BANJITAR!

[dorfmeister]

http://www.goldtone.com/products/detail ... 0-Banjitar

I love the sound of a banjo......and I think it can be great in many contexts. Getting interested in these 6 string banjos that are tuned like a guitar and have a pickup. I think Marc Ribot was using one with Plant/Krauss though he also may have been using a real banjo.

[culturejam]

I want one too, because I'm too lazy to learn to play a proper 5-string banjo.

[dorfmeister]

I want one too, because I'm too lazy to learn to play a proper 5-string banjo.

Why learn 5 string when you can play a six string. I don't think it is laziness....rather efficiency.

[culturejam]

From what I understand, the traditional banjo is quite a bit different from guitar. So it would take a fair bit of practice to get up to a competent level of proficiency. I'm lazy, so rather than take the time and effort to learn the proper way to play, I'd rather pick up a 6-string that I can play like a guitar.

Just sayin

[Ghost Hip]

Banjos are considered difficult due to the different picking styles tradition banjo players use. I picked up a banjo without touching one before at a friends and could figure out some chords and nifty sitar lead lines for his music. If you play banjo like a guitar... it's pretty easy. Playing a banjo like a banjo was intended to be played, it is difficult.

With that said I've played a Banjitar before and loved it. Cool tones you can't get from a normal acoustic and forces you to play differently due to certain ranges of tones are more emphasized than the normal geetar.

[BlindtoFaith]

I like banjos in un-banjoly places.

[midi_in]

Ive owned a banjo and played a few banjitar at GC. I prefer the 5 string, only because I learned to play Scruggs and some other bluegrass techniques. The banjitar is cool in the sense that you don't need to learn a new instrument. Honestly, once you get the fingerpicking down on the 5 string, it only gets easier. Only took me 2 months or so to really get the basic Scruggs technique down. Now I'm pickin like toothless hillbilly on the bayou. First song you must learn... Dueling banjos.

And the learning the 5 string taught me some new stuff I could use with guitar.

[dorfmeister]

Ive owned a banjo and played a few banjitar at GC. I prefer the 5 string, only because I learned to play Scruggs and some other bluegrass techniques. The banjitar is cool in the sense that you don't need to learn a new instrument. Honestly, once you get the fingerpicking down on the 5 string, it only gets easier. Only took me 2 months or so to really get the basic Scruggs technique down. Now I'm pickin like toothless hillbilly on the bayou. First song you must learn... Dueling banjos.

And the learning the 5 string taught me some new stuff I could use with guitar.

What is the most used tuning on a five string?

[aen]

Remember maybe 2 years ago when NIN sold a ton of gear off? Including a Banjitar. And like 600 people on every forum were like
"lol bonjitar, when the fuck did ternt use an banjitard?"
and then i was all like "Ghosts" except I listened to it until I found the exact track on ghosts.
good story huh?

Anyway. I played one of those, kind of liked it. Certainly easier to get into than a regualr old Banjo, but retains the timbre of Banjo.
BANJO
BANJO
BANJO
BANJO
saiy it out loud

[midi_in]

What is the most used tuning on a five string?

i always played standard. DBGDG

i found alternate tunings by messing around. fairly simply. you can find alternate tunings online. the top string is what throws most people off because its so close to the bottom G, like two notes away. i had a Tyler Mountain that i thought was beautiful not only in looks but in tone. cost me around $500. i dont own the banjo anymore(sold it for more bass gear ). but i plan on buying another as soon as i get settled.

i prefer the resonator to the open back, mainly because its louder.

dont buy a low end banjo. you will regret it the minute you play a higher end model. in fact, dont buy low end anything. lol

[mathias]

I want a strumstick. And a banjo. And a mandolin. Or a mando-banjo-strumstick.

[midi_in]

I want a strumstick. And a banjo. And a mandolin. Or a mando-banjo-strumstick.

a mandolin? how bout an 8-string ukulele?

i prefer it over a mandolin. can tune to standard mandolin too. FTW

[metalmariachi]

I need one of those

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdePu36QCk[/youtube]

and one of these

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQof82yo1Iw[/youtube]

MM

[mathias]

I love the slide resonator bass. Unique. Downright spooky blues. Kind of wish the blues greats of old had access to one of those.

Although it probably would've recorded just as well on those old early microphones (which were prone to blowing out / distorting) just as well as the cheap webcam or cellphone mic in that youtube video. (That is, not very well.)

[Zork]

Just after the algorithm showed me the Foggy Mountain Spaceship on youtube I found a banjitar. Coincidence? Destiny? However here it is:



It is half broken but I want to make it work. The head needs replacement, bridge and tuners, too. I wonder how hard it is to get equal tension on the head when I put on the new one. Any experience?

I always thought I'd prefer a 5 string banjo but now I'll dip the toe in the water with a 6 string first. I was thinking to get a high strung or Nashville tuning strings set for a more authentic 5 string sound and tune up like that:

6th string .009 tuned to e4
5th string .012 tuned to a3
4th string w.026 tuned to d3
3rd string .018 tuned to g3
2nd string .014 tuned to b3
1st string .010 tuned to e4

So the lowest string would be D3 just like on an actual banjo and the 5th string one octave up and 6th string two octaves up to mimic that high g drone string. Any thoughts?