This is from a practice session today. My wife says at the end, “That was good. Did you make it up?” I figured I should keep it then!
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Gibson Banjitar at the American Banjo Museum
Here is a fun video that shows a cool banjitar from Gibson, presented by the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City. It belonged to the comedy team Homer and Jethro back in the 1960s. It has a Gibson L-5 guitar neck on it and is strung with flatwound strings. The video is around 26 minutes long, but I set it to begin at the 15-minute mark, when the host shows the Gibson. The whole video is worth watching. Enjoy!
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Picks or not to picks, that is the question...
Now with the banjitar, using light, electric guitar strings for a more banjoesque tone, I decided to try out the metal picks used by many 5-string banjoists. I liked the sound, but not the feel of the picks on my fingers. Oddly, even though I have used fingerpicks for over forty years, my fingers got tangled up with these. Even more odd, I find I like the sound of bare fingers best of all so far. For just sitting around the house, using no picks seems to work best, but I have to practice with the picks because any live performance is going to work better with them. The thing is, I play live so rarely anymore, it might not make a difference.
What's your preference as a banjitarist? Picks? No picks? If you use picks, what material do you like? Plastic, nylon, acrylic, brass, nickel, stainless steel? Let me know in the comments.
Banjitar Links
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A cover of the classic “Across the Great Divide” by Kate Wolf. The banjitar is in Nashville tuning with a capo on the 4th fret. Enjoy!
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This is a useful lesson from Brad Davis. I love the sound of his Deering banjitar! Maybe someday Deering will want to sponsor me or want me...