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Maro Kawabata

June 30, 2013, 7:31 pm
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Maro Kawabata was born in Japan and grew up listening to and playing bluegrass music, being inspired to flatpick the guitar and possess tight rhythm.  I knew Maro when he lived in Elgin, IL.  We met at a local jam session in Harding, IL.  We became instant friends, going to events together and recording some small distribution CD's.  But Maro had sights on Nashville often. His style and musicianship exceeded the demand, and he eventually moved to Nashville to play with Alison Brown, Terry Baucom, Cindy Baucom, Don Rigsby, Sammy Shelor, Keith Little, and many others.

Tonight I mourn the passing of Maro who died in Japan earlier this year.  The last time I saw him was about a year ago at an annual jam session near my house in Roanoke, IL.

 

Rest in peace, Maro.

 

 

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Happy Birthday Canada! :)

June 30, 2013, 7:59 pm
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Harmony reso-tone

June 30, 2013, 8:31 pm
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I recently found a Harmony Reso-Tone banjo for $30 locally. It's basically complete but missing the head and the 5th string tuner. It does have the flesh hoop still. Should I buy? I've heard these things played and I actually dig the sound that the plastic rim produces, but don't know if that's a great deal or a bust. 

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Pickup for 4-string Plectrum

June 30, 2013, 8:55 pm
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I am ready to buy a pickup for my Plectrum banjo.  I play all sorts of music; folk, old-time, jazz, rock and roll, chords and single string.   Looking at general banjo posts, it seems like the Fishman or the Kavanjo system would be the best choices.  I like the Kavanjo, but it is designed for 5 strings.  Does it matter though?  Has anyone used these for Plectrum?  The Fishman however, seems like one square magnet placed in the center, just a pain to install.  If a pre-amp is necessary, I would buy one.  I want it to work and sound as good as possible.

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adjust neck angle on vintage washburn

June 30, 2013, 9:08 pm
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Hi all, hope you can give me some advice.  A customer brought in an old Washburn/Lyon and Healy with a T. Goggan and Brothers star stamped on the back of the headstock.  Research put's this between 1890 and 1908, and it's in like new condition except for a broken head and chewed up ebony? heelplate.  Not looking forward to mounting a new head, but i've done it before with the help of a wide vocabulary.   The problem is the neck angle is almost completely straight, the straightedge lays right straight across the top, no relief for string height, and the only way i see to change it is to redrill the end of the wooden neck tongue, which is pretty small where it joins the other side, or possibly remove and redrill the whole tongue.  The neck mounts  through a very tight tapered hole with a u-shaped metal bracket that screws to the tongue and uses two tapered ebony shim/wedges to pull it tight.  These do not affect the angle.  If I open up the mounting hole (hate to remove wood from a hundred + year old instrument) I can change the angle but this is not a desirable fix and would effect the join to the body.  The tongue tapers quite a bit where the tailpiece screw mounts. leaving little room to redrill and change the angle, though this seems the best option, a little change here goes a long way.  Sorry for no pictures, hope to post some soon.  Any suggestions would be very welcome!

Thanks,

Mark

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New Bridge design tests

June 30, 2013, 9:50 pm
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I've been experimenting with some new banjo bridge designs that follow the theory that to get more even string response, there should be either no direct path for string vibrations through the bridge to the head for any of the strings, or there should be an equal number of paths for each string.  The standard three footed bridge does not meet this criteria. I made 4 new designs (well, 5, but one broke as I tuned the strings up to pitch...)  and one fairly standard three footed design (although there is quite a bit of variation out there just among that design).  

The first photo is the drawings for them. I'll call them numbers 1 through 5 starting at the top.  The second photo shows the actual bridges.

Here are the results that I found on my banjo.

  1. The top left design in the photo (2.0 grams) has three feet and no direct path to the head for any string.  It had a very bright and open sound and even string response.
  2. The bottom right design (1.7 grams) has 6 feet and 2 paths to the head for each string.  It had an incredibly bright, crisp sound, even more so than number 1 and 3.  It was loud, open and even.
  3. The bottom left design (2.0 grams), which I had great fun adding a bit of chip-carving to, has seven feet and 2 paths to the head for each string.  One of the biggest surprises of this test was that this bridge and #1 sounded all but identical.  This also had very even response and a very bright, open sound.  The designs are so radically different, that I am not quite sure how that happened, but it did.  I am curious to see if that holds true on other banjos, a test that will have to be for another time.  Anyone have ideas why this might be?
  4. The top right design in the photo (2.0 grams) has four feet and no direct path to the head.  It had probably the most even string response of those tested.  Its brightness fell in-between that of the standard design and top left design.  Mild, pleasant tone. Not as bright or open as I would like, but still an improvement over the three foot bridge.
  5. The standard bridge (2.0 grams), as expected, had an uneven response. It was heavy on the bass response with a muted tone on the treble strings. ​

 I can't quite decide which is my favorite, but I lean towards #2, most of the time until the brightness (especially when played with fingerpicks) is just too much, then I prefer #1 or 3.

