This image of Pete Seeger's banjo, which someone posted in another thread has me scratching my head over what's going on with the bridge. Does his bridge have outriggers or or some kind of buttress? What are those things?
Pete Seeger's bridge
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s1m0n
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Pete Seeger's bridge
This image of Pete Seeger's banjo, which someone posted in another thread has me scratching my head over what's going on with the bridge. Does his bridge have outriggers or or some kind of buttress? What are those things?
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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SteveK
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This is just a guess. Lots of banjo players put a cloth inside the banjo between the dowell or rods and the head to kill some overtones and make the banjo sound less tinny. Seeger himself said that a diaper was about the right size. Those things appear to make contact with the top of the head and could serve that purpose.
I posted a question about Pete Seeger's banjo's bridge over on Banjo-L.
If the folks over there don't have an answer (or several) about it
I imagine the next step might be asking Pete himself.
If you don't want to wait for me to get my digest of the list and relay what they said, the subscription address for that list is
https://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/listinfo/banjo-l
If the folks over there don't have an answer (or several) about it
I imagine the next step might be asking Pete himself.
If you don't want to wait for me to get my digest of the list and relay what they said, the subscription address for that list is
https://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/listinfo/banjo-l
If you haven't checked out Banjo-L,
yes there were several replies to our question. Appearently its been a subject of discussion there and other banjo places as well.
I'll paraphrase what can be found recently on Banjo-L.
Stu Jamieson made it and 2 others.
Stu also wrote an article about it for FRETS Magazine where he gives templates for the bridge and explains the theory behind the design.
yes there were several replies to our question. Appearently its been a subject of discussion there and other banjo places as well.
I'll paraphrase what can be found recently on Banjo-L.
Stu Jamieson made it and 2 others.
Stu also wrote an article about it for FRETS Magazine where he gives templates for the bridge and explains the theory behind the design.
Just won a lot of FRETS magazines on Ebay and the Seeger bridge is not only mentioned but construction details were given in one of them. I recall glancing at the article and I think they recommend fabricating the bridge out of phenolic printed circuit board material.
I'll see if I can find the article again.
I'll see if I can find the article again.
Located the article (June '87). Looks like the purpose is to drive the head over a larger area and according to the article, the larger the area driven, the louder and better the banjo should sound.
The reason for the four legs is that they are a ballance of mass, contact area, string dampening, etc., etc.....
There is a template and construction details in the article but the original was actually sized for a wider string spacing to suit Mr. Seegers need for a wider string spacing given the size of his mitts.
The reason for the four legs is that they are a ballance of mass, contact area, string dampening, etc., etc.....
There is a template and construction details in the article but the original was actually sized for a wider string spacing to suit Mr. Seegers need for a wider string spacing given the size of his mitts.
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s1m0n
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...Now we know. Thanks for the research assistance.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis