Build your own banjo by assembling the Backyard Music's Fireside banjo kit. In a few hours of work (and more hours of drying time) you can build a light weight, full-length 5-string banjo that serves admirably as a first banjo for adult beginners, or a travel / practice banjo for the accomplished player. If you do not need a loud banjo, or you are looking for a very light banjo, this banjo is arguably your best choice under $400. Features include:
Made in USA by banjo players (unlike most banjos you can buy for less than $500);
One-piece neck of solid, legally-harvested Nicaraguan Mahogany, with 22 frets and a vibrating string length of 26.5";
Geared tuning machines for all 5 strings (many inexpensive banjos have a friction-held 5th string tuner that inevitably slips);
5th string tuner has a very high turn ratio to facilitate fine tuning;
Pot is 9.75" in diameter, and made of 1/8", 3-ply poplar plywood held on a resin-strengthed tambourine hoop made by Remo;
Tail section accommodates both loop-end and ball-end strings (you never know what is available when you break a string)
Strings on banjo are medium gauge (.010", .012", .017", .024", .010")
Total weight = only 2 lbs! (most banjos weigh 8-20 lbs)
Photo-illustrated kit assembly directions
Left-handed version available by request
Optional arm rest kit can be ordered for another $8.00
Listen to a Backyard Music Banjo
WHAT YOU NEED TO BUILD A BACKYARD MUSIC BANJO
All parts are included, pre-cut and pre-fitted for easy assembly. Frets are already installed in the neck. Holes for strings and for tuning gear shafts are already drilled.
You will need to supply:
fine sandpaper (one piece, 200 -400 grade)
finish for the neck (Watco Danish oil, tung oil, or polyurathane);
finish for the plywood top (lacquer, or we use quick drying water-base polyurathane);
glue (we use Elmer's white- not school glue);
a small Phillips head screwdriver, and a small straight slot screw driver;
wire cutters or pinch nose pliers;
hammer
to make starting holes for screws you can use a 1/16" drill bit an drill, or a blunted finishing nail.
The assembly process is straightforward:
sand and finish the neck;
sand and finish the plywood disk (at least two coats of clear finish, sanding lightly between them);
hammer 5 brads (provided) into the tail piece to hold loop end strings;
insert the small brass slotted screw (provided) that serves a nut for the 5th string;
mount the tuning machines onto the neck with little screws (provided);
glue the banjo together;
put on strings, nut, and bridge, and adjust bridge placement.
Optional: insert additional brads in the side of fretboard as fret markers
WHY IS THIS BANJO DIFFERENT THAN ALL THE OTHER BANJOS YOU SEE ON EBAY?
Because Backyard Music is committed to musical excellence at the lowest possible cost. We design and build our instruments with three priorities:
Excellent musical experience from a durable instrument;
Ease of assembly. Our pre-cut instrument kits are designed for amateur builders and children to assemble;
Affordability.
For 30 years Backyard Music has designed stringed instruments and instrument kits to be as affordable and as easy to assemble as possible - without sacrificing any playability. As musicians, we build harps, dulcimers, and banjos of a quality that we ourselves enjoy playing at home, around the campfire, and in the classroom. Many Backyard instruments become lifetime companions for the people who buy or build them.
To acheive affordability, we substitute inexpensive materials only where the substitution does not compromise the musical experience of the player. Thus our dulcimers and folk harps have soundboxes of durable corrugated cardboard rather than wood, and our banjo pots are made with plywood disks rather than drum skin. The result is an instrument that has - in comparison to typical instruments of its kind- somewhat less volume when played, much less weight when carried, and far lower cost than instruments of comparable musical quality.
However, we do not compromise on features critical to a satisfying playing experience. Unlike many low-cost models, our instruments have:
Great Action Action refers to the distance between the string and the frets/fingerboard. If the action is too low, strings buzz. If the action is too high, the instrument is unnecessarily difficult to play and sounds out of tune when played up the neck. We carefully adjust the action on all our assembled, and look over each and every kit we send out to make sure that it will easily assemble with good action.
Geared Tuners All our banjos and dulcimers use geared tuning machines with a 14:1 gear ratio. Banjo 5th string tuning machines have a 28:1 ratio. This makes the tuning process smooth and easy. Our tuners won't slip, so once the strings stretch out our instruments generally stay in tune. Good geared tuning machines are expensive, so many inexpensive instruments use inferior friction pegs or geared tuners that slip. Low quality tuning pegs make tuning difficult (especially for novice musicians), and it's no fun for anyone to try to play an instrument that keeps going out of tune!
Excellent Intonation If fret and bridge placement isn't exact, an instrument will play out of tune no matter what you do.
Wood that won't bow under string tension Over time, string tension can cause wood to bow or warp. This is particularly likely to occur when cheaper soft woods are used. We use Nicaraguan mahogany for our banjo necks and dulcimer fretboards, and ash for our harp frames. Treat them right and our instruments will last you a lifetime.
The Fireside Banjo kit is shipped inside a durable 4 mil plastic bag (useful for future rain protection), in a shipping box that is designed for use as a carrying case.