Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
I think banjos and mountain dulcimers make more people happy than any other instruments! 
Forum Activity for @strumelia
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
learning this old technique of Clawhammer and love it !
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
well it has been a year since any banjo related news was shared.
I got me a very be-au-ti-ful new banjo a couple of months ago; a Wildwood Troubadour. It was just sitting there on Ebay with no one paying any attention, so I got it for about half what I would have paid for a new one, and got to see and try it too before sealing the deal. I have wanted one with a tubaphone tone ring so I was really pleased. It needed a little attention as the head was really loose, and I found the action a little low so I swapped the bridge for a 5/8th. And now I can hardly bear to put it down! Hve not got any recordings yet but will be working on that during the summer.
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Sam thank you for the nice comments. 
Foggers, I look forward to hearing more on your banjo journey!
I got to play some banjo this weekend at a little oldtime festival in MA.
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Hi allHad a wonderful weekend at the N Wales Bluegrass festival, which also has old time artists. The two great old time acts were Sara Grey who tours a lot on both sides of the Pond, and also Dana and Susan Robinson. Sara did a wonderful talk on appalachian songs and I was delighted that she allowed recording. So now I am home from our holiday (of which the festival was a part) I shall work on a couple of the songs and post something on here.
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I'm glad that you and Brian can find time to play your music together. The music and chemistry make this one of my all time favorite vids to watch. I'd almost bet I've watched it more than the two of you!
Strumelia said:
I asked my husband Brian this evening if he wanted to play some music together after dinner- something we just don't make the time to do often enough! To my surprise out of the blue he asked if I would give him a banjo lesson. So I did!
He did very well. We had to get creative due to his lacking the use of his left index finger and thumb (he has learned to get around this quite well while fiddling). We started with a non-chord style approach in G modal tuning to take advantage of the open drone strings as much as possible. I was very flattered that he would actually ask me for abanjo lesson, considering what a wonderful fiddler he is! I'm very lucky to live with a good natural musician.
So it was an interesting and rewarding musical evening for us both.
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Well, that's great! I came upon your post shortly after putting down the banjo.
I had a brief discussion with a musician, talking about fiddle (and banjo)tunes and their names and so on. This was on Friday the 3rd of June, after the rehearsal for our daughter's wedding (which, obviously, was on Saturday the 4th). The musician was the piper. The wedding was in Strathcona park in Ottawa (since no banjos were played, I'll give a write-up in The Drifting Thread). If you ever come across a banjo tab for "The Clumsy Lovers", please forward it.
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I asked my husband Brian this evening if he wanted to play some music together after dinner- something we just don't make the time to do often enough! To my surprise out of the blue he asked if I would give him a banjo lesson. So I did!
He did very well. We had to get creative due to his lacking the use of his left index finger and thumb (he has learned to get around this quite well while fiddling). We started with a non-chord style approach in G modal tuning to take advantage of the open drone strings as much as possible. I was very flattered that he would actually ask me for abanjo lesson, considering what a wonderful fiddler he is! I'm very lucky to live with a good natural musician.
So it was an interesting and rewarding musical evening for us both.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
I'm spending soooo much time on the banjo lately. Really, I should be sounding soooooooooooooooooooo much better, but I'm not.
On the 6th I celebrated my birthday by going to Toronto by myself and wandering around. Bought the great strawberry Danish at Bread & Roses, visited my old school and surprised a bunch of teaching colleagues, went downtown, and visited the Twelfth Fret. Unfortunately, they didn't have a head that would fit my old Orpheum. They did, however, have a fair selection of banjos which I took the time to try out. I started out on an 1890's Cole, and then tried the newer ones: Vegas, Gold Tone, Wildwood, and a terrific Nechville Atlas with a twelve-inch pot. I found the newer banjos easier to play, with slightly wider string spacing.
