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

Q: Explain engraving... what does... what does that entail?

DOUG: Well, engraving’s the last thing you do with an inlay and it’s basically um, with steel tools you um, plough in or etch in designs into the surface of the pearl. Uh, steel gravers are uh, pushed or pulled through the pearl. Pearl’s a very hard surface. Steel’s hard. It’s a very demanding, very technically difficult proc—uh, process, uh, sharpening the tools, trying not to break the pearl in the middle. Um, it’s the hardest thing I do.

Q: And then you ink it?

DOUG: Yea, you put ink in and then you send it off and there is your design. Um, Restating: When it’s all engraved and um, then you apply ink to the surface, just flood it in with a toothpick I use and then you let the ink dry and then you take some very fine sandpaper, uh emery paper and when you... well you hold your breath and sand it off and think... hope that it looks like you thi—like you want it to. And if it’s... you look at it and you can scratch away a little bit at it and fuss with it but hopefully it works. And if it doesn’t then you have to rip the inlay out of the instrument and put it back in and redo it and that’s very hard. It’s just drains you to mess up an inlay. Uh, restoration of old banjos that I’ve done a lot of, means you have to go into the middle of a decorative banjo with an inlay that’s missing, cut that out, slip it into its place in the wood without messing up the pearl around it and then engraving it to match the hand of the graver. That’s really hard, so I learned a lot of that but—by restoring wonderful old banjos. So, the way I got to know them and photograph them when they were in this room um, was that I would get to live with them for a day or two and uh, send them out and another one would come in. Uh, restoration is... is rewarding when you can bring back a beautiful instrument back to its original beauty. It’s not as much fun as making your own and that’s what I really prefer doing um, is... but I... I do do some restoration for friends who have wonderful instruments that need that and nobody else will do it for them or can do it for ‘em and I’ll do it.

Q: Do you struggle and... and at times you know it’s almost your ti—if I understand it, it’s not that you hate what you’re doing but, it’s... it’s a struggle, it’s... it’s you against I don’t know that piece of wood, that inlay?

DOUG: Well, I relish things that are hard to do. Uh, I’m really drawn to that challenge. And hard... things that are really hard to do uh, find great, great satisfaction in trying to pull it off but it’s extremely hard to do. And I um, I do things that are hard to do and it... there’s nothing quite as hard as engraving pearl. Uh, it’s just the hardest thing I’ve ever encountered.

Q: So what keeps you coming back?

DOUG: Well, it’s always that... making that perfect banjo, the one that I’m gonna live with and not sell. Uh, something that won’t pay for the kids shoes, if you know what I mean. But one that’s gonna be beautiful, that’s gonna sound great, and when I get a chance to play it like behind Mark on the fiddle, what does it do, how does it sound, how does it feel? I’m always after that... that joy of the beauty of the sound of it. In that... in that respect it comes whole with the music. All that work by yourself quiet, quietly working away at something that’s very hard to do is amazingly rewarding when you get to play it behind a fiddler. Uh, that’s what it’s all about. It’s always about the music in the end. The craft is always about the music. It’s... it leads to the beauty of the tune... the... the beauty of the music. And I am enamored with traditional music.

Q: Is there anything I missed that I should have asked you?

DOUG: Um, banjo making is an ongoing craft. Banjoists brought here by the slaves. It reached it’s sort of modern... Restating: Well the banjo um, you know, it came to America with the slaves as... as did it’s playing uh, styles. It developed into the five string popular banjo around the Civil War. Restating: Well the banjo is... is a wonderful part of American history. And it’s ongoing, it’s... its roots were in Africa. It came to America with the slaves. It emerged by the 1860’s, by the Civil War into a modern instrument. It reached high point at the... in around 1900. It was beautifully made, beautifully designed and it’s a wonderful craft that’s ongoing. There’s still great makers around the country who love doing this, love making beautiful instruments and love playing... love playing them. It’s... it’s a wonderful craft. And I love it because it’s so tied to the music.

Q: Anything else?

DOUG: I would rather play than build because it’s about the music. I would rather play than build. Of course, I’ll do both. Right Mark?

Q: And this is all because of the love of the banjo for you?

DOUG: Yea, love of the music and the banjo, the sound of it. Yea, it’s just timeless for me. It... I never get tired of hearing um, a wonderful banjo player particularly behind a fiddle. There’s nothing else like it.

END