In the shop, I often get attic discoveries that need a good overhaul. They often are in a good and workable condition, they just need a little attention to get them running again.

A gentleman brought in what might initially seem like a lost cause. This is an incredibly old banjo, and seemed like it may have seen better days.

However, you can see from the back of the banjo that this was a beautiful instrument, and deserved closer inspection.

It became clear that, under the dust, and with a bit of oil, there was nothing mechanically or structurally wrong with the instrument. With a new skin, a bridge and some strings, the customer could easily be plinking away within a couple of weeks.

It was clear that this was an unusual banjo, and was probably going to need a skin, rather than a synthetic head. With a diameter of 8 1/4", it was clear that we were going to need to go with a goatskin, and the customer had decided that this is what he would prefer, so the instrument would look and sound more authentic.

My first job was to dismantle the banjo and recover the hoop from the remnants of the old skin.

Then I had to soak the new skin so it would be pliable. It could then be laid flat over the tone ring, and the hoop be placed over the top.

Next the rim is fitted over the top, but with the excess skin also folded through, so it is sticking out of the top.

This banjo has the brackets for the tension screws in the resonator, so the whole "pie" is then fitted in the resontor, and the screws are tightened to the point where they are holding the whole structure in place, but not stretching the skin.

It is then possible to trim the excess skin, like in baking.

After drying for four days, the banjo is slowly tightened over the course of a few days, allowing it to dry, stretch and be pulled up to full tension without splitting. Once at full tension, the bridge is fitted, adjusted to the correct height, and the instrument can be strung up. This is the point where you discover whether the skin has stretched evenly and dried correctly. If not, it will split, and a new skin will be required. There is no way of repairing a skin. Once damaged, a new skin is required, no matter how good the skin was.

Stringing this instrument was interesting. In the 1800s, there was a spate of English banjo makers that didn't like the lack of symmetry in the five string banjo. To get around it, they drilled a hole behind the fifth fret, and the fifth string passes through that hole, and comes out again at the peghead, where it is tuned with the other strings.

To keep the look of these instruments symmetrical, they fitted the pegheads with 6 tuners, even though only five of them were being used. I see this as being a fairly eccentric method of making banjos, but there is no denying that this banjo is a beauty, and after knocking the first few chords of "Irish Washer Woman" out I knew the customer would be pleased, as the new goat string just sang.