I took the Orpheum back in for its third repair of the year, some work on the peghead. It will be a couple of weeks waiting its turn in the shop. I'm thinking of relegating it to two-finger picking, but I have to save up for a new open-back. Maybe I'll try one of the "kits" that Bill Rickard puts together. The bonus is that he's just north of Toronto.
This Friday was our second jam of the new year. I raced up to Sunbury only to realize I'd left my music and instrument stands at home. I dumped the guitar, banjo, and mandolin and flew back home. I made it back with time to spare, which surprised some people. Marge signed me in second, my usual spot, and I did "Keep on the Sunny Side" and "Down the Road", both for the first time. Another singer said, when it was her turn, that I'd taken her song, so she had to choose another. Second time around I did "Pancho and Lefty", and I got a third turn and closed the evening's activities with "Goodnight Irene". A couple got up from the audience and joined in at my mic, while other musicians took the rest of the mics.
When Lorne, our steel player, had his first turn, he took so long trying to figure out his second song that I said, "Hurry up, or we'll get the hook!" And when Les thanked the audience for not running out on him during his numbers, I said, "It's cold out!" He replied, "I'll get you for that!"
Our fiddler surprised my with a banjo CD he'd burned just for me.
Well, gotta start gettin' ready for Friday's jam. So far I've narrowed it down to "Pack up Your Sorrows" (guitar), "Hard Times Come Again No More" (banjo), "Chased Old Satan" (banjo), and "So Long - It's Been Good to Know You" (maybe guitar, maybe banjo, maybe ...). But I've been working on "If I Needed You" by Townes Van Zandt, and I played a Ry Cooder CD (Into the Purple Valley) in the car when we went to breakfast this morning (and on the way back, with a newly purchasedantique table), so the list could change drastically by Friday evening.
Oh (said he, already having given waaay too much information for one post), bicycles and banjos (and other instruments) do mix. I've reserved the Portsmouth tavern for a Thursday evening in February for a Kingston Velo Club jam session. Exact date not set yet, but all cyclists (and non-cyclists) would be welcome.
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Hey all!
Went down to Georgia for awhile, came back, got sidetracked on a couple of computer projects that are more complicated than I've done in recent years, then got bronchitis, so have been scarce here at FMD. Bronc's about bottomed out, so expect I'll be feeling better in a couple of days.
I got a head on that old banjo and strung it, but it needs a real neck reset, and I mean steam it out and re-shim it kind of reset.
I'm playing the banjo daily, practicing finger-picking on Doc Boggs' Calvary and Robin Thompson's version of Roustabout which is about the best version of Roustabout I've ever heard.
Just now, my two stock dogs got out and ran off. They'll come back in an hour or two, covered in brambles. :) There's no sense chasing them.
Been doing a lot of this (keeping water thawed for the animals).
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Hi Randy and Lisa. Thanks for asking.All instrument playing is on a go- slow for me cos I have had wrist problems for3 months now. However, I am still working on clawhammer and 3 finger picking. In theband we are adding some further OT numbers, Little Maggie, Johnson Boys n Weavily Wheat.Having started with dwight Diller DVD I am now mainly working on Ken Perlman's melodic CH, asthat seems to build the skills for the sounds I wanna make. When we have achieved a recordable standardI shall post it somewhere for all to see!I gain a lot from seeing and hearing your own banjo playing, so thanks for all you post on here guys!
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
I gave a 90 minute banjo lesson to a friend the other day, and boyhowdy but that toughened up my wimpy callouses in a hurry! lol! I taught him Sandy Boys, and he loved it.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Thought I'd bump this'n up....hoping to get a progress report from Ken & Foggers?....you got that banjo put together huh Ken?
I been playing Green Willis here a little lately. I had to put the noter aside a month or so ago and play dulcimer & banjo with my fingers....they were getting soft!... : )....
