JBM: Dale did you play the banjo first or did you start building them first?

DS: Unlike most people who inherit their ability from their father or grandfather, my son played the banjo for several years before I did.

 JBM: If your son was your inspiration to learn to play the banjo what led to your interest in building banjos?

DS: I asked my son what he wanted for his birthday and he said: "I want a banjo." I said: "No you probably want a guitar" and he said: "No, No, No. I want a banjo. I responded with: "Do you want a 5-string banjo to play bluegrass?" He said: "No I want a 4-string banjo to play 'Hoop-De-Doo' music." I didn't think this would last more than two weeks so I went to a store and purchased a Kent 20 fret banjo in a canvas sack.  I found out later that Lance McClain had given banjo lessons in the city park. This was part of a program to keep the kids off of the streets. Lance was only a few years older than my son and that event was what developed my son's interest in the banjo.
        It was about six months after he received his birthday present that he was working at a "Shakey's Pizza Parlor." He was working with a trio working Friday and Saturday nights making about $40 a night. He came to me and said: "I need a better banjo." At the time I was divorced and trying to support two families. I looked into what it would cost to buy a new banjo and at the time a Gibson banjo was $1,050.

JBM: What year was this?

DS: This was in the early 1960s. I thought to myself that I could probably build a banjo for less than that. I bought everything off the shelf that I could possibly buy. I built the neck, did a little decoration and applied the finish. That was all I did and it was a vast improvement over the Kent banjo. Well one thing lead to another and people would ask my son where he got his banjo. He would tell them: "Oh, my dad built that." Strangely enough, the second banjo that I built was for Lance McLain. He couldn't stand that my son's banjo sounded better than his. I built banjos as a hobby for about ten years.

JBM: Where did you get the parts to build banjos?

DS: At the time Gibson was selling parts to the public. You could buy tone rings, flanges, shells, and resonators.

JBM: Was it possible to build a complete banjo just from their parts?

DS: You had to build your own neck. You could get just about everything from Gibson and to me it was the only banjo name at the time. During the 10 years I built banjos as a hobby I would give them away to friends or relatives and only charge for the price of the parts.
       My son got me interested enough in the banjo that I joined the banjo club. I could beat out the first position chords with the best of them.

JBM: Dale was this in Southern California?

DS: Yes it was and it was probably in the late 1960s.

JBM: What was the name of the club that you joined?

DS: It was the "East Bay Banjo Club - Southern Edition." The people that started it, the McLain's, had been members of the "East Bay Banjo Club" up north. When they moved to Southern California they started a new club. To give you an idea of how good we were, our biggest number was Bye, Bye Blues in stop time. There were two lead players and about 30 rhythm players chomping out those first position chords as loud as we could. That should give you a good idea of how good we were.

JBM: When did you make the change from hobby builder to professional builder?

DS: My mother had a cancer scare at the time, and we weren't wild about the way our kids were turning out in Southern California. I interviewed for a job in Springfield, Missouri and we picked up lock, stock and barrel and moved.  After three years there were three owners of the company I worked for and one decided not to pay the bills for about six months. He put the money in his pocket and left. The company folded.

JBM: What type of work were you doing.

DS: I ran a box plant most of my life. They were corrugated boxes. Here I was faced with the dilemma of moving to the big city to make a living or turning my hobby into a way to support my family. I had done restorations on the west coast for Russ Presting and Barney Bernard. I continued to do them in Missouri and I picked up Urban Holland as well.

JBM: Who is Urban Holland?

DS: He had a collection of "Celebrity" banjos. He had banjos from people like Mike Pingatore, Bill Bowen and Maurice Bolyer. I did restorations for him for many years.

                               
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