Edward’s entertaining memoir is now available on Amazon & Kindle. It discusses his journey as luthier and the evolution of the Banjola.
To hear an interview with Edward by Fretboard Journal’s Michael Bashkin go here
at Luthier On Luthier.
Edward Victor Dick built his first wooden bodied banjo hybrid instrument in 1996. As a banjo player and a guitar builder, he had been pondering this idea for a couple of decades. He chose a teardrop mandolin body style with walnut back & sides, cedar top, and a mahogany 5-string style banjo neck with a 25.4” scale. He used a guitar style X bracing and pin bridge.
He coined and copywrited the name “banjola” for this new instrument.
This first banjola was sold to noted songwriter and musicologist, Dick Weissman, who introduced Edward to another hybrid wooden bodied instrument built circa 1890 by the August Pollmann Company. This instrument differed from Edward’s design in that it had a smaller body, shorter scale, floating bridge, tailpiece, and was ladder braced. The name given to it was “mandolin banjo”.
Weissman complained that this instrument didn’t intonate properly and wasn’t very loud. He thought Edward’s “banjola” was a vast improvement in both tone and playability.
Edward built several more 5-string banjolas, continuing to refine his design. One of these early examples of a Victor banjola was reviewed by Ken Perlman in the Banjo Newsletter in May 1998.
Banjo Newsletter Article 1998: Early 5-string Victor Banjola
In 1998 Edward built his first 6-string banjola. His intention was to expand the range of the instrument (tuning gGCgcd) while still retaining a unique non-guitar-like sound. He enlarged the body and widened the neck to accommodate 6 strings. The short string was now the 6th. Sound clips of both this instrument as well as the 5-string version can be found on a CD he produced in 1999 entitled “Taptones”.
In 2007 Edward redesigned both his 5 and 6-string banjolas, enlarging the bodies even further. In February 2008 Ken Perlman did another review of the redesigned Banjola in the Banjo Newsletter.
Banjo Newsletter Article 2008: 5 and 6-string Victor Banjolas
Koa Top and Spruce Top
Watch a video of the Steel String 5.
Watch a video of the Nylon String 6.
Edward currently operates Victor Guitar in Denver, Colorado and is director of the Colorado School of Lutherie. He continues build custom banjolas and to refine his designs.