I'm buying a banjo

[chadds]

Okay.
We are rolling at 05:30. Jimmy won't expect us then. Each of us is to dress not in stealth black but like an Ampeg amp. Ultimate camouflage. So we sneak in and play banjo music loud to deprogram him. Then loud bass music and he should recover.
The intervention will succeed! We've got this.

 

[mongo2]

The definition of a gentleman is someone who knows how to play a banjo, but doesn't.

Tom Waites said that exact thing about the accordion.

Yup, in my accordion days I heard that one too. Also heard it said about the trombone.

 

[Drucifer]

Best traditional jazz band in the USA uses banjo, washboard, no need for a drummer... leader is Shaye Cohen on cornet, vocalist is Erica Lewis, this is back in the old days of 2012. I chose this track not because of the banjo work, there's songs with banjo and archtop solos but this sounds good and has dancers, trombonist seems exhausted

I believe this is a four-string banjo

 

[BassBrass]

I believe this is a four-string banjo

It sure is! And there aint no drummer to fire!

 

[DirtDog]

Let's see: famous rock/pop songs with banjo parts:
The Who: Squeezebox
Eagles: Take it Easy
OK, now it's everybody else's turn.

Eastbound and Down!

 

[Matt O]

Wait for it…

 

[tothemax]

I'm still traumatized from the 1st band picture... (might need some bass therapy)

 

[Michedelic]

Let's see: famous rock/pop songs with banjo parts:
The Who: Squeezebox
Eagles: Take it Easy
OK, now it's everybody else's turn.

As per my post#27, The Hollies' "Stop Stop Stop", then...
Pete also strums the banjo on The Who's "Call Me Lightning", as well as a Quadrophenia track.
The entire striped shirt folk music era, but in particular...


I mentioned the Byrds, it's featured on the legendary Sweethearts of the Rodeo album, especially on this Woody Guthrie classic...

Last but not least...

 

[jmlee]

Play the odd bit of banjo myself. Good fun unless you're the spouse of said banjo hacker.

 

[2tonic]

"I'm buying a banjo."

Been nice knowin' ya!! ​

 

[LordRyan]

An early hit instrumental featuring Banjo:



The king of serious comedy Banjo:


Jimmy Page on Banjo:

 

[mexicanyella]

Hey @JimmyM , I too hope to hear some of what you come up with, whichever banjo variant you go with. Sounds like fun!

My dad has told me more than once that perfect pitch is when you toss a banjo into a dumpster and it lands on an accordion (I like both instruments, as a means of stickin it to the man).

I recently dug out my wife's 5-string banjo to see if I could add anything useful to a home recording track I was working on, and even though I'd never played one before, it was a blast!

In my case, a little went a long way, but that's surely due at least in part to my lack of chops. If I stuck to the basic chord shapes I needed and kept the playing pretty sparse and the single-note stuff short and sweet, it became a pretty distinctive sonic layer without stepping on the other instruments or sounding hokey, like a forced country afterthought cheese-off. Some of what I did sounded pretty guitaristic, but I managed a few little picking runs that sounded kind of "banjic" and stayed under control.

I think your potential for fun here is high.

 

[primusfan1989]

Been playing 5 string banjo since I was 19 (old-time/clawhammer...never could get a hold on 3 finger Scruggs style). One thing you should know...banjo players spent half their time tuning their banjo...the other half is spent playing out of tune...in a seriousness though intonation on those things is pretty much impossible so keep an open mind haha

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

A couple of months ago my wife was at a barn sale and bought this for me - $20.
Like new. Sounds pretty good. Still, not quite my cup of tea.

 

[wmhill]

 

[JW56789]

Of course, an old joke around Nashville pickers' circles was 'What's 1000 banjos at the bottom of Old Hickory Lake? . . . . . . a good start!'.

Lots of guys here in town 'double' banjo on these 'GuitJos' very convincingly, and conversely, flat-picking one with six strings allows for things a regular banjo can't do, so it all evens out.

I knew things were going to be different when you got off the wheel and took a 'day job', but a GuitJo? Really ?

All the Best, Jimmy, always dig your posts and your knowledge ! You will let us know with WHICH Ampeg it sounds the best ? ?

 

[JRA]

I'm buying a banjo

i think it's great! i'm not sure i've ever seen a six-string banjo, but i'm sure you'll have a blast! good luck with your banjo!


i posted this on the DB side once --- in a thread for jokes --- i post it here as an homage:

 

[JimmyM]

I'll let my bluegrass purist colors show here by saying that the thing with 6 strings and a banjo resonator IS NOT a banjo. It's a guitar, and you won't really be able to play anything that sounds like actual banjo music on it. If you wanna play the banjo but not learn Scruggs rolls, maybe get an open-back banjo and learn to play clawhammer? It's easier than three-finger, and there's a whole world of great music to explore.

Ya, I'm not at all concerned with any of that purist talk. If I like it, maybe one day I'll go in that direction. But as of right now, I'm not interested in actual banjo music.

 

[Trailertrash74]

Enjoy and have some fun with it. I just sold my 5 string Deering Banjo because of arthritis in my right thumb. It's a Bummer...but such is life!!

 

[longfinger]

I'll be one of them to say it.

6 string banjos tuned like a guitar are "banjitars", not banjos.

Enjoy the Banjitar. Plays like a guitar, sounds like a banjo, and is an effective hybrid instrument.

6 string banjos have been around for a century so perhaps they are legit. LOL