IMPROVEMENTS IN BANJOS
Year: 1888

page_text: I, WILLIAM GRAHAM BETHAM, of Nasik, Bombay Presidency, in the Empire of
India, Divisional Forest Officer, of the Nasik Division, do hereby declare the nature
of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BANJOS" to be as follows :-
My Invention relates to the construction of Banjos of metal whereby they are
rendered nearly independent of climatic changes and better fitted for use in
tropical climates, and other advantages obtained.
I construct banjos according to my invention entirely of metal (except some of
the minor parts, such as the bridge, the tail-piece, the nut &c.) and for this purpose,
1 prefer to use brass or silver, but I do not confine myself to these metals.
I am aware that the hoops of these instruments have sometimes been made of
metal, but, whether made of metal or wood, it has hitherto been the practice to make
an extension of the finger board pass through both sides of the hoop so as to afford
a firm support for the attachment of the tail-piece without subjecting the hoop to the
strain produced by the strings, but this arrangement is not conducive to the produc-
tion of a full, mellow, and powerful tone, and the use of metal in the construction of
these instruments, as berein described, facilitates certain improved arrangements in
this respect.
According to my invention I strengthen the comparatively thin external hoop by
another narrower and thicker internal hoop.
To one part of the hoop so strengthened I fix a boss or button, or two of them to
which the tail-piece is attached, and to the other side of the said hoop exactly opposite
the said boss or button. I attach the hollow metal arrangement corresponding with
the finger-board of wooden instruments and which is hereinafter referred to as the
finger bar.
This I make of the usual external shape but hollow and fitted with the usual pegs
for adjusting the strings, or, in some case, I make them of metal with a mechanical
winding device, called a machine head, such as is well known for the purpose, and I

page_text: provide that end of said finger bar which is to abut against the hoop with suitable
flanges shaped to correspond with and fit the surface of the hoop and which flanges
are pierced to receive screw-bolts or rivets which, passing through the hoop, attach
the finger bar firmly to it.
I completely close in the back of the hoop and I stretch the parchment over the 5
face of the same as is customary by means of a narrow hoop drawn over it and
retained in the usual manner.
Duted the 20th 1...
14
1009

page_text: Improvements in Banjos.
"
I, WILLIAM GRAHAM BETHAM, of Nasik, Bombay Presidency, in the Empire of
India, Divisional Forest Officer of the Nasik Division, do hereby declare the nature
of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BANJOS" and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention relates to the construction of Banjos of metal, whereby they are
rendered nearly independent of climatic changes and better fitted for use in tropical
climates and other advantages are also obtained.
I construct banjos according to my invention entirely of metal (except some of
the minor parts such as the bridge, the tail-piece, the nut &c.) and for this purpose
I prefer to use brass or silver but I do not confine myself to these metals.
I am aware that the hoops of these instruments have sometimes been made of
metal, but, whether made of metal or wood it has hitherto been the practice to make
an extension of the finger board pass through both sides of the hoop so as to afford
a firm support for the attachment of the tail-piece without subjecting the hoop to
strain produced by the strings except that produced by the pressure of the bridge on
the parchment but this arrangement is not conducive to the production of a full,
mellow, and powerful tone and the use of metal in the construction of these
instruments as herein described facilitates certain improved arrangements in this
respect.
According to my invention strengthen the comparatively thin external hoop by
another narrow and thicker internal hoop or by turning the upper edge inwards as
a flange or inwards and downwards over a wire and sometimes by stays within the
hoop.
To one part of the hoop so strengthened I fix a boss or button, or two of them,
to which the tail-piece is attached, and to the other side of the said hoop diametri-
cally opposite the said boss or button I attach the hollow metal arrangement
corresponding with the finger-board of wooden instruments and which is hereinafter
referred to as the finger-bar.
This I make of the usual external shape but hollow, and fitted with the usual
pegs, patent or otherwise, for adjusting the strings, or in some cases, I make them
of metal with a mechanical winding device called a "machine head" such as is well
known for the purpose, and I provide that end of the said finger-bar which is to
abut against the hoop with suitable flange or flanges shaped to correspond with and
fit the surface of the hoop, and which flanges are pierced to receive screw bolts or
rivets which, passing through the boop, attach the finger-bar firmly to it.
I completely close in the back of the hoop, such back and hoop 1 make in one
piece, preferably casting the same, working it under the hammer and then finishing
and polishing it in a lathe whereby I obtain a better tone than would be yielded
by rolled sheet metal but ordinary rolled sheet or otherwise worked metal may be
used. I stretch the parchment or vellum over the face of the hoop as is customary
by means of a narrow hoop drawn over it and retained in the usual manner.