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Hey Flint - that banjo is in much better condition than a mandolin banjo we got off UK Ebay some years ago.It was only a few quid so it was not the end of the world when it arrived and we discovered that the neck was sheared through halfway down and had a screw holding the 2 halves together! We got our money back and we have kept this monstrosity in order to remind us of the risks of buying instruments in Ebay!I shall look forward to hearing it when you have brought it back to life.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Thanks, Lisa, Randy. I wanted to get one of these old spun-over banjos just to get a feeling for how banjos sounded and played back at the turn of the 20th century. It seemed worth doing given that the non-collectible models are pretty cheap.I took it apart yesterday. With the tension off, the pot got rounder overnight, less than 1/4" out of round today. I'm going to block it round or a little over and leave it for a few days while I clean up the rest of the parts.There's a nice Stewart Student on ebay right now.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
I used to have an SS Stewart student style banjo years ago too. It was nice! But I had to cut back the herd so I sold it to one of my banjo students.Randy, here's my tale of my own 'ugling duckling' banjo.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
That's about the ugliest banjo I ever saw Ken!... : ).....I think it'll make a heckuva good player for you....it's a good banjo.I have a Stewart banjo with a spun over rim/tone ring like that....used it for my main banjo for about 10 years and enjoyed every hour of it.....gave it to my son Bill a few years aback and it's still goin strong......
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I bet it sounds wonderful. I love the sound of those thin spun-over metal pots. They always sound beautifully resonant but clear, without sounding like they are 'underwater' like so many of the large deep pots these days.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Sears and Roebuck Supertone Amateur banjo, model #406, ca. 1925.
It has some issues ....
The neck is straight, needs a reset. The pot is out of round by 3/8", probably OK, since I'm putting a skin head on it. Frets are good. Needs one bracket hook, but I have the original nut, so that's no problem.
Dock Boggs played an $18 Supertone at the 1927 Bristol sessions. This one was five bucks in the 1923 catalog. Reading suggests that it was made by Lange at the old Buckbee plant, though there's a minority view that they were made by Slingerland.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Oooo that is good Lisa - and it was very helpful to see your CH technique in action.I am getting on quite well with CH playing now, I just need a little help to nail double drop thumbing.There is an excellent CH player about 20 miles away, who I think I am going to approach for some tuition; I am at a stage where I think having someone watch me play and give me some feedback and further direction will help me to move up a level in my playing.Thanks so much for posting this
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i played some banjo this past weekend, and a somewhat crummy recording was made of us playing "Brushy Fork of John's Creek". Brian is playing fiddle...
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As soon as I get my fifth string gear replaced to hold a nylagut string-I will. The current gear will only take metal strings.
Best wishes,Mary Z. Cox www.maryzcox.com
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Oooo please post a recording of it - I am really curious about Nylgut strings and their effects on sound.
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Usually I don't resetup my banjos--preferring to let them sound like the builder intended--but just recentlyI am doing a different set up for my 12 inch Chuck Lee Custom. It has a 12" skin head and a 25.5 scale and some really pretty woods on it and a Tony Pass ancient wood rim--so have begun to put on some classical nylagut strings--and think I am really going to like this sound for this banjo.
All my other banjos that have gut or nylagut strings are low tuned on big thick strings--so this is going to sound quite different--but very warm and interesting. 
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Paul R, said "Hmmm ... How about banjo, dulcimer, and Northumbrian smallpipes?"Been there, done that, got the tee shirt. Actually it was a set of Border Pipes, but basically the same kind of quiet Cauld Wind Pipes. When I was on Kwajalein, and the Bass Drummer for the Kwajalein Pipes & Drums, one of our pipers also played Border Pipes; and he and I would get together and play pipe/dulcimer duets.There weren't any banjos on Kwaj though - W eapons of M usic D estruction were not allowed for private ownership
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Paul C - LOL it is indeed a fascinating habit that people but a much desired banjo and then change every last iota on it! and having your partner as your jamming chum is indeed a treat. My OH Richard is learning guitar and we are working up to him playing for the trio we sing with. Sitting in the evening playing music together is so much more enriching than being slumped in front of the telly!Paul R - afraid that does sound like some of the symptoms of a moderate does of BAS....
