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Mike and Steve recording overdub vocals for "Space Man in a Jug Band" 11 years ago at Tony Preston's studio on Sherman Street in Portland.

Speaking of 11 years ago. We’re thinking about re-releasing “Space Man in a Jug Band” in a some sort of special, commemorative packaging — maybe with a can of tuna fish and a box of egg noodles. And yes, that grain you see in the picture is real, live film grain. It looks like Agfa APX400 developed in Rodinal.

As some of you already know, Carter, our mandolin/guitar/clarinet player, is also the skilled luthier behind Subterranean Music Works in Bath. He makes and repairs stringed instruments. Recently, Troy acquired the pot (round part) from a 1928 Vega Tub-a-phone banjo. It’s a really nice piece that used to go belong to a tenor banjo. It has the original skin head and closed-end bracket nuts.

Troy holds a vintage 1928 Vega Tub-a-phone banjo pot and a hunk of Maine rock maple Carter will carve into a new neck.

Carter just happened to have a neck-length piece of rock maple kicking around. So, like chocolate and peanut butter, like peas and carrots, like Moxie and Needhams, we’re gonna put two great tastes together. Carter has agreed to carve a custom, extra long neck for Troy’s pot. Today, they finalized the plan for mother of pearl inlays and hardware.

Carter "The Beaver" Ruff begins the painstaking process of gnawing the rock maple into shape.

We hope to update you on Carter’s progress on a regular basis so you can see how it’s done. So, stay tuned to this station for pictures and details.

Here we see Carter nearing completion on a tooth-carved guitar fretboard.