Antebellum Gourd Banjo by Clifton Hicks
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2021
- Banjo Heritage 👉 / cliftonhicks
Demonstration of 1840s-style gourd banjo built entirely with traditional hand tools.
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This banjo defines elegant simplicity, and the sound feels as old as it gets. I wonder if fretless banjos ever have lines across the fingerboard where frets would be, to help beginners learn finger placement? Bravo for the music and the building skills Clifton!
Yes, early banjos did often have lines inlayed across the fingerboard as position markers. Today, we call these "flush frets," although back then people just called them frets. Modern wire frets were known as "raised frets."
The simple answer is "Yes!". Many so-called fretless banjos had frets either painted or inlaid. Some had frets sunk just below the level of the fingerboard.
That has to be about as much fun as you can have with vegetables.
LOL
It's amazing people made music out of gourds. Gourds are so useful. If you get tired of making banjos hang them up for the birds. :-)
You'd be surprised. Hahaha😇
@James Caudill Guitar don't gotta be female ;-)
😂😂😂 Old Leatherstocking's dog gotta make the next video.
That quick cut cracked me up. I had to pause for a laughter break. I love stuff like that.
I bet Mr. Rector would love it if Clif would let him play this banjo.
Up north here in NY there is a Leather sticking district/area
West and south of the Adirondack Mountains.
So called for the the leather leggings worn by frontiersmen
Leatherstocking
Why couldn’t Cliftonhave been my shop teacher? I would have gotten way more use out of these skills then building a spice rack 🧐 keep inspiring us brother
Well if you can build a spice rack you have the basic skills to build upon to make on of these bad boys! One day I will get good enough to build one.
That may be the best sound Ive ever heard a plucked stringed instrument make
I'm growing some banjos (gourds) out back. Hopefully one day they will sound this good.
Shortening bread puts a pep in my step.
The way shortnin’ bread sounds on a gourd banjo is just so incredible versus a traditional banjo. And you play it so well, Clifton.
Thats a nice gourd banjer. Now I'll take another sip from the jar and sit back and listen to ole leather stocking. 👍
Love that twangy sound
What a sweet unique sounding instrument
CZcams algorithm put you in my feed. Real happy about it. Also really nice to see you have stuff on spotify. You have a great authentic sound. Keep on playing, man.
Sounds great. I like that simple square peg head :)
Great looking banjo Clifton and it sounds better than it looks! You better be careful...Old Leatherstocking might try to take it away from you...😁👍👍
Man, I love the sound these things sound. The Menzies skins make a real difference. Truly appreciate your historical notes, too.
I want one I want to learn how to play on a Clifton hicks banjo....cool AF! So special man your work is so cool...man nice job! I want one
..
Excellent all the way around! Beautiful build, great playing and helpful narration! Still slowly working on my own gourd build; I pick up some little nugget almost every time. Keep up the great work!
Great looking instrument.
Now that's a beautiful instrument I do say nice work fella
Morphine sounds wonderful on the new banjer 👏 Reminds me of Jerron Paxtons version.
I love it so much. I wish I could work wood or had at the very least someone I knew who could. Would love to own a banjo like this one day. Way better than those bougie ones with fancy leaf inlays and chrome finishes
Eventhough i'm not american, i have been very fascinated on the mountain and gourd banjos and would really love to acquire one and learn to play it. Too bad i've been pretty busy to dedicate time to gather the parts and tools needed to make my own but maybe i could convince some local luthier to make one.
could listen to a lot more of this man great
man that is cool!
That banjo is friggen cool. I made a gourd birdhouse for my girlfriend last year and I thought that I was a big bad ass craftsman. 😆 Excellent work, Mr. Hicks!
The birdhouses are awesome, too. We have 4 hanging on a 20-foot walnut post by the driveway. Always attracts birds, but have never gotten actual purple martins to nest there.
What a beautiful looking and sounding banjo.
Beutiful man! Your quite the picker son👍👍👍👍
AMAZING
I’m blown away by how this thing sounds!!! Can’t get enough of it
Awesome looking and sounding banjo. Maybe one day I will make this a project
Dang!! Kool and sounds awesome!!
YOURE THE KING!
Thank you so much for the videos. My one year old godson loves to hear you play.
would be curious and appreciative to see a tutorial on your version of shortenin bread. (also sugar in the gourd, if you wanted to do that one.) Great content as always, I've got an antebellum gourd banjo I built that's very similar to this one, but a little smaller, of course I did most of my figuring from watching your tutorials and explanations.
So cool! Im a fan of your music, your history lessons and now, your banjo making. You're a good dude Mr. Hicks. Much appreciation to you.
Beautiful
That Banjer is so gorgeous 😍
Amazing! Sounds beautiful, looks beautiful. Excellent craftsmanship
Great plink plunking. Bit worried about Mr Leatherstocking though, he seems to have a Vitamin D deficiency going on. Please get outside into the sunshine Mr L. 🌞
Mr. Hicks your channel ALWAYS brings a smile to my face and some great memories of uncle.
Thank you for bringing back those memories.
Thanks again for your videos and useful information.