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Paul Certo said:
I joined BHO, too (partly from my experience here on FOTMD). It's a good source of advice - and you'll get loads of it!Noreen doesn't play, but in January she played host(ess) for a jam session - she cooked up a feast for the players. In fact, the jam was her idea. Years ago when we used to go to friends' places to make music, she'd fall asleep on the chesterfield, right beside me as I was playing banjo with fingerpicks. I guess that's a form of dedication!If I had the money I suppose I'd have BAS, but it's easy not to have it when you don't, um, have it. I have no allegiance to any particular brand/maker, except my long gone Neufeld, which was eminently playable and sounded clear and clean. That's what may, some day, get me to buy another banjo - first, it has to have string spacing that's wide enough, and it has to have a tone that I like, not what people say I should have.Then again, maybe I do have a form of BAS. I have the bluegrass banjo I got to replace the Neufeld. then I got the Orpheum to replace the fact that the bluegrass banjo didn't really replace the Neufeld (because the Neufeld was a frailer). I bought a basic wooden fretless even before I got the Neufeld, and someone gave me a cheap tenor - these two need repairs to become playable. Two other banjos were given to me but went missing from my school - an old Imperial tenor (with a painting on the head of three black jazz musicians) and an old Slingerland banjo uke. And there was my first, really cheap, banjo, now departed. My list of "the ones that got away" is huge.Tinker with my banjos? Only in the most basic ways - bridge and head. It would be a sacrilege to change the Orpheum, which is a hundred years old - although I did some simple artwork on the replacement head (wonder why we don't see more of that). However, the case is brand new.BHO members are fiercely loyal to their chosen brand of banjo, if you keep in mind two things.
One,that most have at least a fairly good case of BAS. Banjo Acquisition Syndrome is rampant.
And two, a great number have changed heads, bridges and tone rings, sometimes even resonators,hoops and necks trying to change the sound of the banjo they're so loyal to. In some advanced cases of Banjo tinker-itis, only the case is original. But, there are worse things a person could be doing. I intend to build a gourd banjo, mostly for use at Historical Reenactments. Or maybe Histerical ones. Not until I change all the woodwork in my living room. Mrs. Wanda thinks that should take priority. Since I don't pull sheets with my Reenactment friends, I'm inclined to let the Mrs. prioritize my projects. She sang & played ukulele on a couple songs tonight with me, in front of several people. It was her first time out of the house with her uke. Not exactly a gig, but I was thrilled. Nothing like having a jam partner in the house with me.
Paul
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
BHO members are fiercely loyal to their chosen brand of banjo, if you keep in mind two things.One,that most have at least a fairly good case of BAS. Banjo Acquisition Syndrome is rampant.And two, a great number have changed heads, bridges and tone rings, sometimes even resonators,hoops and necks trying to change the sound of the banjo they're so loyal to. In some advanced cases of Banjo tinker-itis, only the case is original. But, there are worse things a person could be doing. I intend to build a gourd banjo, mostly for use at Historical Reenactments. Or maybe Histerical ones. Not until I change all the woodwork in my living room. Mrs. Wanda thinks that should take priority. Since I don't pull sheets with my Reenactment friends, I'm inclined to let the Mrs. prioritize my projects. She sang & played ukulele on a couple songs tonight with me, in front of several people. It was her first time out of the house with her uke. Not exactly a gig, but I was thrilled. Nothing like having a jam partner in the house with me.Paul
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Strumelia said:
Yep I think that sums it up Lisa. I use Banjo Hangout sometimes for banjo hints & tips, and Deering is the make everyone seems to worship, but the GoldTone Whyte Ladie gave me most bang for ma buck.(Lawks I seem to picking up the lingo from associating with all you fine American chums in cyberspace....)Gold Tones have a good reputation as a real solid good sounding affordable banjo. Good choice!
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Gold Tones have a good reputation as a real solid good sounding affordable banjo. Good choice!
