Durang's Hornpipe ~ Gourd banjo, #30

My most recent build. Features a one-piece figured cherry neck with my take of a scroll style peghead, walnut pegs, dowel, nut, bridge, and tailpiece, goatskin head, and a 9" thin-shell gourd (I normally don't like using these, but this one seemed to be sturdy enough). I have it set up with a 5/8" bridge, making the action a tad high, but mainly for the right hand over the gourd/heel juncture since the neck is slightly lower than the gourd (which happened after the heel had cracked after I had shaped the neck out, and not wanting to scrap the neck, I cut the split off, so the dowel ended up being closer to the edge than I would have liked). 25 1/2" scale.
After the last gourd banjo, I've decided to make the following ones with the block style tailpiece as opposed to the more traditional style (though it's taken me awhile to like the new style), mainly for the simplicity and not having to deal with a stretching tailgut (which also puts pressure on the edge of the gourd, resulting in the head bulging), and sometimes, depending on the size of the gourd, it can crowd the bridge.

Tuned dGDGA