Watched this with my moms and she suddenly remembered "Farewell my bonnie blue eye" and "the crawdad song" from her father playing them for her on banjo

What an absolute delight, you can almost make out 200 years of history in that tone

nice history lesson. that thing is a survivor. i hope it makes it another 180 years.

Legend of a banjo played by a banjo legend 👏 doesn't get any better!

Considering getting me a minstrel banjo, so I'm looking to people like you to show me why I need one. Pretty sure I need one now.

Gotta admire the good ol Cliff and those historical tunes!

I don't play banjo at all, but I absolutely admire the love for the instrument, it's music, and history/tradition that you bring to all your videos. I have absolute respect for you!

The OG one is shockingly light. I couldn’t believe how slender she is 🫣

So wish you could check out the old family banjo we have. It was owned by my grandfather's great aunt who was an art college graduate and musician. She traveled the world with her banjo. Still playable but we dont know how. She was born 1800s and I have one pic of her with my grandfather at 15yrs or so.

What a rich crisp sound from that old original! Amazing

Super sick! One thing I noticed with the bell banjo (not sure if I could spot it or not) but he usually has a sticker on the inside. Mine has got "custom made for Robert Brooks". Nevertheless, they are identifiable from a mine away.

That's a beautiful piece of machinery.

Wow, very cool. I play guitar for my local civil war reenacter group. After watching your videos, I need one of these reproduction banjo. Thanks for your honesty and dedication.

This is fantastic! I’ve loved the Boucher banjo since watching George Wunderlich recreate one on the “Woodwright’s Shop” with Roy Underhill. Though they pronounce it “Boo-shay”.

Great video!, Anyone interested in the name Boucher its french and common in Canada when spoken it actually sounds like Boo Shay. Theres a Boucher Guitars in Montreal a true masterbuilder cool to find out about this W.Boucher Jr's Banjos! Rock on!

Great video! The banjo is such an underrated part of music history.

You are an utter legend😍😎👏👏👏👍‼️ Y’reckon it’s possible that the wide nut on the Boucher allows for a wider string spacing on a relatively thin neck? It’d certainly help with making sure the ‘outside’ blocks of the nut were less prone to getting accidentally damaged compared to having the nut the same width as the neck and the ‘outside’ blocks being left real skinny to maximise the string spacing🤔? That said, if the ends of the nut overhang the neck, they’re more prone to taking damage 🤔😯?

Thanks a bunch for the great video.I play a Wunder Boucher and just learned more about the banjo in few minutes than I’ve known about both my reproduction and the original in the many years I’ve had it. George hit it pretty right on with the offset tail, straight peckboard and overhanging nut. Super awesome!

The slots on the tops of the pegs is a neat idea. Great for capturing the string when changing strings. I'm assuming those slots don't go too deep.

I don't have much interest in banjos, but I love your passion. And that's why I watch your vids. Well done, Sir.

A couple of real beauties there!

I really like the showmanship strum. So cool

VERY interesting& nice playing, thank you

Love those banjos.

Man that Bell banjo sounds incredible, Happy Turkey day my friend.

A super video with super instruments! Kind Thanks and Many Blessings and A Very Happy New Year! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania

I just found this channel and watched this video. My jaw dropped when I realized I was listening to a 180 plus year old banjo. What history in that instrument!! I’ve subscribed and I’m looking forward to more videos. Thanks!

That was awesome getting to hear this banjo getting played

The thumbnail is so crisp. Fantastic shot, great framing! Amazing piece of history, thanks Blaine and Clif.

The tone of the reproduction just doesn't quite speak to me in that special way like the sound produced by the original does. Oldies are always goodies.

What a treat, thanks for pointing out all those little details about the neck construction. The instrument + your playing sound great as well.

Thank you for the journey back in time Mr Hicks .

Still sounds great

I know it ain't right to covet another's possessions, but goddamn am I jealous of your banjo collection. Love your stuff Clifton.

Thanks for putting this out there. I like the others who have commented appreciate the work...

Great job, as always! FYI: My Jim Hartel Boucher uses a bent pin to secure the neck. He seems pretty serious about getting the details right. I'm surprised that both banjos rang so clearly in the rain and damp!

Amazing. Thanks for sharing these!

You gotta appreciate the time and skill it took to make those with the tools they had available.. blows my mind

I so enjoyed that, thank you Clifton. The sound from a time machine! Your enthusiasm and skill shine through.

Happy Thanksgiving brother 🦃🥧 I got your music in the background as I cook the turkey.

I like to put the bridge smack dab in the middle like these ones are.

Beautiful instruments as always.

I actually disliked the instrument "5 string banjo" completely before hearing you play fretless old banjos like these or the gourd banjo. Their sound is sooo much more colourful.

Heya Clif great work sharing the original Boucher with us. My first impression with the wider nut from a woodworking perspective, would be to have extra area beyond the end slots so as not to shear off if it were too narrow at the ends - I nearly had one do that to me recently making a wooden nut. Cheers from NSW Australia!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Cliff. God bless you and your family

I really love your music and videos,thank you very much for sharing ❤️❤️

I have a Bell that is like a budget version of a Boucher with the same design but a tack head. Kinda wish I had spent the extra for the adjustable. Cool banjo anyway. 😊

I appreciate the history & music. Hey, I haven't seen your friend Old Leatherstockings for a while. It's he doing alright? Unrelated, where's that video on your military service?

