Decent Entry Level Banjo

[ez_willis]

Never played one, but I want one. Recommendations?

[timthetortoise]

I'm also curious about this.

[cephus]

I play. I have a rather shitty banjo. I've rented/borrowed nice ones to play for shows. I think there are some decent ones in the $3-400 range. The sub $200 ones are mostly shitty. I looked at the Fenders, Epiphones and washburns in that range and I thought they all were adequate. The cheaper ones sound like shit and are harder to play, but they tend to be really loud. The mid range ones feel like a real banjo, but are quieter. I think that's a good thing. Banjos are too fucking loud when you are sitting around noodling.

[Big Kenny]

These stay in tune and have decent action. http://www.deeringbanjos.com/goodtime.htm

[philboyd studge]

If you know someone who can do a good setup, go through the frets and get the right head tension, a cheapy banjo can be a good player. There's a Rogue resonator that I'll be borrowing again this year for an arts camp I teach and it hangs in very well with the rest of the 'real' banjos. I was suprised.

Still, it's probably best to fork over a little more money and get a Deering Goodtime, they're good out of the box.

[TelePaul]

I play but not clawhammer so i doubt I'm any good.

[cephus]

Those deering ones are supposed to be cool. I defintely wanted a resonator. I never really cared for the maple, cosmetically (I'll admit it). Unless something breaks or I absolutely need something else, I will be buying a banjo this year. I'm lucky because I can play well enough to pick out the best cheaper one, so I won't have to go too deep.

I assumed that this was because you were going to do the whole bluegrass 5-string thing. If you just want to get a banjo sound for recording, then they have 6 string ones and any shitty one is good enough to take the 5th string tuner off and tune like a tenor (or the bottom 4 strings of a guitar).

I think it's hard as shit to play banjo. You always have to know where you're going. On a guitar, I can kind of live in the moment and not worry too much about the next chord change. On a banjo, you have to think at least a chord change or two ahead so you don't step on your dick. I quit playing for a while because I just couldn't play as fast as I wanted to, but then heard some slower folkie things and I know I can play that well. I always wanted to play east bound and down with the band and play banjo. Can't do it three piece, though.

[cephus]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

I play but not clawhammer so i doubt I'm any good.

Claw hammer is that old grandpa jones shit.

I think the Dueling banjos/bluegrass style is called "scruggs style" isn't it? It's where you wear a thumbpick and two fingerpicks and play patterns all the time.

Claw hammer is like playing a uke or something. Sort of a pick strum thing. Since the banjo is tuned to an open G, you can kinda plonk out a melody and keep the rhythm going behind it.

Scruggs style is like metal. It's complex and speed=big dick.

[jfrog]

Originally Posted by ez_willis

Never played one, but I want one. Recommendations?

Doesn't matter. One probably makes as good of firewood as the next one.

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by cephus

Claw hammer is that old grandpa jones shit.

I think the Dueling banjos/bluegrass style is called "scruggs style" isn't it? It's where you wear a thumbpick and two fingerpicks and play patterns all the time.

Claw hammer is like playing a uke or something. Sort of a pick strum thing. Since the banjo is tuned to an open G, you can kinda plonk out a melody and keep the rhythm going behind it.

Scruggs style is like metal. It's complex and speed=big dick.

I assume you're talking about 5 string banjos? I play a four string banjo, a tenor banjo tuned to G,D,A,E low to high, Irish tenor banjo.

[ez_willis]

Originally Posted by cephus

Those deering ones are supposed to be cool. I defintely wanted a resonator. I never really cared for the maple, cosmetically (I'll admit it). Unless something breaks or I absolutely need something else, I will be buying a banjo this year. I'm lucky because I can play well enough to pick out the best cheaper one, so I won't have to go too deep.

I assumed that this was because you were going to do the whole bluegrass 5-string thing. If you just want to get a banjo sound for recording, then they have 6 string ones and any shitty one is good enough to take the 5th string tuner off and tune like a tenor (or the bottom 4 strings of a guitar).

I think it's hard as shit to play banjo. You always have to know where you're going. On a guitar, I can kind of live in the moment and not worry too much about the next chord change. On a banjo, you have to think at least a chord change or two ahead so you don't step on your dick. I quit playing for a while because I just couldn't play as fast as I wanted to, but then heard some slower folkie things and I know I can play that well. I always wanted to play east bound and down with the band and play banjo. Can't do it three piece, though.

Forget it. You ruined it for me.

[ocnor]

Originally Posted by ez_willis

Never played one, but I want one. Recommendations?

Did someone tell you that you couldn't hit a bull on the ass with a banjo and you want to prove them wrong?

[lumbago]

Check any dumpster.

