Traditions: Ohio Heritage Fellows; 102; Doug Unger interview, part 4 of 6

Q: I’m told you take your ornamentation to a higher level, basically beyond the Golden Age um, like an inlay done in a basic pattern but then you improve on that?

DOUG: Well, I don’t know about that. I try to put my own mark to it... my own stamp to it... maybe my own identity... (pause)

Q: Ok, describe the process of making a banjo to me.

DOUG: Start off with some raw lumber uh, that could be American Maple, Walnut, Cherry, or Mahogany. I like Mahogany a lot, it’s a wonderful wor—wood to work. But they all have the different characteristics. Um, I get the wood machined at first so it’s just a lot of machinery involved... big sanders uh, joinery, carpentry. And then, when I get to the fingerboard and to the peg head when uh, the inlay start, then it gets more and more creative. Until then machines rule the day but then when it gets towards handwork, the cutting of pearl, the selecting of pearl, the designs, the careful drawing of it and then the engraving of it is what I like the best. It’s the most uh, demanding, and hence, the most restful for me to do. I get lost in it and the harder it is to do, the more uh, it pulls me into it. Uh, I have to get sharp every day I’m away from it. I get rusty for being away a day and I have to reinvent the attention and talk myself into it, actually talk out loud to get my attention span just right, get everything just right, get the music that’s just right. All the while my cats are on the worktable next to me while I’m working. They have free reign of the whole deal. And um, then I hope it all goes well. Each day brings a different temperament to the process. And sometimes I’m not at my best and I’ve ruined something and have to redo it. And that’s just part of the ball game, you just have to step back, take... take a... a look at what you’re doing and then figure out what went wrong, then have the patience to redo something to try to make it right, I... in that respect, I’m really interested in pleasing myself. I’m... I’m only interested in pleasing myself, no one else. Same is true when I paint. It’s always about trying to grab that a... that elusive vision you have in your head. With instruments I have, somehow, the ability to work on things for days, weeks, and months without losing the initial um, focus. Whereas, I know painters who have attention span of about two hours, and that’s fine. But I can stay with something for a very long period of time. I always have a... a vision that is the most beautiful before it starts. And then, of course, it’s all downhill. It’s the big struggle takes place.

Q: Talk to me about the vision before?

DOUG: Yea, I have... when I start; an instrument is like a painting. It’s always at its best, the vision of it. Uh, and then the struggle starts and it’s a battle and it can go on for days until you pull it off or you don’t pull it off, you have to re... you have to fix things that go wrong. That takes a lot of patience. Um, it’s like a painting that gives you a hard time. It’s like a painting in the sense that it’s done when there’s no evidence of its doing. Has to look effortless or it’s a mess. And I learned that from painting and apply it to instruments.

Q: You have to have knowledge of different aspects, the wood carving, the design, acoustical engineering, draftsmanship um, how did you do that? What... what was your drive, the motivation to learn all of this?

DOUG: Well, our art... as an artist, speaking as an artist, our art is better than we are and if we can make it really well then it’s gonna carry the day. And all those things have to be understood and practiced and mastered or you mess it up, you... you don’t pull it off. And... and there are craftsman who have parts of making a banjo better than others. And, and that’s true with me too. And I’ve had to work at some things that are harder for me.

Q: We’ve kind of already talked on this but I’m gonna... I’m gonna throw it at you again. Why does a banjo, a mandolin... do you do guitars as well?

DOUG: I do decoration on guitars.

Q: Why do they need inlays in things like that? What’s the purpose?

DOUG: Somehow, when the banjo emerged into modern times uh, it encompassed decoration, whether it was a Victorian ornamentation from really wonderful old royal craftsman or from backwoods craftsmen who put some kind of decoration on it, there’s a tradition to it, uh, not such a tradition in fiddles or guitars. Guitar makers used to think that any inlay would hurt the sound of the instrument. I don’t think that’s true. And with banjos um, it’s a real saleable thing. People love to look at all that decoration and if it sounds good, they’ll probably buy it, so they like that and I... I like doing it. I think it’s a part of the instrument. It’s... it’s a right part of the instrument that I really enjoy working around.

Q: Inlays are very time intensive, obviously, and it takes a lot of patience, how do you do it?

DOUG: Start off with shell blanks which you can buy commercially, it saves a lot of work of cutting up shells. It’s quite expensive. Some of it is very expensive. I used to make three different kinds of shells, both pearl, snail, abalone. Um, you’re designs are very carefully drawn on them and then they’re cut out with a jeweler’s saw and then all the edges are very carefully cleaned and refined with needle files before you ever get around to...