Banjo with improved resonance

摘要

A banjo, made almost entirely of wood, eliminates most metal parts of a traditional banjo. The neck is bolted to the body, improving sustain. The body consists of a drum assembly bolted to a resonant tone chamber. The resonant tone chamber consists of a thin back, thin rim assembly, interior flange ring, thin decorative cover and tone ring. The interior flange ring provides mechanical strength to the resonant tone chamber and anchors the drum assembly. The drum assembly consists of a banjo head and a tension hoop. The banjo head snugly fits over the tone ring, and is tensioned via a plurality of bolts that secure the tension hoop in the drum assembly to the flange ring in the resonant tone chamber. A sound port cut into the rim assembly provides sound to a player. Sound holes cut into the decorative cover project sound from the resonant tone chamber toward an audience.

主权项

1. A banjo, comprising:
a neck; and a body, attached to the neck, wherein the body includes a drum head assembly and a resonant tone chamber, and wherein the drum head assembly includes a tension hoop and a banjo head and the resonant tone chamber includes a rim, a head block attached to the rim having a mortise cut therein, and a flange having a tenon to fit the mortise cut into the head block to form a dovetail joint and to provide mechanical strength to the rim.