My bent lamination rims are still a work in progress (as with most everything I’m making) but I’ve put them on the back burner for now in favor of exploring the ‘stave’ method I’ve been working on. Someone on the Banjo Hangout forum mentioned it and it reminded me of when I made standup paddleContinue reading “Adventures in Banjo Making 3 – January 2024”
Author Archives: Michael Hampel
Adventures in Banjo Making – 02
For me, the first step was to figure out how to make a pot, or the body of the banjo. There are a few ways to make one, one is to bend long strips of wood into a hoop, and laminate them together. Another is to make a segmented ring with wedge shaped pieces, thenContinue reading “Adventures in Banjo Making – 02”
Adventures in Banjo Making – 01
A good friend handed me a banjo a few years ago and I loved it. I’ve had some experience playing in open G tuning on a guitar, so that was a plus not having to learn a new tuning, and there were only four strings! (It was a tenor banjo). The same friend later loanedContinue reading “Adventures in Banjo Making – 01”
New Guitars – March 2023
It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I will try to do better.. I’ve recently finished three Koa Weissenborn type guitars. Two are all Koa, the top, back and sides, the third has Koa back and sides with a Red Cedar top. Almost all my work is with local/domestic woods, but I went exoticContinue reading “New Guitars – March 2023”
New Album by Al Pettaway
http://www.instagram.com/p/CCUJllsn7sI/ Al is a great musician, check him out at: https://www.alandamy.com/al.html
# 11
When I make guitars, I usually make at least two at a time. It doesn’t take twice as long, maybe half as long again as making two separately. I don’t have any inclinations to become a factory, but more then one at a time seems to work well for me. In 2018 I made four,Continue reading “# 11”
New guitars
Just finished two guitars which I’m pretty happy with. With the time I have to make guitars I can usually make two a year, sometimes I start and work on more then that, but realistically only two get done a season. These two are a couple I started last Winter, numbers 10 & 11. MyContinue reading “New guitars”
Michael Hampel Guitars
I make my guitars in my shop located in the Eastern Foothills of the North Cascades of Washington state. The wood I use is local or regionally harvested. My goal is to make a great playing and sounding guitars using wood from trees grown in the Pacific Northwest.
Hampel Guitars 