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The Worlds Biggest Playable Banjo made by Gibson
- Thread starter Oscar Stern
- Start date
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- banjozilla
As is often the case, the truth is literally in the middle.
As in, in a country lying between Russia and the USA, and one which knew the Craze before any other: namely (...no, not Canada but) the UK.
Have a look here:
Clifford Essex Story - born in 1900
The dedicator in the inscribed photo, "Cliff", is likely to be either of two banjoists in the photo itself: Mr. Clifford Essex, Sr. (top right) or Jr. (bottom middle), as captioned in this lower-res version of the same picture,
^ [Possibly published on Essex Sr.'s own Banjo-Mandolin-Guitar Magazine (B.M.G.), the longest running music periodical in the UK (original run was 1903-1976) and "the oldest fretted instrument magazine in the world".
As I advised GretschWretch back in July, the collection of BMG issues once owned by the late Mr John Field, banjoist, has been (per his will) OCR-scanned and made available online with free access here:
BMG Magazines ]
Back to the instruments themselves, from the first link above:
So the balalaika callbacks may well not be a coincidence, but the instruments were UK-made.
The tunings for the bass and contrabass banjo, there, are (bar virtually rummaging through all those early BMG issues for the answer) anyone's guess:
- if the balalaika connection runs deeper than just the headstock shape, they should be guitar and bass-guitar EAD, respectively;
- alternatively, for all we know, the bass might also be CGD (cello tuning minus the high A), or CGB (plectrum-banjo tuning minus the high D, but an octave below), and the contrabass GDA or something in that neighbourhood;
- or they could be a mixture of the above.
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Re the differently-sized mandobasses,
There is some chance they were differently-tuned as well.
This puppy, a chitarrone moderno, is a year older (1911) than the Gibson mandobass:
View attachment 5384839
35.43" scale.
Link Removed
Here's a pic of what appears to be a bigger specimen by the same manufacturer, Monzino in Milan:
https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...5936737388_5722728264905067832_n-jpg.4956790/
According to Silvio Ranieri, who wrote about it in the 1910s or '20s, Monzino had introduced the instrument, then called an arcichitarra, way back in 1890:
back in July
Also per Ranieri, Monzino's instrument was tuned the same as a double bass, but a 'mandolone' by a Neapolitan competitor was instead ADGC (tololoche tuning).
Double-octave down violin/mandolin tuning (GDAE) was, possibly, another option: it is also the original tuning of the viola baixo (the Portuguese ABG, from the late 1870s).
Wow, @HaphAsSard! This is a damn fine post. I am seriously going to have to get into those online newsletters. Perfect timing, too. I am running out of reading material.
Depends on the instrument. In the case of "families," the tuning of the violin family was often mimic'd.
Mandolin has the same tuning as a Violin so it only would take a few seconds for Violinists to be able to pickup the Mandolin & play it.
In terms of knowing the "noteboard," no doubt. But the ergonomics of playing and holding the instrument are quite different.
Here's a Crazy string set, these are F# Standard Tuning Strings (F#, B, E, A) made by D'addario HS610 3/4M. They have a Steel Core & they're Flatwound Strings.
I'm working on designing a Banjozilla Pickup which is distinct from most Pickups because it actually has a felt damper that rests on the head which keeps it from vibrating too much, but it reduces the vibrational movement a little bit which still retains that Banjo sound.
My version will have 6 strings, Frets, 34 inch scale, & playable w/ a Bow, I call it "Classical Banjozilla".
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Oscar;
Banjozilla can be played with a bow now, running the bow right above the neck rim joint. It's not the perfect location for bowing, but it works okay. It sounded okay, quite LOUD acoustically. But it wasn't useful for the kind of music and bands that I designed Banjozilla for. Banjo music is percussive and twangy. Banjozilla was designed to make deep, somewhat twangy pulsed bass notes behind a band of bluegrass instruments. It does that very well. A long sustained twang note isn't right there.
Woah, super Loud Acoustically, that's a BOOMER. It's almost Twice as loud as a Double Bass & its sound falls in between a Double Bass & a Banjo making it a super Hybrid. Being twice as loud as a Double Bass I find to be AMAZING because the Double Bass is Acoustically Compromised (like the Viola) in that it's scaled down from the Optimal size that would be appropriate for those low notes. The Banjo Head acts almost like an Amplifier to amplify those notes.
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I do have plans for a 6 string Bowed Fretted Bass Banjo that I call "Classical Banjozilla" & the neck is from an old 6 string fretted Stradivarius Double Bass whose body has been stepped on.
I also call it "Recycled Banjozilla" because it's made from recycled Materials. The Neck is from an old Double Bass which I think it what'll make mine special.
The 1st song I'll play on the 6 string Fretted Acoustic-Electric Classical Banjozilla (which is Bowable) is called Jerusalem of Gold (the English Translated Version of Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) because I want to dedicate it to those that we lost in the Israel-Hamas War.
Are you building this instrument yourself? Do you have a shop and some Luthier experience?
Yes & I'm doing it w/ Found materials recycled from old instruments. My 6 string Classical Bowable Banjozilla will have the Star of David on the Back to make it like a Double Bass Banjo Version of the Violins of Hope.
Sounds cool! As you build it, take pictures and do a documented thread over on Luthier's Corner. We have at least two Bass Banjo threads on there now.
Yes & I'm Jewish so I wanted to make this Bowable 6 string Fretted Classical Banjozilla unique, which I refer to as the "Banjozilla of Hope" you know like the Violins of Hope.
Oh & BTW, do you know the song "Jerusalem of Gold"? I'm planning to play that on my new "Classical Banjozilla" (A Fretted 6 String Version of the Banjozilla w/ a scroll & a Pickup) because I am Jewish & I'm standing with Israel.