[castlerock]

Originally Posted by cephus

I think it's hard as shit to play banjo. You always have to know where you're going. On a guitar, I can kind of live in the moment and not worry too much about the next chord change. On a banjo, you have to think at least a chord change or two ahead so you don't step on your dick. I quit playing for a while because I just couldn't play as fast as I wanted to, but then heard some slower folkie things and I know I can play that well. I always wanted to play east bound and down with the band and play banjo. Can't do it three piece, though.

heh. ever tried to play a fiddle? THAT shit is hard.

[Big Kenny]

Average banjo is easy, good banjo is difficuly, most banjo is annoying

[jfrog]

My previous comment aside (Hey! I thought it was funny!) sometimes a banjo is what a song needs. Think the outro on "Take it Easy" or John Hiatt's "Slow Turning"

Plus, they're open tuned....at least you'll be able to play major chords from day 1.

[travelin travis]

forget a banjo. you don't have time to learn that crap. get a strumstick and you can easily make banjo like sounds. i picked one up in a store and was playing it right away. my non-guitar playing buddy tried it and he was playing right away too. i picked up a banjo and got some fked up stares from the staff.

http://www.strumstick.com/images/SS%...v2%20StrmM.mov

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...n?q=strumstick

[travelin travis]

yea, get one and you might turn out like this guy: http://youtube.com/watch?v=v2pc2DS7KrA

forget a strumstick.

[ez_willis]

Dang, you guys would be extremely helpful if I was curious about your opinions of the instrument or if I should get one, or even if I wanted know about an alternative instrument that is similar to a banjo.

[travelin travis]

none of us are cool enough to play the banjo. what the hell do you expect? i've wanted one for quite a while but i don't have the extra time to learn how to play it. want to buy a used set of harmonicas?

[philboyd studge]

Originally Posted by cephus

I assumed that this was because you were going to do the whole bluegrass 5-string thing. If you just want to get a banjo sound for recording, then they have 6 string ones and any shitty one is good enough to take the 5th string tuner off and tune like a tenor (or the bottom 4 strings of a guitar).

I think it's hard as shit to play banjo. You always have to know where you're going. On a guitar, I can kind of live in the moment and not worry too much about the next chord change. On a banjo, you have to think at least a chord change or two ahead so you don't step on your dick. I quit playing for a while because I just couldn't play as fast as I wanted to, but then heard some slower folkie things and I know I can play that well. I always wanted to play east bound and down with the band and play banjo. Can't do it three piece, though.

Both 4 string (tuned in 5ths) and 5 string (open G) I find a whole lot easier to work out songs from a theory standpoint when compared to guitar.....but I've been kind of going to school on guitar lately and learning how and why I'm playing what I do. Anyway in open G you've only got 3 three chord shapes and one of those is just barring everything, so it's easy to form chords once you know your roots. Scruggs style rolls and melodic scales and riffs take some time and go against what you'd learn in guitar fingerstyle mainly due to the fifth string placement but practice will get you there. Clawhammer and frailing I've never done correctly but over time I've carved out a style that works for me so fuck it.

For me, the alternative stringed instruments like banjo, dobro, mandolin, mandocello, etc. are not only fun to play and get me more work but are very useful in coming up with new ideas and approaches in writing and recording, and I think help in my guitar playing.

[Lt. Bob]

saw Bela Fleck and Chick Corea about 6 weeks ago. Good lord he made a banjo sound like a very desirable instrument! And his has a very mellow .... almost piano like sound. In fact, sometimes it was hard to tell if what you were hearing was his banjo or Chicks' piano.

Used to work for a guy that custom built banjos ...... you definitely want one with a resonator ...... get as nice of bell brass tone ring as you can.

Maybe the best bang for buck might be a Stew Mac kit.
On a banjo ......other than finish work, a lot of building comprises bolting stuff together. So the Stew MAc kits'll be easy to build and they'll be standard sizes.

One good thing about banjos is that if you get a standard sized resonator 5-string ...... it's easy to upgrade. Randy (the guy I worked for ) was always trying a new tone ring with different alloys or a different profile ...... sometimes he'd try different resonators since different wood affect the sound.

[philboyd studge]

This Goodtime would be a pretty good deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Deering-Goodtime...QQcmdZViewItem

[scrubs]

Anybody tried this kit?

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by ez_willis

Dang, you guys would be extremely helpful if I was curious about your opinions of the instrument or if I should get one, or even if I wanted know about an alternative instrument that is similar to a banjo.

I play in a bluegrass band (mandolin & guitar) and the banjo player is a kick ass player thats played for 40 years-and his style is clawhammer. He does it very well and very interesting-he often does things like jazz standards-Duke Ellington tunes sound amazing when he does them.
I have a entry level Oscar Schmidt (made by Washburn) 5 string that I use for jamming and recording and when our banjo guy tried it out he said it was a great starter banjo. You might want to check this one out EZ-pretty solid for the price.