I'm coming out of the closet.

...pants on fire Leo?!

Keith

As it goes I looked at that on Gold Tone's site after posting earlier, and was quite impressed by the video demo - remembering that the demo instrument has probably been tweaked to within an inch of its life.

www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/475/AC-5-New-for-2012

It looks like a good compromise, especially for busking because it doesn't have that heavy tone ring. The composite back seems to make for good projection and definitely produces bluegrass sounds, plus, as the guy demonstrates, you can whip the back off for old timey sounds. 

 

I didn't realize the back came off. Nice video. This is model going to the top of my list!!

I have an Aria 5-string which I'm looking to move on, been planning to put in the classified for a while but not got round to it. It has no model number but looking at the flange design and other features I think it's an SB200. It had a repair to the headstock done by the repairman at London Hobgoblin shop a few years ago now, very stable repair physically although no cosmetic work was done to disguise the split. Since then I also had it set up by Doug Parry of John Alvey Turner, so it has a low action and very playable. There are some pix here: plus.google.com/photos/109995959245640632634/albums/5739871665464479265#photos/109995959245640632634/albums/5739871665464479265

I just don't play it though, I alternate between guitar, mandolin and tenor banjo, plus I just got an old zither banjo which I'm quite attached to as I restored it to playability myself.

Not quite sure if this meets your busking requirements as it's quite heavy with the resonator attached - even if you remove the resonator (banjos are a bit like meccano, you're encouraged to take them to bits and reassemble as you please), probably still heavier than the AC5 you're looking at. PM me if you're interested though.

Cheers

I know people who regularly gig with the Luna guitars and they are lovely, not sure about the banjo though.

Not sure how the frailing would work on a 6 string thats tuned to a guitars tuning, i'd seriously suggest either trying one first or at least hearing someone play one, as not all 6 string banjos sound like banjos.

The RK Martin suggested sounds good, i see them recommended a lot on the banjo hangout a lot.

Good luck with whatever you get though, you'll find that the dark side is in fact very sunny once you get that banjo in your hand.

Calv.

I keep seeing this term "frailing" !! Could anyone tell me what it's all about - I think I have a vague idea, but I'm really not sure of all the technicalities etc - ie, is it really usable on guitar??

Eric

WV - no worries it was a longshot and I suspect you will not regret holding out for something a little more lightweight!

Eric - frailing aka clawhammer is a bit counterintuitive for guitarists but a versatile technique which can be applied to either simple song accompaniment, or to complex and fast melodic pieces. Not that I can do either very well yet! It's meant for the 5-string banjo with its short thin string but there are a handful of players who have tried something similar on guitar, also tenor banjo, I think uke too, with interesting results. I've heard Martin Simpson say that his guitar-playing is inspired by banjo techniques too.