I'm buying a banjo

[chadds]

You're a little late to class...

Whhhooooooppps

 

[Zoffy]

Don't listen to the naysayers, Jimmy.

A banjo through an Ampeg SVT 810...I can hear it now!

All kidding aside, I am a big fan of Bluegrass and like the sound of a banjo.

 

[Acoop]

None more instruments cheaper.

 

[noahw1]

I recall Oteil talking about playing a lot of banjo during quarantine. He's said he was playing Afrobeat banjo.

Have a blast with it and enjoy.

 

[brianrost]

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.

Banjos have been adapted to so many types of necks...6 string guitar, 8 string mandolin, 4 string ukelele all existed in the 1920s and 1930s. Nowadays you can buy banjos with 4 string bass necks. Like the resonator guitar (i.e. dobros), these banjos are louder than the instruments they share necks with. The people who play these things usually call them names like banjo uke, banjo bass, etc.

Nobody is playing bluegrass on banjo ukes, but I have seen guys in "Americana" bands playing 5 string banjos like guitars (what's the point?).

It goes both ways, too. Tenor guitars were developed so that tenor banjo players could move over to guitar as that instrument began to replace the banjo in pop music. There were some fantastic jazz guitarists that played tenor guitars like Tiny Grimes and Eddy Condon and never switched to the 6 string.

Here's Tiny with a Gibson "Charlie Christian" style 4 string electric tenor guitar.

For some more TB-themed content, check this out!

The Byrds 1968

 

[rufus.K]

I have one, its my second. I find a 4 string banjo the perfect strictly acoustic instrument for an electric bass player if they wish to be heard in ensemble.

 

[bassbrad]

My grandma bought me a banjo ages ago that I played a summers worth of gigs on at a Shakey's Pizza Parlor ( yes I'm that old, I was under aged so had to get permission, but that was also why I have a union card). I never want to hear those songs EVER again.

 

[rocu]

I got a tenor banjo as my quarantine instrument. I'm looking for a five string now. You can find them from the same folks who sell decent cheap basses, Glarry and Harley Benton.

 

[GretschWretch]

Might as well get started on that 5 finger pickin' while you wait on the thing to arrive Jimmy.

Ah the journey. From handicapped hands to days, weeks, months of holding your hand stretched in front of your face and telling it "@!%# YOU, YOU WORTHLESS APPENDAGE"

This is exactly what John Wilkes Booth did when he discovered he could never got the old timey banjo boom-diddy right.

 

[JimmyM]

I fail to see why his politics are relevant...

Seriously Jimmy, given your other thread on refins, you might want one of these to help you properly enjoy your new banjo:

Deering Black Banjo Head | Banjo.com

GT

Hee hee! Ya, I saw you could get the Dean with a black head and a pickup for a bit more. I doubt it'll ever go out of the house, really, so I'll just accept its non-blackness. And if I can't, I have tons of black spray paint.

 

[Son of Wobble]

Funny thread!

 

[Honkey tonk]

Get you some of them pre tuned strings
Kidding aside they are kinda fun to play

 

[JimmyM]

Q: What is the difference between a dead frog lying in the road and a dead trombonist lying in the road?

A: The frog probably was on its way to a gig.

I see what you did there.

 

[JimmyM]

That's not a Banjo... That's a Banjitar...

I know someone who has one, he really fancied himself a banjo player... He's actually not a very good guitar player so he just barely makes due with the Banjitar.

That'll be me, except I'll never fancy myself a banjo player. I will, however, call it a banjo and use it on occasion. Purism isn't in my vocab.

 

[Holdsg]

 

[brianrost]

I played a summers worth of gigs on at a Shakey's Pizza Parlor. I never want to hear those songs EVER again.

I never want to eat at a Shakey's Pizza again

 

[bobyoung53]

Is this like the fifth time this has been posted here?

 

[JimmyM]

It just occurred to me that I never posted any vids of Silver playing banjo with Winny Puhh. This is their most popular song, although they released another version where the banjo was louder.



This is them live doing their second biggest song.

 

[bobyoung53]

For some more TB-themed content, check this out!

View attachment 4276694

The Byrds 1968

Man, that Ric bass has light strings on it.

 

[bolophonic]

I told this joke to the trombone player in my band a few years ago:

Q: What's the best way to tune a banjo?
A: Wire cutters

I assumed that I would be safe telling this to a trombone player, but he looked kind of bummed out and told me that he had just started taking BANJO LESSONS.