The new Lumberhorn (version 4) is a vast improvement over the one that first helped to establish "The Mighty Lumberhorn" as a band. Look at the original one below and we think you'll agree. That might be partially due to the fact that the new one wasn't made as a joke. At least not entirely. The New Lumberhorn takes advantage of centuries of instrument design and experience, since Lumberhorn virtuoso "BJ" stole some of the parts from a Hans Kroger string bass that had been smashed to bits. True to the spirit of The Old Lumberhorn, The New Lumberhorn is a one-of-a-kind creation. The body is made entirely of cheap lumber, plywood front and back, a two-by-four on the bottom, and one-by-four sides. A few of the components that appear to be traditional were hand fashioned by BJ, just to see if they would work, or rather he was too cheap to buy real ones. Whatever. At any rate, the thing sounds great.

The Original Lumberhorn was a bass of the hillbilly washtub type, only without the washtub. It became the gold standard of the 2x4 and plywood variety acoustic stand up bass-type instrument. The neck was a two-by-four and the body mostly cheap plywood. Two strings, made from number 21 and number 15 piano wire, tuned to "E" and "A" with wingnuts, outfitted with an old bass pickup. It worked pretty well considering that it was built with no plans, and was used on their CD "Blood is thicker than Moonshine". Eventually the band got better, and a desire for a Lumberhorn that was more of a musical instrument and less of a joke overtook BJ and the new Lumberhorn was born.