Thoughts?

I may try to get some sound files for these soon.  Any interest in hearing them?

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Good Monday Morning

June 30, 2013, 10:11 pm
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bluegrass stevie

June 30, 2013, 10:57 pm
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Kia Orana folks.

finally got round to putting something on the dukebox. I read BHO most days but don't post much except the odd question. i bought an rk35 from NZ (artiste banjos, very friendly and helpful) back in January, thanks to great advice from folks on here. Soooo glad a spent the extra $$$. i started off planning on a savannah sb, then a Goldtone BG, then thought what the hell i'll splash out. I haven't stopped playing the thing since. just love it. everyone here has been very helpful with all the usual newbie questions so thank you.

I got the Geoff Howald primer with it which i think is excellent and i tore through that. Just getting the hang of FMB from the downloads here. i like to play any kind of music on the jo. I live on Rarotonga which is a banjo wasteland but there is a great local music scene here with plenty of welcoming jam sessions most weeks, so i've just been picking along with whatever is being played, with various hit and miss results.

whilst noodling on the deck recently i stumbled on the intro to signed sealed delivered by stevie wonder.  it's almost like a mash up of cripple creek and FMB! anyway i thought it was worth posting here. i still have a lot of work to do on my rolls but you'll get the picture.

 

cheers folks!

ian

 

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Not Metal Punkyrass banjo

July 1, 2013, 12:46 am
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There are a ton of great players on here and I would love to hear your thoughts and get your feedback...good or bad.

I've been playing banjo since 2007. For the past few months I've been working with Pat Cloud's, Key to the Five String book. I also attend a regular bluegrass jam and lately a Gypsy Jazz Workshop.

So lately I've been having a lot of fun with a couple of "youngsters" who come to our regular bluegrass jam on Tuesday nights in Seattle at a place called Sweet Lou's.  The band is called Sweet Lou's Sour Mash. Most of them are deeply rooted in punk rock scene in Seattle and pretty creative. They've invited me to play with them and we've had a few gigs with them and had a lot of fun. I've added a few videos of a couple of covers and 1 original. I hope you enjoy them. As a side note excuse a few of the language flubs, I grew up in NY and sometimes when I get excited well... 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idea6dmIT0o

​http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6GC-SpAaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqCZDPiFic

 

I 

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Custom Web Design Services Offered in Trade for Banjo Parts and Supplies

July 1, 2013, 1:31 am
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Offer of web site design, build and support services in trade for banjo parts and supplies from the BHO community.

Click on my $ button above or see the live ad here http://www.banjohangout.org/classified/37283

All the best.

Dave.

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Old Blue (traditional)

July 1, 2013, 6:59 am
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This is an old traditional number I recorded called Old Blue.

 

 

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American/Irish/Scottish Fiddling Traditions

July 1, 2013, 7:03 am
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Nice Cherry Sunburst F-Style Mandolin For Sale

July 1, 2013, 7:34 am
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Hello,

I've got a Gold Tone GM-35 Cherry Sunburst F-Style Mandolin for sale in the classifieds. Factory sample in a one time Cherry Sunburst finish at half-off retail, please check out the ad:

Gold Tone GM-35

Please contact me with any questions you have and thanks for looking.

Duke

321-264-1970

bargaineverafter@yahoo.com

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Sally Ann (clawhammer)

July 1, 2013, 7:40 am
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I just noticed the "Sound Off" Forum last night.  I'm pretty new to Banjo Hangout.  Here is an mp3 I loaded last week.  It is a mix with me playing banjo and guitar.

Thanks,

TheHawg

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Bonaparte's Retreat (clawhammer)

July 1, 2013, 7:43 am
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This is another mix I made playing Guitar and Banjo.

Thanks,

TheHawg

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Neck level at the pot

July 1, 2013, 7:48 am
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Hello,  I was wondering if someone would put their two cents in on this.  I'm kicking around buying this banjo, but where the neck meets the pot it seems really high.  Unfortunately, I can't actually play it to see how it sounds. Thanks for the input gentleman.

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Open Back 10-String Banjo For Sale In Classifieds

July 1, 2013, 8:05 am
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Is My Playing Assumption Correct?

July 1, 2013, 8:13 am
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I'm currently learning to play Cripple Creek so I have been listening to recorded versions and looking at different tab versions.  Some have a 3-5 slide, some have a 2-5 slide.  Some also have different fretting hand fingerings and different right hand picking patterns.  All sound good.  While studying this, I think a light bulb finally went on and I would like to know if the following assumption is correct.

Assumption:  When playing a tune I can mix the different ways of playing a section of the tune as long as it fits the flow of the tune.  All advice is appreciated.

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Lady Chinese Ruan Player

July 1, 2013, 8:17 am
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For Sale In Classifieds: Gold Tone CC-50RP Factory Sample 5-string Banjo

July 1, 2013, 8:35 am
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