Overwhelming urge to play the banjo, good beginner banjo?

Yep. This is the one he recorded with, has some materials for workshops he did in the 80's in the pocket, I've got the head he decorated and used then, but its not installed, etc. But you peak my interest, that perhaps Kirk modded a Stewart neck?

 

BAS is every bit as bad as GAS! Trust me , I know.

 

Recording King also has some nice banjos for not a ton of money. A Songster would be a nice starting banjo. I bought a Madison with the tone ring, but just looking at the prices, I don't recall it being that expensive.

Also, if you are planning to take up the banjo then you should get yourself well acquainted with a whole volume or two of banjo jokes. Its required reading, sorry.

 

banjo = chick repellent.

 

When I had it, I was at the very beginning of my Stewart journey. I never gave it a second thought, assuming it was an original. Today, I could tell you much more about it... I can't remember anything other than it was a 6-string and that it had the extra tuner on the peghead. Got any good pix?

While Stewart made a huge variety of pot sizes, he worked primarily in 1/2" increments. If you had said it was 11-1/2 in diameter, I would say "Stewart". 11-13/16" would be very unusual for a Stewart (although he made some crazy stuff and would custom build just about anything if you had the cash). The 6-string banjo gets a full page of his 1894 catalog and is listed as having an 11-1/2" rim...and @ $35, one of his more expensive banjos.



The Guitar banjo is prominent in his 1887 catalog...where it is called "The Guitar Neck Banjo". Of course, his reasoning for why his guitar necked banjo is better than a guitar is perfect, especially reason #3. Stewart was early to identify women as a target market for banjos.

 

I owe my professional life to the tenor banjo....

back in 1974, I was studying for a state licensing exam....at about the same time my then girlfriend loaned me her tenor banjo, and a book of chords....I spent much more time fooling around with the banjo and the woman than I did with the large boring study guide for the exam.....and when test day came I came up way short and realized Id be back for a re-do on the test...the test was multiple choice...A,B,C,and D...fill in the circles with a soft pencil type test....I proceeded to complete the balance of the answer sheet by diagraming tenor banjo chords....

In those days they graded the tests right afterwards...you couldn't be in the building while they graded it so the proctor told me to take a walk around the block....when I returned she handed me the results and told me it was my lucky day....Id passed by one point....

I subsequently lost track of the woman (Alaska was rather fluid in those days and people would appear and vanish at a moments notice)....sold the banjo (played it for a while tuned to open G)....kept the book...for years afterwards, when someone was studying for the test Id offer the book of banjo chords as a supplemental study guide....

 

I wish I had a recommendation. Good banjos are expensive.

My flirtation with 5-string banjo ( with resonator ) was not just a flirtation .... my condition is permanent and chronic. CHRONIC.

I moved to telecaster afterward IIRC, but kept the metal picks... in the bridge position. YES!!!

Good luck with it. Heh.

 

I must warn you , taking up the banjo is no cotton pick'en light matter , I'd say take up the accordion instead

 

Then it's Monk Time!





Not dissimilar to the use of banjo in early swing music, loud chunky rhythm is how I like my banjo.

PS: does anyone have examples of distorted banjo? I imagine a sound straight from hell. Drool.

 

Totally feel you, caught this one sneakin in the other night.

 

Well you would know better than I. I'll look more closely the next time I see it, and note some of these specifics. Would it have been like Kirk to research, and produce an exact copy neck? He seemed like the kind.

Excellent. I can very much visualize those note/chord/answers.

 

Would this be a good time to ask who played a ukulele?

 

Deering Goodtime special.
I bought it used.
Excellent condition in a gig bag with a capo, a tuner, picks, two sets of strings.
From my local guitar shop.
Within your budget.
Look around.

 

It wouldn't surprise me. If he did, he probably had an original to copy. His Gibson copies were excellent and he sometimes used the inlay from an original tenor neck to use on the new 5-string neck. He left nearly 30 Gibson tenor necks...some intact, some stripped.

 

Here's a 1929 Slingerland (with a brand new Remo WeatherKing head) from my Library of Dusty Noisemakers. It gets dragged out every so often to knock the dust off.

 

This is my favorite Steve Martin banjo clip:

 

I played in an acoustic band...the banjo player learned to play while in the Air Force in Japan....he had a funny story hed tell ...apparently the Japanese word for toilet is "banyo" (?)..hed play and people would shout banyo at him....he took it as praise so hed play louder...and theyd shout louder, and on and on...then he learned they were shouting "toilet" at him...

Anyway he tells the story better than I....you had to be there...

 

Here's some pics, his name address and number was printed on the outside of the case. He went to a smooth white head, claiming it helped de-mud the 6th string.

 

“Life is so much better when you play the Banjo”
Steve Martin
I’d love to learn to play the Banjo but I’m still learning things about guitar after 55 years of playing.