Cello Banjos
 

Following the demise of late 19th and early 20th century banjo orchestras and banjo clubs, the cello banjo entered a long period of near-extinction. When cello banjos made their reappearance, in 2008, I fell in love with both 5-string and 4-string models. That began my affiliation with Gold Tone - as a consultant, promoter, and retailer.

The first video is an original tune on the 5-string (CEB-5).
The second is a medley of English country dance tunes on the 4-string (CEB-4) tuned in three tonal ranges.

Cellos are an interesting variant, here's one of several made by my friend who had me draw up a CAD plan of a slot head tunneled fifth Cello banjo so he could make them. He did at least a half dozen of them.

I'm playing first, followed by him. This one is the first that he completed and both of us were totally green with playing it.

I like that you designed it with a slotted head and tunneled fifth.

This is such a cool instrument. I had the good fortune to attend a music camp two years ago with Marcy Marxer and Cathy Fink as instructors. I think it was Marcy who rediscovered the cello banjo and she is a true virtuoso on it too.

Following. Almost bought one a few years ago. Great sounding instrument.

They sound fabulous.I`ve been playing banjo for years now and have been sorely tempted to pull the plug on a cello banjo many a time.It sounds great in your hands,excellent playing.

Yes, yes, that sounds good!

From a music and nature series with flutist and nature photographer Jessica Peterson. I'm playing 5-string cello banjo and overdubbing with a Sobell cittern, strung with five strings, and tuned like a 5-string banjo.

To my ears it sounds best in Irish GDAE (and had it been available 30 years ago when I bought my Flatiron octave mando I would have grabbed it) - once you get past cello low C you need something larger (with a longer scale length) to reproduce the fundamentals with any kind of real projection:

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/a...9&d=1396835061

Very nice playing!

Original cello banjo tune from my music and nature series with flutist and cinematographer Jessica Peterson.

As with a number of my tunes, I've doubled the cello banjo part with a banjo lute: a Sobell 10-string cittern, strung with just five strings and tuned like a 5-string banjo. The Sobell is tuned an octave above the cello banjo. I like the effect of a deep growl, combined with a shimmering chime.

Here's my latest composition, inspired by traditional Chinese music. Any ethnomusicologists in the crowd?

I'm always inspired by exploring the tone colors of the cello banjo. It has a distinctly different sound and tactility from a normal banjo, providing different strokes for different folks. I became enraptured with both the 5-string and 4-string versions when Gold Tone brought these beasts back to life; and this is what gave rise to my affiliation with the company.

"Wild Geese Flying" is an original composition in pentatonic scale D F G A C D.
Tuning: f C G C D
Style: 3-finger picking

My Gold Tone retail site is http://banjocrazy.com

It has come to my attention that some retail outlets are undercutting Gold Tone dealer pricing requirements. If you find a better deal, let me know. I'm confident we can strike a deal.

edit: At first glance, the price on Amazon appears cheaper. But after $93.84 in tax, the total comes to $54 more than my price.