My Brooks 6-string arrived today -- a day early!
I've barely put it down all afternoon. My previous experience with a six-string banjo was limited to about 20 minutes noodling around on one of George Flink's banjos (he's a 6-string freak). But now that I've spent some quality time with it, I think I'm in love. That extra low string opens up enormous possibilities. In many cases you can play a tune an octave lower than normal. But even if you don't play it, just having that extra string resonate adds a whole new dimension to the sound.
As usual, Brooks' work is amazing, top-knotch in every way. Mine is #214 -- a 12" silverspun with a Dobson tone ring and skin head. I think this is his first banjo that uses Evo fretwire (it's gold, and supposedly much more durable than the Stew Mac wire). It's resonant as can be, but a small sponge under the dowel stick near the neck removes just enough overtones to make it sound perfect to my ear.
I'm really surprised by how quickly I adapted to it. I thought it would be very confusing, but it's not at all.
My only fear is that all of my other banjos will feel neglected. I think all banjos should have six strings.
