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Post by Mike Floorstand on Mar 18, 2013 23:52:04 GMT
Banjo off ebay arrived last night, will post photos later but the specifications are roughly:
4 strings, 20inch scale (18 frets)
Nylon Strings (not what I was expecting, but given a lightly built rim, and the nut and bridge slots are wide so I think nylon is what its meant to have)
About 10.5inch diameter head, 21 hooks all present although a couple have different thread length so possibly non original. Vellum is clean and very taut.
No idea what the neck wood is - stained to look like mahogany maybe.
Came in a very tatty John Grey Dulcetta case but there is no makers mark on the instrument so not sure who actually made it.
Circular dot markers 3/5/7/10/12. Neck possibly a bit bowed although having played a bit already, it's not enough to affect playing fiddle tunes with nylon strings. Veneer on headstock looks a little dry and cracked at the top.
Steel tuning pegs/buttons. One of them is missing a washer and retaining screw, am try to source a replacement for this now.
Overall I'd say fairly cheaply made - no fancy inlay etc. - but promises to be very serviceable once the tuner is fixed.
It sounds ... quite nice! Haven't had any exposure to nylon string banjos, and need to experiment with different tensions on this, but initial impressions is with a thick pick you can get a nice mellow sound. I'm told a 20"" tenor banjo is normally tuned DGBE (like baritone uke?) but I want to try GDAE.
Cheers
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 19, 2013 0:10:10 GMT
So I guess the beans are well and truly spilled now then Joe!  Congrats on the banjo - I reckon tuning in 5ths is a good move as your mando/octave mando repertoire will sit nicely on that. Also, 20" scale sounds good to me - I've given up trying to play tunes on my bouzouki, even with capo at fret two, which I was using, the stretches are too much for me. I've recently put some heftier strings on it and now capo at fret four to get GDAE - scale now 20", which is much more manageable. Looking forward to hearing how you get on! Keith |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on Mar 19, 2013 19:33:42 GMT
Thanks Keith. Managed to source the tuner parts I need from the the ever-helpful www.andybanjo.com - next time you hear anyone complaining about "customer service ain't what it used to be", tell them to buy a banjo from Mr Perkins! He's also recommended a set of nylon strings for GDAE tuning so will hopefully be fitting those, and fixing the tuner, later this week. If it works I think my first recording may be seen on the OCarolan thread...  Cheers |
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Post by calv on Apr 26, 2013 21:55:24 GMT
Congrats on the purchase Mike, did you say it's your first banjo?
Are you a member of the Banjo Hangout yet? Plenty of great advice on there regarding any banjo.
Calv.
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Post by Mike Floorstand on Apr 26, 2013 22:18:24 GMT
Congrats on the purchase Mike, did you say it's your first banjo? Are you a member of the Banjo Hangout yet? Plenty of great advice on there regarding any banjo. Calv. Well it is my first 20" nylon-string tenor! (I have a nice steelstring tenor but am unworthy of it so it hasn't seen much play.) I am a member of banjohangout but haven't posted there in a while, been mostly concentrating on mandolin recently ... thinking vaguely of adding a mandolin banjo to the collection next but I should really sell something first. cheers |
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Jo whoever he is.