Wow! What amazing banjos you have there! Love the scalloping at the back and the original metal hardware on the Boucher. Thanks so much for sharing ^^

Awesome

I have always wanted to make a banjo. I like the close ups and I love that old banjo. I subbed thanks

So awesome. Thank you for sharing! 😀

Happy turkey day Clif!

Cool man.

So awesome! Never even knew there was fretless banjos before watching your channel, but I love the sound and it's so cool learnin and listening about this all!

Pretty neat Cliff

What a treat!

That's a beautiful piece of history, thank you for sharing it ❤️

Clifton could you play waiting on the Federals “Shelby’s Mule” would be cool hearing “Shelby’s Mule”. Would be a good song.

This turned out fantastic!

Wow

It’s rainin Holy shit! 🤣

Hi Clifton, thanks for this great video, I have a Boucher reproduction made by Terry Bell too, and I want to ask if you can explain me how much tension must put on the head. Is there a criteria (or procedure) to do this to that type of banjo? Thanks in advance.

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I enjoy you video and you play wonderfully. I have an observation regarding the logo on your swag which I considered until I saw the illustration of a skull and assault rifle. Neither have anything to offer acoustically.

Love the elegant simplicity of these fine instruments. Question. Why do many of this old style have a scalloped side on the neck by the 5th string? Is it just decoration or does it have a practical use?

That was a treat thanks😁👍

Nice

Highlights some choices builders need to make. To make as historically accurate as possible, or make stronger, more aesthetic, and/or more playable to detrimentof historical accuracy . Either is fine, just choices to make.

Wow...incredible that your holding a piece of American music history. Thank you for sharing🎉!!

Hi Clifton, nice video. Love your singing and playing. Tilted headstock, the thin Boucher one scares me. Conical fiddle peg to hold the neck to the rim. It gets tighter the more it's tapped. Pine bridges sound best on these banjos. Thin 1/4" rims absorb vibrations unlike thick bluegrass rims that reflect them. This is the nasal sound vs the boom sound, like turning EQ knobs upside down. My curly necks were one piece, my plain necks were often two piece. I made the beehives by drilling a hole in a block of maple, pounding it onto the arbor of an old washer motor and chipped them out lathe style. Aquila Minstrel strings need a scale length of at least 26" to sound right. 25 sounds dead, 27 is too tight and stringy sounding, 26 is just right. Amateur makers can make a great sounding banjo by following Boucher's idea of a solid red oak or ash rim (quarter sawn or near quarter) snd putting the brackets near the bottom of the rim in the scalloped like he did. This makes the rim shake like crazy while absorbing string vibration - the very opposite of a bluegrass thick rim that reflects vibration. This, not a twangy sound but a big fat sound. Old style THIMBLE fingerpicks bring out the whomp in these monsters. Joel Hooks sells these and makes them just like they did in the 1800' s. The minstrel style is a ball. If a player learns The Camptown Hornpipe they'll be hooked on this wonderful old melodic style. Of course lots of folks play mountain music on these and that sound great, down in D instead of G. Two of my banjos are displayed in the Baltimore Civil War Museum from time to time - William Boucher's hometown.

I didn't see any patreon link on my screen....

something special I'm reminded of my old friend Coleridge Goode teaching a new generation fretless base. the fretless banjo lacks the connotations of what we call a banjo today and to my humble ears is a better instrument with greater musicality...,..sorry if put clumsily kinda reaching for something sacred that was almost lost.

I would like to make one. Does anyone know where I can get measured drawings of an original early Boucher instrument? Even good photographs with one or two measurements would be sufficient for a working drawing. I saw online that the Smithsonian Institution has one, and since I;m not far from DC, I might see if they will let me measure it.

Cool video, awesome piece of history. If I were to start playing banjo, what banjo do you recommend?

Great video! It's very helpful as I'm wanting to build a reproduction. Do you know the approximate scale length and neck length of the Boucher banjos? Thanks for sharing!

it's hard to put my finger on it, but the tone of the Boucher sounds much closer to that of a nylon strung classical guitar or even a harp, where as the reproduction has a much more identifiably banjo sounding tone.

Hey Clifton. I want to get into the fretless "minstrel' banjo. I love the style you play. Do you have any recommendations for where to get used ones for a good price, and which books to start with? Your help is appreciated!

A Boucher fretless with a brass fingerboard up to the fifth string peg sold today at Evans Auctions in Mt. Crawford Va. $9840 before 6% sales tax. Nowhere near as good condition as this one.

Nice😊

Ok here is something I would like to know what are the strings made of. Thanks

5:00

Any idea or record of how many original Bouchers were made?

What’s the measurement from the heel to the fretboard.

"Boo shay" billy boucher

Hi Clifton. I just saw your very interesting KZfaq video showing an old minstrel banjo. I have a fairly new OME minstrel model banjo, but other than its minstrel shape, it sounds just like my other banjos. Could you maybe suggest a different set of strings that might give it a deeper old style minstrel banjo tone? Thanks, Bob PS I recently heard that OME has been sold to Goldtone.

Where can I find one?

So creating a reproduction that would still have the bass string hit the thumb peg would be more authentic. Or is it so annoying authenticity be damned. lol.

Is this what Rhiannon Giddens plays? She's an amazing musician!

Nce

Is Boucher pronounced "boo - sher"?

Can I have it? Lol