[Dixielandjazz] Banjitar - Swinginest Banjo Ever!

Mon Dec 3 18:03:29 PST 2007

I have always thought that guitar-banjos (that's what I've always called 
them) sound much too "tubby" especially when playing full chords. I think 
this is mostly because it is almost impossible to tighten the head (even 
with modern plastic head materials) enough to allow the bass notes to sound 
clearly. It's like trying to play a snare drum with a loose head - there is 
no tone to it - it just flaps. If you could tighten the head to the same 
stiffness as the top wood on an archtop guitar (for example) and make it 
bigger (like 12" or 13"), a 6-string banjo might sound ok. However, making 
the head bigger and making it tighter are sort of mutually exclusive. The 
thickness of the sounding surface makes a big difference too. I don't know 
what Deering is doing to make their 6-string banjos sound good, but I'm 
skeptical.

Shiek, I'm sure you know this, but if you put heavier strings on a tenor to 
make up for the lower pitch of guitar tuning, especially on the 1st and 2nd 
string, it would probably sound fine. The last few guitars I've built have 
been tenors, and on the first one, I made the scale length too long 
(23-1/2"), so it required about a 0.008 1st string to prevent it from 
breaking when tuned up to the A. It was like playing a razor blade. I got it 
to a 0.010 by making a new tailpiece about 1-1/2" longer than the original 
to cut down on the overall length of the string. I still had to wince when I 
tuned it up anticipating it to snap. The player that bought it is tuning it 
plectrum, so it is not so much of a problem. After that first one, I 
shortened the scale length to 22-3/8" on the next two, and the balance 
between string gauge, length, and resulting tension is much better and 
produces a much better sound.

All this is just my 2 cents worth...

Scott Anthony

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <dwlit at cpcug.org>
To: <santh at pacbell.net>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>; <dwlit at cpcug.org>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 3:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Banjitar - Swinginest Banjo Ever!

>I play guitar-tuned "short scale" plectrum and am quite happy with it. The
> neck is roughly halfway in length between the plectrum and tenor. That
> makes the strings tight enough to get a "ring" most of the way along the
> neck. It has the volume and percussiveness to drive a band, but there's
> something I hear in correctly tuned tenors that's missing.
>
> I've always found that guitar tuning on tenors produces mostly "thunk",
> but I played one for a couple of sets last Monday and it was ok. The owner
> said he used thicker strings, but I didn't get details.
>
> The guitar tuning sure makes playing in any key easier!
>
> --Sheik
>
>>
>> I Most people who play guitar first simply tune the banjo with guitar
>> tuning.  I think this is a mistake to try this.  I think you can do a lot
>> more with banjo tuning but I suppose if you were a very good guitar 
>> player
>> it might not make a difference.  I got to where I could play just about
>> any
>> chord but doing melody and the chords at the same time just escaped me 
>> and
>> I
>> was never able to do very well with melody/chords.  I think I went about
>> as
>> far as I could go using Guitar chords.
>> Larry
>> StL
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <Gluetje1 at aol.com>
>> To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
>> Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 2:06 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Banjitar - Swinginest Banjo Ever!
>>
>>
>>>
>>> I don't think you will hear much from purists and historians since
>>> Johnny
>>> St. Cyr. always played six stringed banjo-guitar; i.e.; with Louis
>>> Armstrong and
>>> others.  And Danny Barker went to that, correct?  More what I've been
>>> hearing is that banjitars often don't sound as good as what you are
>>> experiencing.
>>> Happy to hear it's working great for you as well as info  that the
>>> five-string working for Dave.  For the curious there a  various videos
>>> of
>>> banjitar
>>> playing on YouTube.
>>> Ginny
>>>
>>> In a message dated 12/3/2007 9:37:12 A.M. Central Standard Time,
>>> BillSargentDrums writes:
>>>
>>> Now I know you purists and historians aren't gonna dig this one doggone
>>> bit,
>>> but for the rest of you guys who just dig a really swingin', great
>>> feeling,
>>> full-sounding rhythm section . . . I think this may be where it's at.
>>> And, it
>>> solves a quality personnel issue in some  cases.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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