A banjolele is a ukulele size banjo.

Morgan was one of my pupils at Royal High.  This banjolele was his final piece on SQA’s Standard Grade Craft and Design course.  He built it between September 2012 and March 2013.   Morgan was in year S4.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, and cut out the decorative veneers for the peg head. Morgan did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from 5mm layers of pine, laminated together, with a walnut finger board.  The peg head veneer is pine. It was cut with a fret saw and the edges of the individual pieces were rounded.  They were then stained and put back together again.  They depict a road running over a hill, with a sky with sun and clouds.

Calf skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate its natural colour variations, then stretched over the rim and fixed in place with furniture tacks.  A brass tone ring was not incorporated.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using hardwood wedges. Nylon (Nylgut) strings were fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the finished banjolele, along with construction images, are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157633200597428/

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