page_text: It will be easily understood that by attaching the finger-bar to one side of the
hoop and the tail-piece to a boss or bosses on the other side so that the strain of the
strings is borne by the hoop which I make sufficiently rigid or otherwise support
sufficiently to enable it to resist such strain I cause the musical vibrations of the
strings to he more effectually communicated to the body of the instrument, and
thereby reinforced, than is the case in instruments of the ordinary construction in
which a continuation of the finger-board extends through the hoop and forms the
head or boss to which the tail-piece is attached, thus leaving the hoop almost.
entirely free from the strain produced by the strings, and therefore to a considerable
extent independent of their vibrations besides which the fact of the tail-piece passing
through the hoop, unless it is very tightly fitted, sometimes causes a jarring which
interferes with the production of a good tone.
In the accompanying drawings I have represented the instrument with a machine
head, but this is immaterial-the head may be of the ordinary shape with pegs of
either wood or ivory. The tail-piece and nut may be of metal, but ivory is the best
material for them. The bridge should be of light wood.
Fig. 1, is a plan of my improved banjo.
Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the same.
Fig. 3, is a transverse section through the centre of the hoop, looking towards the
finger-bar. Fig. 4, is a section through the finger-bar taken on the line Y Z Fig. 2;
and Fig. 5, is a section of the machine head through the line W X Fig. 1, A, is the
hoop which I make together with the back B of one piece of metal, this I prefer to
do by first casting it, then working it under a hammer, and finally finishing and
polishing it in a lathe, as I believe that when so worked the finest tone is obtained,
but sheet metal may be used or it may be otherwise formed and worked in any
convenient manner, and the back may be pierced with one or more sound holes or
may be left unpierced.
-
On the inside of the hoop, at its upper edges, I fix a strong ring of metal C, which
may, conveniently, be about a quarter of an inch wide and an eighth-of an-inch
thick, more or less, and this I rivot or solder firmly in its place. The object of this i
ring is to afford additional support to the hoop A and also to enable the edge of
the hoop to be more effectually rounded off, so as to lessen the chance of damage to
the parchment.
In some cases I strengthen or support the hoop by internal stays g, g, of which I
prefer to use two, which I rivet on to the inside of the hoop. Such stays may con-
veniently he made of iron or of the same metal as the other parts of the banjo and
I prefer to make them curve or bow inwards towards each other in the centre as
shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and they may be about one sixteenth of an inch
thick, and one inch deep and be riveted on to the hoop just below the inner metal
ring. In order to prevent any jarring they are connected in the centre by a wooden
drum or cylinder through the axis of which a rivet is passed and riveted through
the stays. 1 pierce the hoop with a series of holes, through which are inserted and
may be fixed, with scrow nuts a, a, the bosses b, b, through which work the pulls d, d,
for stretching the parchment when acted on by their nuts d¹, d'; the hoop A is also
pierced with holes through which pass the rivets or screws e, e, which fasten the
finger-bar to it, and also holes for the boss or bosses which serve for the attachment
of the tail-piece.
The pulls, tail-piece, and bridge, may, conveniently, be of the ordinary construction
as also a ring f in which they not to tighten the parchment which is likewise
secured under the ring in the usual manner, the ring may be recessed to allow the
pulls d to lie flush with its upper edge.
The finger-bar D is hollow as shown in section in Fig. 4 the back and sides
being made of one piece of metal beaten into shape and polished; on the inside
upper edges flanges are riveted or soldered, to which the flat top E is fitted and
soldered, care being taken that the soldering is perfect throughout its entire length.
The end of the finger-bar, next the hoop, may strengthen by soldering or riveting
on a piece of comparatively thick brass, indicated in the drawing by the letter F

page_text: from which, or from the end of the finger-bar, if such strengthening-piece is not
employed project three or more lugs or flanges or a continuous flange through which
the before mentioned screw-holts e, e, e pass to fix the finger-bar to the hoop.
The head of the finger-bar may be of any convenient shape such as that shown
in the drawings, according to the style of the instrument, but in any case the surface
should be very carefully made true and flat, and level with the surface of the
instrument. Machine-heads or peg-heads, may be used, and if the former, the
machine for the short string is preferably fitted into a frame of it's own and let
bodily into the side of the finger-bar, as shown by dotted line in Fig. 1 of the
drawings. The top of the finger-bar should be quite square and level with the
surface of the parchment. The nut is soldered or rivetted to the flat top of the finger-
bar, if rivetted, it may, most conveniently, be done before the top of the finger-bar
is soldered on to the back.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. Constructing Banjos with a metal finger-bar secured to a metal hoop and not
prolonged through the same substantially as and for the purpose herein before
described and set forth.
2. Constructing Banjos with a hollow metal finger-bar substantially as and for the
purpose described and set forth.
3. Constructing Metallic Banjos in which the finger-bar is attached to one side
of the hoop and the tail-piece to a boss or bosses on the opposite side so that the
strain of the strings is borne by the hoop whereby the musical vibrations of the strings"
are more effectually communicated to the body of the Instrument and re-inforced
than they otherwise would be substantially as herein before described and set forth.
4. In metallic banjos, constructing the hoop and back of one piece of metal and
strengthening the hoop in the manner and for the purpose described and set forth.
Dated the Twenty eighth day of February 1889.
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Agent for the Applicant.