19 lockdown and the moment the kit arrived my excitement was thru the roof.
I spent the next couple of days patiently building. I enjoyed the process so much.
Then when I was done I had this incredible instrument that totally overtook my life.
The following summer I went to play it only to find that the humidity and drastic temperature changes north of the mason dixon line (I’m in Ontario Canada) caused the skin to tear.
Following that I was playing it with a tape holding it together until the tear became too large.
I’m going to replace the skin soon. It’s my favourite possession and something I can look at and say “I put that together!”
To this day I still rave to my friends about the process and urge them to try carver banjos too!Brian is awesome and was so helpful every step of the way!
I find my inspiration in old time banjo music. I love the Melodies and warmth of nylgut strings. Anytime I can find a way to use a banjo on a recording I do. (I’m a music producer).
Building that kit changed my musical life and direction.
Here’s hoping for the chance to do it again!Matt
I grew up listening to my uncles play Bluegrass at family gatherings and always loved hearing the banjo. I got a starter banjo when I was 17 and tried to learn 3 finger Scruggs style and it never stuck. The early to mid 2000’s folk rock boom (Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons ect.) inspired to me to keep playing even though I’m a terrible 3 finger player. After that I got really into Doc Watson and found I really liked Old-Time banjo. So I took to clawhammer banjo and have renounced my bluegrass roots. Though I’ve been branching out into 2 finger lately.
I grew up listening to my uncle play banjo. His nickname was “Pick”, so I always called him “Uncle Pick”. The sound of the banjo and the image of him sitting on his chair on the porch playing were such a huge part of my childhood. I had to sell my banjo so I could finish my master’s degree (I’m a first-gen student) and haven’t played in over a year. I’d like to buy one of these kits at some point even if I don’t win one.
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