Conference napalm::guitar

    Yes - I am looking at a 5 string banjo. The one I have borrowed is made
    by Degas. I have no idea what it cost. Are you a player Dave??
    
    Steve

re .2 I wouldn't flatter myself by saying I'm a player. I had a brief
      flirtation with the instrument when someone gave me a European
      5-string banjo (the main difference being that it has the fifth
      machine head on the headstock, rather than half way down the neck
      as in the USA type. The string goes down a narrow tube and emerges
      half way down the neck).

      I got myself a "tutor" book and proceeded to learn Scrugg's "Foggy
      Mountain Breakdown" note by note from it. I had never heard the
      tune, and had no idea of the tempo. When I eventually heard the record,
      and how fast Scruggs played, I gave up trying to play banjo and went
      back to guitar!
*DC

    re .3 I hope to stick it out and learn how to play the 5 string banjo
    to a reasonable level but I guess only time will tell. I am also pretty
    amazed at the speed a lot of these songs are played at. I doubt I'll
    get that fast but I hope it will be fun anyway.
    
    I have had some advice from different people on what to look for in an
    instrument. Most of it is probably just personal preference so I
    thought I'd start out with a lower priced "average" instrument and
    upgrade later if I find it not good enough. I mean how much money do
    you have to spend in order to give a half decent rendition of 'The
    Battle of new Orleans" or the "Beverly Hillbillies Theme"? 
    
    Thanks for answering!!
    

    One thing you need if you want to learn"The Battle Of New Orleans"on
    the five-string..a good,low action(distance from the strings to the
    frets) as the first part of that tune is played away up the neck.
    	A good guide to whether a banjo is a decent model is the weight.
    It should be pretty heavy,as for a nice crisp sound it requires a
    tone-ring,usually made of brass,that can't be seen from outside..the
    skin covers it.
    	If you're looking for something reasonable and cheapish,check out
    the Ibanez range,some of the better Ozark models,or Washburn banjoes.
    All are Far-east made,but good value.
    	I've been playing Bluegrass/Clawhammer style for 17 years,so any
    help needed,Mail me on THERAJ::JHYNDMAN
    						Big Jim.
    
    

    Thanks for the advice! I had a look at a couple of different makes and
    models in the stores and ended up getting a Washburn B-12. It was a
    demo in the store and seemed like a good deal. The action is nice and
    low, it is very heavy and seems to have a pretty nice sound. Like
    almost everything these days it is made in Korea which makes the price
    a bit more reasonable.
    
    Now all I have to do is knuckle down and practice. 
    
    Steve

I was watching a Neil Young video last night where he was playing a banjo
that looked like it had six strings.  Watching closer, it looked like he
was playing guitar chord shapes (G, D, etc.).  Is there such a beast or
did Neil have a guitar converted with a banjo resonator?

Jim

>I was watching a Neil Young video last night where he was playing a banjo
>that looked like it had six strings.  Watching closer, it looked like he
>was playing guitar chord shapes (G, D, etc.).  Is there such a beast or
>did Neil have a guitar converted with a banjo resonator?

     I don't know what you call it (A guitanjo?? Or maybe a banjuitar?)
     but a friend of mine had one 20 yrs ago. It's a six string banjo
     strung like a guitar, and it's made to be played like a guitar. It
     looks like a guitar neck on a banjo body. I think Neil Young used one
     on the song Old Man from the Harvest album.

     Neal

    When banjos were at the peak of their popularity (1920s) they were
    available in many styles, among them:
    
    5-string banjo (what we think of today as a "bluegrass" banjo)
    
    4-string banjo (either tenor or plectrum tunings, use today in
    	            Dixieland and Irish music)
    
    8-string "mandolin" banjo
    
    4-string "ukelele" banjo
    
    6-string "guitar" banjo
    
    I saw a 6-string banjo as recently as the late sixties in the Sears
    catalog!
    
    Even weirder than oddball banjos are weird Dobros...in addition to the
    steel-bodied guitars associated with country blues players, Dobro also
    made steel-bodied mandolins, ukeleles and banjos!  Dobro freak Bob
    Brozman has a huge collection of these and actually uses them on his
    recordings (try "Hello, Dr. Jazz Calling" on Rounder).
    
    							Brian

re: .9

>    4-string banjo (either tenor or plectrum tunings, use today in
>    	            Dixieland and Irish music)
    
The tenor and plectrum banjos weren't just different in tuning.  The
plectrum was also bigger than the tenor (at least the neck was, perhaps
the body was the same).

If I remember correctly, the plectrum banjo was tuned like the middle
four strings of a guitar (just like the top four strings of a five-string
banjo).  I believe the tenor banjo was tuned in fifths like a mandolin
or violin (which probably explains why the neck was shorter.  You need
the frets closer together with the strings tuned farther apart).

-Hal

    Deering currently makes 6 and 12 (yes 12!) string banjos for
    anyone who plays guitar and wants to play banjo, but doesn't want
    to badly enough to really learn how.
    
    Jim

    One somewhat rare bird is the six-string *bluegrass* banjo.  Sonny
    Osborne of the Osborne brothers played one for many moons (and is
    still doing it, as far as I know).  Not sure of the tuning; I suspect
    it has an added B string below the low D, thus:
    
    	5-string			6-string
    
    	D G B D				B D G B D
        | | | |				| | | | |
        | | | |                         | | | | |
      G | | | |                       G | | | | |
      | | | | |                       | | | | | |
      | | | | |                       | | | | | |
    
    Can anyone confirm or deny this?
    
    						--Eric--
    
    P.S.  Sonny Osborne has always been a delightful banjo player to listen
    to - proficient, yet full of wit and humor.

    
    Gibson made Bantars many moons ago.
    
    

>If I remember correctly, the plectrum banjo was tuned like the middle
>four strings of a guitar (just like the top four strings of a five-string
>banjo).  I believe the tenor banjo was tuned in fifths like a mandolin
>or violin (which probably explains why the neck was shorter.  You need


Perry Bechtel, who was one of the great plectrum banjo players back in the
Twenties, was also a friend of mine in his later years.  I'm not sure how 
many tunings the old-timers used but Perry used only one - CGBD.  He strung
his tenor so it could be tuned in the same relationship.  I think it was
a fourth higher.

I occasionally play Irish tunes on a tenor banjo tuned in fifths, like a 
mandolin.  Even with the shorter scale length, it's still pretty hard to
do mandolin fingerings.

Bob

re: .14

>Perry Bechtel, who was one of the great plectrum banjo players back in the
>Twenties, was also a friend of mine in his later years.  I'm not sure how 
>many tunings the old-timers used but Perry used only one - CGBD.  He strung
>his tenor so it could be tuned in the same relationship.  I think it was
>a fourth higher.

You know, that CGBD sounds familiar.  That probably *is* the "normal"
plectrum banjo tuning.  I haven't seen or heard one since the 70's, so
it's hard to remember for sure.

-Hal