[Dixielandjazz] Deering Banjitars

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

I suppose that anything is possible and I have never played on one of these 
but I found the six string banjo with a guitar neck to be muddy sounding. 
So far as the extra light strings go they are a lot easier to play but don't 
do a lot for tone.  They work out OK for guitar and I have used them (silk 
and steel) extensively when I was playing guitar and with new students but 
so far as tone production goes they lack something.

I think it's like a reed on a clarinet.  A two or 2 1/2 is OK for a rank 
beginner but if the kid wants to play in the upper register and have any 
sound he needs at least a 3.  Then there is the mouthpiece factor that might 
change the equation.  Maybe this instrument through it's engineering changes 
the equation but I doubt it.

I think strings on a guitar could be compared to those reeds.  The light 
weight ones for beginners and occasional players but I don't think pros use 
them as being too wimpy.  The best acoustic player I ever played with used a 
pretty heavy string and they were pretty far off of the fingerboard but this 
guy had chops.

Even though anything is possible I really doubt the advertising copy on this 
one and I think the line about the light weight strings flies a red flag but 
beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Larry
STL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 4:33 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Deering Banjitars


Deering Corp, has this to say about their current banjitars.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

"If you already play guitar and have thought that it would be fun to learn
to play the banjo here is your instrument. Now you can play banjo with the
same chords and fingering you already know. It's great for those songs that
would sound better if played on a banjo."

"The 6-string banjo idea came to Greg Deering after he heard a song called
"Desert Pete" on one of the Kingston Trio albums. He tried for weeks to
figure it out on the 5-string banjo. Later he learned that it had been
recorded by Glen Campbell on a 6-string banjo. In examining older 6-string
banjos, Greg observed the consistent lack of good tone. So he decided to
determine why it never sounded quite right. He solved this mystery and now
we produce the only 6-string banjos with great sustain and beautiful tone."

and about their Deering B-6 Boston Banjitar: (about $2100)

"We are the only makers today who have mastered the 6-string banjos to bring
out a wonderful banjo tone and make the instrument a joy to play. Many
guitar players are now discovering the new sound available from playing a
Deering 6-string banjo. Anything you play on a guitar can also be played on
the 6-string banjo. It can be flat-picked or finger-picked equally well. We
string it with extra light acoustic guitar strings, however it does perform
well with other string gauges. The sound is excellent!"


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