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Building with kids
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:41 pm
by Karl Wicklund
Our school district kicks off the year with two or three days of enrichment classes. Today, I helped three middle schoolers walk away with simple, homely but functional banjos. We had three hours to stretch the head, attach the neck and install tuners. The results were ok, but the reactions were great. They were thrilled. The picture is a demo one I built from plans outlined by Jon Whitney here on MIMF.
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:18 pm
by Eric Knapp
That’s awesome!
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:05 pm
by Matthew Lau
Nice!
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:12 am
by Mike Conner
Pouring into the next generation! This is such a blessing. Those middle school aged kids have a new degree of confidence - it will be wonderful to see how the seed you have planted will bloom. Thanks for sharing your interest and talents with the next generation, and for sharing it with MIMF. Very inspiring!
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 9:31 pm
by Bryan Bear
This is awesome!
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 11:27 am
by Clay Schaeffer
Cool!
Are they fretless?
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:17 pm
by Karl Wicklund
They are fretless, yeah. The kids were bowled over by the fact that they *made* a banjo. None of them know how to play - yet.
One of them has come back to me already for repairs, as the tuners proved to be worth all of the $4 we paid for them.
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:10 am
by Frank Dryer III
Karl Wicklund wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 5:41 pm
Our school district kicks off the year with two or three days of enrichment classes. Today, I helped three middle schoolers walk away with simple, homely but functional banjos. We had three hours to stretch the head, attach the neck and install tuners. The results were ok, but the reactions were great. They were thrilled. The picture is a demo one I built from plans outlined by Jon Whitney here on MIMF.
Did you use a simple plastic pocket on top?
Re: Building with kids
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:22 pm
by Karl Wicklund
The top is plastic from a 2-liter bottle. That limits the dimensions, but it works quite well. Shrinks up when you hit it with a heat gun.