Check out the links below to see some of my past creations. Contact me through the form at the bottom of the page or at 

I recently put some music out into the world, a first for me as far as writing goes. Sharing is caring.

Chris Witulski

 String Instruments

Making two instruments from the same materials at once turned out to be fascinating. These are both gourd banjos with similarly-sized gourds, scale lengths, and most everything else. They both have flush frets (so they are fret, but have white markers for the fret locations). Both feature brass position markers, friction tuners, Nulgut strings, and goat skin heads stained with coffee.

The differences come down to the gourds: #11 (the one with the "snake head" shaped peg head) has a shorter bridge and thicker walls on the gourd while #12 (the "paddle" head) has a thinner walled gourd. I also pulled the skin down around the flower-shaped sound hole on that one.

To me, #11 is punchy in a way that sounds, well, like a banjo. It would cut through a crowd. #12 is warmer in a way that is more what I expected from a gourd instrument. Here are improvised samples and photos of each.

These are both available through Small Box Music in Maumee. (They ship directly through their website and also have a store on Reverb.)

Two gourd banjos

When teaching banjo history as a way to discuss race in America in my classes at Bowling Green State University, I have had the opportunity to bring them to the arts area and build banjos from scratch. 

To make this work, I prepared two guides. One was for a few students who were working independently, another was adapted for a larger class. I share them here with the hopes that (1) you might make some banjos and (2) you'd let me know how it goes!

I do some things differently now than what these guides share, but they will get you up and running.

How to build a (fretless tackhead or gourd) banjo

I'm not a percussionist, but I've always thought that a cajon would be useful. This is basically a box with a snare pushing against the front on the inside. I made this with mitered corners for clean lines and used a hole saw that I had to get the sound hole shape, which is flower-like. I have not tried putting a finish on it, but I may. It sounds and plays great.

Cajon

Since you only need so many banjos, it was time to try a guitar. Learning frets, electronics, binding, and many other new skills made for a great challenge and, to be honest, I'm shocked with how good the instrument feels.

This Telecaster Thinline-style guitar is cherry with a curly maple top. The neck is the opposite, curly maple with a cherry fret board. The pick guard is cherry and the body has a walnut double binding. The pickups are  Fender Noiseless Gen 4. There are some minor cosmetic warts that I have solutions for and I can't wait to build another.

The electric comes in about halfway through this tune.

The Tele Thinline

If getting into fretless banjos is what started me on this path, interest in gourd instruments has kept me going. I've used these as a way to try different variations for things like the fifth peg and the tailpiece. The leather on the one here was a recent experiment that has worked out well. There's room to try some improvements on future gourd builds, too. This one is maple and hickory, both local, with violin pegs. It's more of a prototype, but looks good and plays well.

Gourd banjos

While trying to make the build process more efficient for a class I was teaching, I decided to try some attractive new wood. I had never worked with figured maple before, but I have been enjoying the scraps ever since (as is obvious from the Thinline Telecaster copy from late 2023). This one features canarywood on the fingerboard, peghead cover, rim cap, and tailpiece.

Curly maple and canarywood tackhead

This is another of my favorites. It feels great, with a nice thin neck and the low "Classic banjo" Aquila Nylgut strings. The head is stained goat skin. The body and neck are cherry and ipe. There's an ipe integrated tone ring and an ipe stripe down the neck.

Cherry and ipe classic banjo

The design on this one came out of my desire for something other than (1) the old double ogee and (2) the plain-ish fifth string peg that looks a bit like an ear. I was playing some sketches on a large sheet of paper and landed on the long arc that extends from the fifth string peg, across the neck, and finishes as part of the scoop. This is also the first time I played with a stained hide head and decorative lamination. The rim is a cherry block rim with an ipe rim cap to match the neck.

Block rim tackhead with a swooped scoop

These two tackhead fretless banjos had ambrosia maple necks, bent ash for the body, and a really nice purpleheart that I used for the fingerboards, pegheads, and other bits. The deep scoop goes almost through to the heel, giving these a striking look. They have stylized "classic banjo" headstocks with friction pegs and the double ogee on the neck marks important positions. I made a matching bridge with the purpleheart and used the Aquila red series to complete the look.

One of these was a retirement gift to my dad (who doesn't play, but is starting to).

Chris Witulski
String Instruments

Some recent builds

Two gourd banjos

Two gourd banjos

How to build a (fretless tackhead or gourd) banjo

How to build a (fretless tackhead or gourd) banjo

Cajon

Cajon

The Tele Thinline

The Tele Thinline

Gourd banjos

Gourd banjos

Curly maple and canarywood tackhead

Curly maple and canarywood tackhead

Cherry and ipe classic banjo

Cherry and ipe classic banjo

Block rim tackhead with a swooped scoop

Block rim tackhead with a swooped scoop

Classic tackhead banjo with a double ogee

Classic tackhead banjo with a double ogee