BANJO!

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:10 am

i think i posted some about this. or maybe not.

regardless, here's the lil tale

I got a banjo from craigslist for 5 bucks. or maybe it was 15. anyhoo, it was dirt cheap, and the seller got a bunch of offers, but out of some sort of sense of honor
gave it to me, as the first respondant, for the listed price.

made the mistake of bringing it to a lil shop i wanted to succeed for some repairs. They did give me some good info (i guess it's 100+ years old catalog (but decent) and needed just a few repairs). the mistake was that this shop took 2.5 months to tell me, well, nothing. I called to cancel the repairs, and they said they were just starting them. i said, no. their quote was about 80 bucks in repair plus parts, but they'd gotten the price up without doing any work already, and i think it would have been 200 bucks. egads.

took it away from them (paid only for parts) which brought my investment up to 30 bucks total.

brought it to my friend's shop (to whom i should have brought it originally) and he did the whole thing for another 20 bucks.

anyhoo, i have a really cheap banjo that i am totally in love with.
i wish i would have found one when i was younger, because the more i play it, the more it feels like my natural instrument.
will post pics manana, and maybe someone can ID it for me. i'm thinking SEARS or something.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:13 am

Dude! That's awesome! I just got a banjo about a month ago too and I love it! I know what you mean about wishing you started younger. I've taken to it really well, and I can definitely see it becoming one of my main instruments!

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:35 pm

I've been toying with the idea of getting a banjo for a couple of years but keep talking myself out of it, but then I remember what my signature says and want one again...

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:41 pm

Banjos are great

The guitar/vocal/frontguy in my band recently acquired one and we've been using it in acoustic sets. It's pretty sweet.

I've been wanting one for years. I often pick them up in music stores and give them a pluck... they're so satisfying!
One of these days...

deadonkey · Post by **deadonkey** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:46 pm

5 string right?

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:57 pm

I've preferred the 4 string... cause it's tuned the same as my ukulele so the chords are the same

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:06 pm

mine's 5 string, though i really don't know how to utilize the droning g yet.

ploppy · Post by **ploppy** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:42 pm

Banjo's are great!
Not brilliant at it - can string a few chords together but i love mine.

aen · Post by **aen** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:11 am

Banj-NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I recorded a bluegrass album for an elderly bluegrass band once. Now banjo is the soundtrack to all my nightmares.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:53 am

Banjos are so haunting. I have an old Kay I forget to play, but don't plan on getting rid of it. In the 19th century banjos held the status we give to the electric guitar because they were loud and portable. There are probably plenty of old ones around.

What's the standard tuning? I was tempted to use mandolin tuning or lower guitar tuning so I wouldn't have to learn yet another. But I love the voicing on a mandolin. I am a firm believer that new patterns lead to rethinking old patterns. There are chord combinations I have found on the mandolin that wouldn't have occurred to me on the guitar. You get used to something and stop seeing it fresh.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:58 am

DGNR8 wrote:Banjos are so haunting. I have an old Kay I forget to play, but don't plan on getting rid of it. In the 19th century banjos held the status we give to the electric guitar because they were loud and portable. There are probably plenty of old ones around.

What's the standard tuning? I was tempted to use mandolin tuning or lower guitar tuning so I wouldn't have to learn yet another. But I love the voicing on a mandolin. I am a firm believer that new patterns lead to rethinking old patterns. There are chord combinations I have found on the mandolin that wouldn't have occurred to me on the guitar. You get used to something and stop seeing it fresh.

The tuning on a 5 string banjo is GDGBD.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:09 am

aen wrote: Now banjo is the soundtrack to all my nightmares.

Lol'd IRL

Stuart · Post by **Stuart** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:39 am

I find banjo so weird to play because you have 4 strings in your left had and 5 in your right, (unless you move your hand down obviously) I'm a finger picker (sort of) on guitar anyway so if I haven't played banjo in awhile this fucks me up all the time. If I'm not playing banjo regularly my skills fade so quickly.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:11 am

Stuart wrote:I find banjo so weird to play because you have 4 strings in your left had and 5 in your right, (unless you move your hand down obviously) I'm a finger picker (sort of) on guitar anyway so if I haven't played banjo in awhile this fucks me up all the time. If I'm not playing banjo regularly my skills fade so quickly.

This is what has thrown me off about playing banjo... it's like it fucks with my depth perception.

StevePirates · Post by **StevePirates** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:28 am

My wife has one of those Dean six string banjos that use standard guitar tuning. Cheap and easy way to get that twang without learning new finger positions.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:11 pm

Billy3000 wrote:
Stuart wrote:I find banjo so weird to play because you have 4 strings in your left had and 5 in your right, (unless you move your hand down obviously) I'm a finger picker (sort of) on guitar anyway so if I haven't played banjo in awhile this fucks me up all the time. If I'm not playing banjo regularly my skills fade so quickly.
This is what has thrown me off about playing banjo... it's like it fucks with my depth perception.

this is why I want a tenor banjo 4 strings all the way...

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 6:49 pm

sorry no pics yet.

been doing some online lessons here: http://www.littlerockbanjo.com/

it's really helping learn to use that 5th string which is opening up all sortsa stuff.
i think i should get a 5th string capo for more keys

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 6:50 pm

oh, and as far as depth perception, etc, i think it's easier just to not look at it. it's a small instrument, so trust your hand's muscle memory. kind of like drumming.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:31 pm

I agree.. most of what I've been playing so far has been behind the fifth fret anyway, except for the modest mouse song "bukowski" and the avett bros song "paranoia in B flat major" With those songs I seem to not have problems with depth perception as far as the fifth string goes. It's mostly just with the exercises in the book I'm learning basic banjo techniques out of that I have problems with the depth perception. So far in the book it's stuck to G C D7 chords and different roll patterns within those chord shapes. I've gotten much better and the depth perception hasn't been as much of a problem as I've gotten more used to it. It was just really weird at first, and sometimes now on busy weeks, where I don't get to practice the banjo until the weekend. If I got about a week just playing guitar and bass while teaching lessons and band practice that is when I notice I have to re-adjust to the fifth string depth perception as far as my right hand goes. After a few minutes of practice I get used to it again though.

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:38 pm

i can totally see that, and i'm probably making myself sound better than i really am