Recent content by Harley Marty

I’m not so flash at the sound sample thing I from either a tech perspective or a playing perspective. It has a wooden tone ring to mellow out the banjo sharp decay & behind the tone ring I designed in a sound chamber that runs around the perimeter. The band that holds down the head is also...

This is a banjo bass tuned in fifths GDAE two octaves below mandolin. The G is 31” long & the E is 30”. This thing carries very well acoustically. It has a 14” Remo Ambassador drum head to push the volume.

Irish guys play mandolas' tuned GDAE a fair bit. They sound good acoustically & recorded, but are painful to get them sounding decent through a PA in any room with the slightest bit of life in it! That's the price they pay to have a more comfortable fretboard. Bouzoukis' & mandolin-cellos' are...

Very nice indeed! A shorter scale will make a huge difference for comfort especially when you are running with the extra wide neck that's required for 8 strings. Recently I got a semi acoustic tenor guitar from Eastwood guitars, well worth looking at for a fella with your skills. Not being a...

@HaphAsSard Sorry to lead you astray on the volume reso to cello bass I sat in & played all 3 basses for a spell today the resonator is louder than the cello convert & of course has a cutting growl, compared to a softer more refined sound of cello & uke bass. Of course having frets, it has more...

The resonater bass is limited to the strength of my plectrum the new Jim Dunlop.73mm pinks. The cello size bass has a much larger body and the limit is on how much finger strength can the string take! Mark a longer neck could be the go if it could be done easily & cheaply, ideally to match the...

@HaphAsSard yes I'm in the midlands of Ireland & I'm a blow in from Australia, so I attract a bit of attention doing quirky things with their music. The tenor guitar & tenor cello (half size) turn heads the saxophones blow them away & I can play all their million mph reels & jigs. But no one...

Thanks Beej & HapAsSard, those strings are something to consider! The scale length of the now Bass is set at 28" (I shifted the bridge down 1") & the measurement from top tuning peg to the fine tuners is 38", so I put the strings from the resonator bass onto it. Harley Benton Strings aren't very...

Well Mark I just signed up to the forum to see if anyone else is playing around with cellos'. I'm on my 2nd instrument, a cheap full cello & put 1/4 size Thomastic double bass strings on it (dearer than the cello). I'm very happy with the sound of my Harley Benton fretless uke bass, but it is...