I have made smaller versions of the double bass banjo which I intended as banjo-cello's although they took on experimental scale lengths. They are essentially the same as the double -bass banjo only using a tom as the resonating chamber. All sound excellent and have more volume, more bass and more tops than a conventional cello. You can get some really amazing tones with radical bowing which cello's just don't have. There seems to be a greater expressiveness and sensitivity available and a greater range of tonality. They are quite a thing to try to tame. I have a picture of the first one which I made for my friend Caitlin. It was made with sitka spruce and cedar for the lattice and New Guinea Rosewood for the neck with an Indian rosewood fret board and a lovely maple 13"Premier tom as the drum. She is very happy with it and likes it tuned down a fifth from normal cello so it really ought to be called a bass viola. (The scale is 3 inches longer than cello scale length with cello strings and by tuning them lower we get the top three strings being the bottom three cello strings and an extra deep e for the bass string which is great for bass lovers like us.)

Here she is trying it out for the first time.

 

The second is a banjo cello (full size) and has been heavily modified by my friend Stef since he bought it. Originally it was much like the others but Stef just had to butcher it; changing to a shorter neck to make it like a cello should be using Blackwood (I used the old new guinea rosewood one to make the resonator cello,) changing the neck and drum and foot angles, chopping down the base of the neck and foot twice, changing the drum and then chopping it down too, changing the feet and the tuners, another even smaller drum and next the bridge and the neck again.

I think it is really nice now in it's more streamlined and rakish form and his several improvements in design will be much apreciated by owners of future banjo cello efforts. We like it a lot. Although it lost a bit of its bass and resonance acoustically with the small drum the electrified tone tightened up and carries well.

He is planning another we think.

Stef has a web site you can visit with some of his work to check out including a cool six-string headless bass he made and his great doofing trailer/studio/stage project.

His site is called imembrane.org

 

The third one is the same scale length as an electric bass and has a 70's 14" Premier maple tom and New Guinea rosewood neck and Indian rosewood fretboard and the same kind of lattice. This one has just been finished and sports the bottom four Viol-de-Gamba strings which sound quite amazing; livelier, deeeeeep and very nice feel being Perlon or fake gut so rubbery and soft to touch.

Super Sensitive make them. They're great. This instrument is for sale at the moment and my friend Cai is playing it in although feel free to make a bid.

I show here the bridge, the head stock, the neck and the drum with the foot and tailpiece and the finished instrument. The bow is a generic fibre-glass cheapy with real hair though. I'm very proud of this one, especially the sound.