Phil Yost Banjo-Guitar

Our late friend Phil Yost built this instrument in Santa Cruz in 1972 (it's signed and dated on the back). I should probably call this a Tambo-banjo-guitar since the body was made from a wooden tambourine, and the neck's from an old guitar. The only real banjo part is the drum.

Phil was quite inventive with recycled parts. He took the rattles out of a tambourine, filled the slots with wood, and then drilled out for the homemade drum tighteners. The neck came from an old guitar, on which he laminated and glued a head from recycled wood. Phil made all the machined parts for the drum head. The gears probably came from the same guitar the neck came from. The threaded rod, seen at the head, runs all the way through the neck and frame.

Phil had this hanging on a wall in his house for many years and unplayed. The dampness of Santa Cruz corroded nearly all the metal parts, so I completely dismantled it and scrubbed everything until it looked brand new.

This instrument sounds very much like a banjo. However, it's strummed and picked like a guitar. I was given this guitar by Phil's "surrogate son," Ethan. (Thanks, Ethan.)