Any banjo players out there?
Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Well it has been a while since I started this thread, and I was originally debating if I needed to upgrade my learner/entry level Countryman banjo, a resonator backed far East make with no tone ring. True enough it has served me well for learning both picking and clawhammer, but I nonetheless got to the point where I wanted an instrument with more punch.So my New Year gift to me was a Gold Tone Whyte Ladie 250 - I had tried one out at a banjo gathering in January and loved the mellow sound. So when I saw a pristine second hand one on Ebay which originated from Andy Perkins (best banjos in UK!) it was a sign from the gods of old time music that it was meant for me.And the sound is beautifully balanced between attack and a lovely mellow rounded sound. The action and the presence of a frailing scoop has (as I hoped) turned out to be real advantages for developing my playing, and it works really well in the trio I now play in. At last I have a banjo that can hold its own against my friend Kathy and her mighty Taylor guitar!
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Last month I went back to Toronto for the Bicycle Show, but my first stop was The Twelfth Fret, where I bought the first decent case for the Orpheum. Of course, I took a few banjos off the wall and tried them. The fretless was fun, and another banjo for $1800 was okay. But there was one that I took down because it looked old. In fact, it was. It was an old Windsor. Know the feeling - that as soon as you've hit the very first note, this one is for real? That's what I got out of this one. The sound was crisp and clear and just sang to me. And it was the cheapest one I checked out. If I'd had the money I would have bought it on the spot, no questions, no problem. Too bad. Add it to the long list of "the ones that got away". Maybe some day the banjo fairy will leave one on my doorstep.Tone is subjective (if you'e not brainwashed into wanting a sound that some people say you should have). It's taken me all these years to appreciate the sound of my old Orpheum, and now I'm trying to work with it, not against it. Of course, the fact that I'm really working at it and finding real progress has a lot to do with it, too!
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
Paul R.,Having done lots of 'setup tweaking' on both my bicycles and my banjos, it never ceases to amaze me how many similarities I find between fine tuning bikes and banjos. It's rather uncanny. I love tweaking the setup on my banjos!When i first started playing clawhammer banjo, I had banjo fever and felt I needed a banjo for every 'banjo sound' I wanted to produce. I wound up with about 13 banjos, but most of them simply gathered dust and several were unfortunate impulse buys. I Ebayed a few to get rid of the clutter, and now I have 7, one of which I still plan to sell too. My remaining 6 include 1 antique and 5 good playable 'work horses'. Two of those five are fretless. The 5 are played fairly regularly and I think I'll never need to buy any other banjos. I could actually make do with 3 or so, but since I have the 5 good ones I will keep playing them.My point here is that I used to think I needed a certain specific banjo for every distinct sound I was after. Now I've gotten way more laid back and these days I kinda feel like any banjo I grab off the wall will do just fine in any situation. As long as the banjo is set up well and plays smoothly, I'm no longer quite so picky about getting an exact certain 'sound'...now I tend to just say "hey, it's a banjo!" and it is what it is. At least all banjos sound like banjos, and they almost all sound good to me. LOL
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Adventures with 'other' instruments...
