#1
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Banjitar recommendation?
Howdey all,
I'm starting to get the hankering for a banjitar for a little variety in our set. I'm looking for a good value banjitar with a pickup that can project decently and plays well. Any brands that have a good reputation and hold their value well? Thanks Rob
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Journey Instruments Overhead Acoustic Travel Guitar https://www.facebook.com/JourneyInstruments Santa Cruz Arlen Roth OM 1950s Martin Baritone Uke A prototype of something you're likely to drool over. 9 yr old boy learning drums, 5 yr old girl who likes to groove with the beat, a music-loving toddler, 1 patient and amazing wife. |
#2
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Gold Tone makes a couple of nice ones. I'm sure there are others but I have no experience with them. Stay away from the Rogue and other ultra-cheapies, though.
http://www.goldtone.com/products/w/c...ring-Banjitars
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Dan Carey (not Crary) A couple of guitars A Merida DG16 Classical Guitar A couple of banjos A Yueqin A Mountain Dulcimer that I built A Hammered Dulcimer that I'm currently building And a fiddle that I built! Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. |
#3
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I've owned a Deering B6 banjo-guitar for about fifteen years, and it's a superb instrument. Gold Tone does make some nice ones these days, though - they've improved since they first came out, mainly through the use of a compensated bridge. The first Gold Tone guitar-banjos just used standard banjo bridges slotted for six strings, and those created most of the problems that most guitar-banjos suffer from: poor intonation, poor tone, tuning instability.
Of the Gold Tone guitar-banjos I have played, the one that has impressed me the most has been the Gold Tone BT-2000, which has a 12 inch rim: It has a nice low end response. I was a bit surprised but pleased when I read Gold Tone's own copy on the web page for this model that states that this is the guitar-banjo of theirs that has the best acoustic sound: http://www.goldtone.com/products/det...nt/122/BT-2000 This is the only other guitar-banjo made any company that I think approaches the Deering B6 in terms of musical quality. I do have some experience with this: I've been playing guitar-banjo since 1980, and have continuously owned at least one since 1985. Hope this helps. Wade Hampton Miller |
#4
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Have a Deering B6 openback I thing the best made. I do like what I see in that Goldtone 12 inch need to try it.
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Steve 2020 McKnight Grand Recording - Cedar Top 2005 McKnight SS Dred 2001 Michael Keller Koa Baby 2014 Godin Inuk 2012 Deering B6 Openback Banjo 2012 Emerald Acoustic Doubleneck 2012 Rainsong JM1000 Black Ice 2009 Wechter Pathmaker 9600 LTD 1982 Yairi D-87 Doubleneck 1987 Ovation Collectors 1993 Ovation Collectors 1967 J-45 Gibson 1974 20th Annivers. Les Paul Custom |
#5
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Wade is right.
The Goldtone with the 11" head is very weak in the bass range, so much so that I'm experimenting with re-entrant tunings on mine to compensate for it. Open G is cool with the 6th (D) and 5th (G) strings tuned up an octave. It was an impulse buy, but a fun one. I intend to get either the Deering or the Goldtone with a 12" head...eventually. |
#6
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Deering or Gold Tone. I have the Gold Tone GT-750 and it totally kicks butt.
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#7
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Quote:
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Martin D-18 Clay Hess Custom Gibson L-00 Yamaha FG-331 Voyage Air VAOM-04 Gold Tone Paul Beard Resonator 2016 Gibson ES-335 2015 Les Paul Tribute P90 2015 Fender Telecaster Last edited by OnTheLedge; 12-10-2013 at 10:26 AM. Reason: Spelling |
#8
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Thanks for your input, everyone. I think the Gold Tone is going to be a good first banjo-style instrument for me. The Deering B6 looks great, but I can't justify 2k on an instrument that I'll only play 20% of my portfolio on. Thanks again!
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Journey Instruments Overhead Acoustic Travel Guitar https://www.facebook.com/JourneyInstruments Santa Cruz Arlen Roth OM 1950s Martin Baritone Uke A prototype of something you're likely to drool over. 9 yr old boy learning drums, 5 yr old girl who likes to groove with the beat, a music-loving toddler, 1 patient and amazing wife. |
#9
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Thanks for adding your perspective, Wade. Is there a cool instrument out there that you *haven't* been playing for decades? From dulcimers to guitars and everything in-between, you're such a great resource to the AGF.
The real question is, is the syndrome this thread is giving me "GAS" or "BAS"?
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Some might call me a "Webber Guitars enthusiast". |
#10
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Quote:
Quote:
Wade Hampton Miller Last edited by Wade Hampton; 12-21-2013 at 02:20 AM. |
#11
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I have a c.1920 Gibson GB-4 with the "trap door" resonator.
It is an incredible sounding instrument, and is rather huge. I haven't tried one myself, but Gold Tone makes a 14" 6-string banjo (model BT-14) obviously inspired by the GB-4 (without the "trap door" though). If I had to look for a contemporary 6-string banjo, I would give this model some consideration: http://www.goldtone.com/products/det...4-New-for-2013 |
#12
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#13
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I just traded a Dobro and some cash for a sweet Deering B6 and am really digging it. A lot. Everybody wants to play it.
We have been doing some Christmas Carol Busking at a local Outlet Mall over the past few weeks. My daughter plays 5-string Banjo and has been part of this project. We are going to experiment with a guitar, upright Bass, and both 5 and 6 string Banjos tomorrow - I can't wait. Gonna get our "Old Crow Medicine Show" on (they use both 5 and 6 string Banjos together) In the morning we are opening 2 services at church with a couple "Folk Angel" Christmas Carol arrangements and I have one of the other guitar players on the B6 Banjitar. Everybody at rehearsal last Thursday was loving it. We are finding out that the Banjitar occupys it's own sonic space - it's at its best when not trying to be either a guitar or banjo, but being its own thing. I LOVE the sound of it! Peace, James |
#14
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It's only rarely that I bring out the guitar-banjo at these gatherings, for the simple reason that if I bring it out I'll be hearing it for the rest of the time we're playing music. EVERYBODY has to get their hands on it, and EVERYBODY has to make smart-aleck remarks about banjos and the gap-toothed, moonshine-addled, incest-addicted hillbillies who play them. Yet EVERYBODY will also play the guitar-banjo for longer than mere courtesy and curiosity can explain, and the next person who wants to have a crack at it basically has to pry it loose from the person currently hogging it. They're really delightful instruments, but the other reason I typically keep it hidden during our music parties is that my wife is a Yankee through and through, and basically reacts to the banjo as though a Komodo dragon got loose in the house. She's not a fan, let's leave it at that. Quote:
As for playing rhythm parts on it, it'll definitely tighten up your sense of timing. A lot of acoustic guitarists tend to get a little sloppy, a little watery with their chord changes, which is understandable given the lush way that chords ring out on the instrument. But if your timing is off by a nanosecond on guitar-banjo, the whole world will hear it. So you've got to be RIGHT THERE, and as I said, this helps keep you on the beat in the most dramatic way. So, yeah, guitar-banjo is a very cool instrument, one that doesn't get the respect it deserves. But that's okay - those of us who own and appreciate them know what cool instruments they really are. Wade Hampton Miller |
#15
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Heresy all heresy. Burn them !
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