Well one nice day in December I went out to Bonner's Steel. It's one of those places with acres of scrap metal you can wander through undisturbed for hours. I was looking for something that might be already "banjo shaped". When I went into the office and told them what I was hoping to do, Steve said did you see that sheet of brass leaning against the shed? It was so corroded I never even recognized it as brass. So I went and examined it and it was the most beautiful red brass under that ugly patina. He said $1 per pound and it weighed 126 pounds. I really wanted the whole thing, but...

They charged $6 total to cut it into a 1/2" strip, a 3/4" strip, a 2" strip and a 14x14" square. 14 lbs in all, so for $20 I had the pot and material for tailpiece (my own design) and a lot left over. I also designed and built the bridge. I had to buy the hooks, frets, and head (all from Ebay). The tuners I got for a greatly reduced price from a music store that was going out of business many years ago just awaiting a mandolin. The rest was sawing, bending, filing, nibbling, soldering, sanding, and polishing till it looks as it does. The wood is maple which a cabinetmaker friend cleared out when he sold his shop. I turned the resonator on the outboard end of my lathe.