1960s/2021 Wildwood Frankenstein Classical Banjo-Guitar

It's weird, it's kinda quiet, but it's also fun to play -- especially hanging-out on the couch -- because it's roughly the size of a 3/4 guitar. I've had this '60s-era German-made (probably) classical guitar neck for a while and I bought the 14" Remo frame drum to mount it to last fall. I finally gathered the parts, set aside an hour and a half, and stuck it together with some scrap cherry (for the "dowel") from my wood stash and completed it with a parts-bin archtop bridge.

This is a gift for a buddy of mine who's got interests in weird folk and traditional instruments from around the world and this moon-shaped oddity should fit right in with his stash.

Aside from cobbling it together, the only other work was a level/dress of the frets and some trimming of the fretboard extension as it'd aged in such a way that meant it deflected up and caused fretting-out in the higher register beforehand.

I like it best with a flatpick but it makes a neat fingerpicker, too, and it records easily.