I was in a hardware store the other day, one of the old school small ones, not one of the giant warehouse stores that dominate the retail landscape today. We were standing at the cash when I noticed a bin full of these oddball metal items. They were selling them for a couple bucks a piece, calling them back scratchers.

I knew immediately that this was wrong. They were clearly not back scratchers at all, but actually tailpieces for oil can banjos. They’re even better than kitchen forks because they have 5 rather than 4 tines. Perfecto. I bought a few with Tuffy P looking on, clearly thinking I’d lost my marbles.

This served as a reminder to me to get off my butt and get back to some serious banjo building. The problem I have is too many things to do and not enough time to get them all done. C’est la vie, eh?