Podcast 84: Roger Siminoff

Roger Siminoff has always been a tinkerer. At 21, he designed and
built a prototype offset press for his family’s printing
business. When the music bug hit, Siminoff began building
instruments, including banjos, pedal steels and, eventually,
mandolins. Today, he is considered one of the foremost
authorities on mandolin and banjo construction as well as the
physics of musical instruments. He teaches classes and clinics,
supplies many makers with banjo and mandolin parts and sells
mandolin and mandola kits. He also has a deep history in
publishing, both with his own book projects (both music and
boat-related) and for his work with Pickin’ and Frets magazine.
On today’s podcast, Siminoff talks about all of that as well as
his latest project, Straight Up Strings. Straight Up Strings are
strings Siminoff designed specifically for mandolins and banjos
with traditional bridges. Roger tells us what makes these strings
unique and the many years of R&D that went into their
creation. In addition to chatting with Siminoff, we also hear
about the just-announced Fretboard Summit from Fretboard Journal
publisher Jason Verlinde. The event takes places November 6-8,
2015 and will be a unique weekend for guitar fanatics, filled
with some of the magazine’s favorite artists, luthiers and
speakers. http://siminoff.net
https://www.fretboardjournal.com/summit