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
👍👍
Clifton, so beautiful. A man of many talents, just incredible ✨
This is so cool! Authentic
Good morning, and thanks
☕🇨🇦👨🏭
I was curious to know if you do anything to strengthen the gourd. Thick coat of shellac or resin or something? How thick do you recommend the walls of the gourd be? Thanks
Awesome
Very nice...very very nice!
👍👍❤️
It sounds almost like the right banjo that everyone wants to hear keep up the good work that thing is badass if you ever want to sell one let me know how much I'd like to buy one or two or three or four or all the ones that you make LOL now I like to buy a couple though just message me if you want to sell any or got any for sale thank you.
So cool! Sounds great! 👍🏻
Nice job, nice moment 😘
Its a beauty!
I have a Moroccan guembri that is two low strings and one high string. Maybe not a direct descendant to the banjo but seems to be an early cousin if you will.
Love this!
Nice! They say gourds are African in origin. But, that gourds were already in North and South America by the time of colonization. I imagine gourds were a valuable asset to anyone that had the knowledge to make them into valuable tools such as dippers, cups, storage , and most excellently a banjo.
Awesome build Clifton
Love hearing it
That’s is a fine instrument, thanks for Sharing.
Loving this content! Just subscribed.
very nice sound
Really Great design... sounds wonderful too..!!!
Super cool ,and nice work. Love that tune.
GENIOUS
Man that thing is cool!
Very nice!
Dear Clifton,
You are among my top contemporary banjo heroes, as you may or may not know. I loved the clip, your playing and your banjo. The banjo is very interesting and very similar in shape to the one in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Do you know of it? If so, you may stop reading, but if not....
The very important difference between yours and the Museum's is that the latter, even though it follows the shape of a gourd, is not a gourd. It is made like wooden tack-head banjo. Date given (as amended) is 1840, and is described, thus: '...vellum soundboard nailed to beech sides, pine back and bone sound hole.' Just thought you might be interested.
By the way, I am using your clip to help me play the 130 year old Windsor 7-string English zither-banjo I've just acquired. Your hand movements, both left and right, and positioning, are very clear and easy to follow, so very many thanks.
Thanks for writing, Jake. I've seen photos of that gourd-shaped banjo in London. It is a beauty!
Sounds like fishing line
You’re so cool
Man that’s nice! Do you know where I can buy the goat hide?
www.goatskinsja.com/
😊👍👍👍👍👍👍 Nice.
Clifton, this sounds fantastic. What tuning are you playing out of?
Where are these great songs...?.my Website searches are too hit and miss and the UK outlets VERY limited and unknowledgeable.
00:01 "Shortening Bread" from Lewis Hairston (gDGBD).
04:44 "Trifling Woman" from Frank Proffitt (gDGBD).
@@CliftonHicksbanjo thanks
@@CliftonHicksbanjo thanks, will look for a visual to try and learn
Some other things not liked by those who don't like this video:
Mom, Apple Pie, Baseball, Summer, Babies, Puppies, Fresh Air, Freedom, Laughter, Smiles, and Hugs.
Love the look and sound of your new gourd banjo! I am building my first gourd banjo and don't know exactly where to place the fifth string peg on a string length of 25.5. Is there a string length to 5th string placement standard for a fretless neck? I would really appreciate hearing from you, if possible. Thanks
There is a standard 5th string placement today, but before circa 1885 there wasn't. Thumb peg placement on early banjos was all over the place. For ease of playing, however, I will loosely follow the measurements of another banjo I have laying around. I typically drill the thumb peg hole about 6 inches below the nut. Some early banjos have it higher, some lower.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo That helps a lot! Everybody seemed to focus on the number of frets which means they aren't focused on the relationship between 5th string placement vis-a-vis string length. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with my question. Really enjoy your song singing and banjo playing.
🔥🔥🔥🤠🔥🔥🔥
Loved it! Hey, Clifton, I got a question. Is it true that antique instruments sound better because of the age of their wood?
I think that's one reason, yes. However, if an antique instrument was poorly made, or has been butchered by a modern luthier, then the sound will of course suffer.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo thank you, Clifton! Keep the good work!
So where do you get one?
Clifton will you make me an 18th century gourd? Super primmy?
adluzeski@gmail.com
That's amazing brother how long did that take you? It's beautiful.
Very cool. Did you put gut strings on it?
sounds great, did you grow the gourd?
are you familiar with Adam Hurt? He recorded a fantastic gourd banjo album called "Earth Tones"
How long does that type of banjo last?
What strings did you use? What would they have been made of in the 18th century?
Geoffrey, my strings here are made of nylon. Eighteenth century banjo strings would've been made from twisted horsehair, or animal intestine.
For sale?
Do you have to moisten the goat Hyde?
Do you sell your banjos?
Where was it that you got the skin? I didn’t quite catch the name.
Either Centralia Fur & Hide in Washington, or Menzies Instruments in Jamaica.
Surprised to see a car,I thought you lived in the middle of nowhere off grid, oh well such is reality.
This music takes me to the middle of nowhere from my suburban home, but then I return to do what I must. (Listen to the lyrics of Dylan's Buckets of Rain for more info.)