![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiS3519XnOrviGrrpL5NdkWbQanq5JvcaQuRtBMqpQkECO4hoH-Nsu5DPApncTmyszKbolBPqDwmBce2kPJ4YucjTthzeOLHg0QjxeAgUXC6uE9SMtFqUzWqzn6ftFMMOYjVAjw-6mEUs/s400/gourd3.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFADYJKPzVTfaPiBrZ4bnm_1j3DGm7Hw5P9oQuraKX0uxhs2Tl6Xq5Lp4gIM-FVoXV46cujWFPAu0ll2BYEZrmwjWWH91cza4FAVu5VnaE4OcwD-tv1cjNZsgZCSto2RVXcHT_u41oyYs/s400/gourd4.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nnM_bCHp7G18tprXL8mbdRyhNyaV8XrHpk7MjuwZCvl80bVqXZgX2hgG7yiOQnYYnjzbJDpzdbqRos-YeDdNXG5vKxF6acOAw0M5Um3qlr428sB1UrL4v3CztuI1ZAtKh8P6a60gZB0/s400/gourd5.jpg)
Finally found some time to finish off the banjo! Decided to finish the neck with Tung Oil (I used Behr Scandinavian Oil, which is at the Home Depot) which I had used on a couple furniture projects I had done, and it looks great! The nice thing with Tung Oil is you can put a coat on every hour and then dry overnight. I put about 5 coats on the neck.
I was going to get a piece of leather from a friend for the tail piece and then saw a few photos of a banjo with a simple wooden one with a hole cut it in to fit around the dowel. Since I am very impatient I figured this wood do, and I actually love the way it looks!
I am using Aquilla Nylgut strings, and first tuned it to normal G tuning, but the head was sagging a bit so I lowered the tuning to about F. I think any lower than this the strings get too flabby (its a short scale 24"). I found that the sound really cam alive after I lowered it, I think the gourds like the lower frequencies. It just became better all of a sudden!
The nut is made of walnut, because I had lots of scrap sitting around the shop after making a cutting board out of it.
Overall it was a great project, and even for a beginner like me only took a few days to make! I am praying the neck stays stable!