I decided a couple of years ago, faced with loads of spare time after being retired from work on medical grounds, to have a close look at how my then banjo(a Gold Tone ) was put together. I ended up buying a kit banjo and making it . I have now progressed a bit and play several banjos which I have put together from all sorts of bits and pieces bought of lots of people.
I have now got 25 banjos which are all in great playable condition and include a long neck of uncertain origins and my favourite which has the pot and hardware from a 1930s Grimshaw resonator banjo. paired to a neck which I got from an old Savanah and refurbished.

Its great to play an instrument which you have made yourself. I am curretly working on making a neck for a long neck banjo from scratch, having found a nice bit of maple which someone kindly chopped and sawed to a rough neck shape.

I still have a couple of Gold Tones which I think are pretty good instruments for the price, as well as a very old Windsor Zither banjo which still plays well. I also have a banjo which I was challenged to make a couple of years ago when someone suggested that my banjo looked like a frying pan. I agreed to make one from a Tefal Non Stick, using the pan as the resonator, fixed to an open back of indescriminate origins. This plays amazingly well and always promotes interest when I take it out. Its a great hobby and one I would recomend although it took me a while to gather all the proper tools together

Keep Pickin'

Pete