From the posts on The Banjo Hangout, it's clear that a lot of banjo players are constantly trying to change the sound of their banjos, looking for "that elusive sound." I do stuff the inside of mine, mostly to avoid waking my wife when she decides to go to bed early. Other than that, I'm more afraid of losing the sound that I bought. When I bought this banjo, I had narrowed it down to 2 models of the same make. I went back & forth a number of times, and I'm sure I could have been happy with either one. One had an 11" pot with a spun nickle overlay, and had a sparkle to the sound that was really beautiful to hear. The other had a 12" pot, without the overlay. It had a depth and richness that I found captivating. Over a 3 week period, I went back & played both several times. Every time I put the 11" down and picked up the 12", that richness reached out & grabbed me. I ended up with that one, and have never regretted it. That was 9 years ago. If the money would have been available, I might have both, but It took me several years of saving for one, 2 was not an option at the time. Who knows what the future may bring? Seems like one of any instrument isn't ever enough. I think the sparkle of that 11" might just be perfect for the 2 finger playing I've gotten more into the past couple of years. 9 years ago, I wasn't playing much 2 finger, having really gotten more into the clawhammer style. Now, I'm kinda reverting to what I played earlier. I'm fingerpicking all my toys a lot lately. Learning to express my moods by changing my playing styles.Paul
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Paul Certo said:
It's never too late to start over!Different combinations of instruments have appealed to me, too, Paul. Back in the seventies I thought that Appalachian dulcimer and synthesizer would make a great combination. Go figure.Kate and Anna McGarrigle used a variety of instrumental mixes, even dual clawhammer on "Excursion a Venise" in concert (you can find it on YouTube), with Kate and sister Jane. The Transatlantic Sessions (lots of it on YouTube) feature a variety of North American and British Isles instrumental combinations. Banjo and dulcimer sounds like a great mix. A friend once gave me "The Best of Just Friends", a dulcimer CD by George Haggerty from Vermont, and it's filled with combinations: dulcimer with guitar, tin whistle, concertina, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, mandolin. The Fuzzy Mountain String Band had dulcimer in among all those fiddles and banjos.Hmmm ... How about banjo, dulcimer, and Northumbrian smallpipes?Messing with the banjo could be the musical equivalent of working on your bicycle. The Orpheum has been "tweaked" lately with head tightening and replacing the bridge with the one that came with the banjo when first purchased. If the sound needs to be "plunkified", stuffing something between the head and dowel stick works well. The old metal mute also completely changes the tone.I play banjo, also. I started with guitar in '66, banjo in '68. But after starting to learn dulcimer in '90,I really got more interested in banjo again after hearing clawhammer players playing with dulcimer players. The combination just feels right to me.
Paul
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I play banjo, also. I started with guitar in '66, banjo in '68. But after starting to learn dulcimer in '90,I really got more interested in banjo again after hearing clawhammer players playing with dulcimer players. The combination just feels right to me.Paul
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Hey Paul - it is never too late to chip yer penny's worth into a thread on this forum!
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I know this is really late, but ...There are some very impressive banjos - and players, of course - posting here. (As a recent member I just got to see this thread.)I've been an on again, off again beginner since the early seventies. I unfortunately got rid of the best bajo I ever owned, built by Jake Neufeld here in Ontario in the late seventies. I had a couple of frailing lessons at the long-gone Toronto Folklore Centre (where I bought the banjo), from Kate Murphy. I wanted soemthing louder and went to a resonator model which I had spruced up at the Folklore Centre, with inlay work by Tony Duggan-Smith. It's the heaviest banjo I've ever picked up - put it on the end of the see-saw with an elephant at the other end and it'll hold its own!Shortly thereafter I picked up an Orpheum Number One, also at the Folklore Centre. (All Orpheums are dated 1915, because they can't trace the serial numbers.)Part (or most) of my inspiration came from being a volunteer at the Mariposa Folk Festival through the seventies and early eighties and seeing lots of great banjo players, from Pete Seeger (no autographs) to old-time players - even lightning-fast bluegrassers.Toronto isn't the Centre of the Universe for clawhammer (although some Torontonians think T.O. is the Centre of the Universe, period), although I found out that a couple of Hogtowners have won categories in the Appalachian String Band Festival.I recently dug out my Orpheum and started practising "for real", using tunes from old Oak Publications books: Clawhammer Banjo, Melodic Clawhammer Banjo, and Old Time Mountain Banjo. I've been looking at video clips on line and have downloaded loads of tabs. Another inspiration has been the banjo demos by Don Zepp, playing tunes on the banjos he sells. After watching him, I was able to work out a version of the "A" part of St. Anne's Reel, which I couldn't see in any of the tabs. Now to get it right!As usual, everyone's three steps ahead of me on sources of instruction. It pays to check all over this site!
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