5-String Banjo Therapy For Guitar Doldrums!

[Swamp Yankee]

I did my level best learning clawhammer banjo from 2004 to about 2014 - then I played a Taylor GS Mini in a store when I went to buy banjo strings and ended up coming home with it. Now, 3 years on, I've sold off my "player" banjos and acquired some more Taylor guitars.

My "other" instrument now is the ukulele.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

...My "other" instrument now is the ukulele.

My wife and I joined a community uke group back in March, bought myself a banjolele back in April and a tenor uke for my wife last month; FYI there's a growing uke underground out there - a whole world unto itself, and at least as passionate about construction/tone/techniques/history/builders/players/styles as anything you'll find on the AGF General Forum...

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

My wife and I joined a community uke group back in March, bought myself a banjolele back in April and a tenor uke for my wife last month; FYI there's a growing uke underground out there - a whole world unto itself, and at least as passionate about construction/tone/techniques/history/builders/players/styles as anything you'll find on the AGF General Forum...

I love playing ukes. I've even changed some of my vintage 17 fret tenor banjos over to nylgut strings and tuned them to high G tuning. With 11" pots, they really sound great!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

...I've even changed some of my vintage 17 fret tenor banjos over to nylgut strings and tuned them to high G tuning. With 11" pots, they really sound great!

Take one of those tenors and set it up with steel strings, in drop-G tenor uke tuning (GCEA low-to-high); fairly common in the 1920's among uke players making the switch to banjo in the name of financial gain (there was significant demand for banjoists in jazz bands at the time), it lost popularity with the rise of the archtop guitar in the early-30's and is all but forgotten today - TMK Chuck Romanoff of Schooner Fare is the sole active proponent. I have a Deering Boston 19-fret tenor set up this way and it's an extremely versatile tuning, covering much of the range of fiddle and mandolin (you do lose a few notes at the bottom end compared to standard CGDA tenor banjo tuning); I've used mine as an alternate lead instrument for Irish music (makes a great contrast to the traditional GDAE Irish banjo) as well as folk, chanteys, trad-jazz (most listeners will never miss the lower notes when you're playing straight rhythm), even as a substitute for a samisen at a school chorus performance - and anyone who says you can't fingerpick a tenor banjo needs to give this one a try...

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

and anyone who says you can't fingerpick a tenor banjo needs to give this one a try...

I never listened to those guys anyway
If I can't fingerpick it, I won't play it...

I did run steel strings with lo G uke tuning on vintage Vega Whyte Lady tenor for a while before I soldit off....but my Chicago made "Own Make" with nylguts in reentrant tuning is the bee's knees

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

...my Chicago made "Own Make" with nylguts in reentrant tuning is the bee's knees...

Got a Lanikai concert banjolele set up the same way - use it for solo work with the community uke group...