What's the beef with banjo players?

[Dave Mudgett]

I like bluegrass, have played in bluegrass bands, and I like the sound of the banjo in the appropriate context. I play some, but at this point will probably never get serious enough again to seriously interfere with my guitar or steel playing. I admit that there are some annoying banjo players and sounds, but I love working with a real good banjo player.

Some of my favorite steel work in that context was Doug Jernigan's playing with J.D. Crowe when Keith Whitley was in the New South. Killer. YMMV, no problem - but I have never understood the level of animosity towards banjo on this forum. I think it's reasonable to just not like something, but I don't understand why it's necessary to mark one's territory on the issue so frequently.

mva - that sounds fine to me.

[Ulric Utsi-Åhlin]

Not all have the privvy of getting paid for Steel-
only,doubling on guitar,banjo,mandolin etc could be
what keeps You in business.McUtsi

[JACK HEERN]

Quote from Hal Rugg at a Knoxville show. "There is no difference between a hand gernade and a banjo...By the time you hear either of them it is too damm late"
Oh Welllll

[Ben Jones]

I thought it was just an inlaw style joke...as in..when does a banjo sound best? when its hitting an accordian on the way into the trash can etc etc.

Thankfully Ive never encountered a real live banjo in the wilds. Ive seen pictures of em tho.

[George Kimery]

I played banjo during my college (and hootenanny era) and enjoyed it a lot. Even when I played, I didn't like listening to other banjo players for some reason. I have no problem with banjo's, it is the majority of players that bug me. They tend to play all the time and very busy sounding. The banjo seems ot be in it's own frequency range and cuts through every bluegrass instrument in the band. If the banjo player would play his part, then shut up, I would be a happy camper. I just want to go up to them and scream "Will you just shut up for a minute or two? Your constant busy playing is just monotonous to my ears."

[David Nugent]

Just a note...The most widely read and studied book on learning to play the pedal steel guitar was written by two BANJO players.

[John McGlothlin]

I love the five-string banjo and I am a big fan of good ole bluegrass music. I started playing banjo back when I was in high school and that is how I developed the three finger roll which gave me a good head start with the steel guitar.

[Pete Burak]

'Question for Dave Mudgett...
Hey Dave, How do you like the GoldTone EBM?
When you play it with a strap, standing up, does the headstock take a nose dive?
How is the tone when unplugged?
Does it sound good through a Twin Reverb (or similar), or do you run it through the PA?
I'm told the EBT (tele style electric banjo) is going back into production and will be back on the market ~Oct '09.

Question for anybody in the know...
What are your thoughts on 6-string banjo's?
I played one the other day with my steel fingerpicks, and felt like a good banjo player cuz I knew my guitar chord shapes...
But most folks I ask say to stick with 5-string.
Any thoughts?

[Peter Dollard]

I think a lot of the perceived resentment of the banjo comes from the basic Scruggs style itself; it is breathtaking in it's speed but very prone to using the same expressions over and over again. This is also a complaint sometimes voiced about certain steel guitar licks(sus4s, The Hal Weldon speed lick).
In the early sixties when Bill Keith and Bobby Thompson were able to play certain fiddle tunes note for note(Arkansas Traveller, Turkey In The Straw) the banjo dare I say it was emancipated from having to render all breaks with the same five expressions and expanded its perimeters. This is not going to make you like the banjo...Maria Muldaur recorded a song,"Richland Woman"with a muted banjo by Bill Keith, with perhaps the best non steel steel break ever done on the banjo. It is worth listening to....Peter

[Gary Lee Gimble]

Pete, 6 string banjos are cool, tune the 6th to a C. Meanwhile, I feel compelled to share what a banjo picker should look like whilst chillin and picken....If I can reach just one person, just one steel player.......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFUQnfNy0M

[Dave Mudgett]

Pete - I like my EBM. I bought it to play banjo in situations where a traditional banjo pickup on an acoustic banjo just wouldn't get the needed volume level on stage without howlin' - a rock or country-rock band typically. It sounds pretty much like a banjo amplified, and I can get it pretty loud if I need to. I typically run mine through a Deluxe Reverb or emulation - I expect a Twin Reverb would sound fine.

On the body balance issue - I haven't noticed the headstock dipping on mine particularly - the body is not real light. My old '62 SG Junior with its extremely light body and heavy, fat neck had a serious balance issue - I had to use a weird padded strap with a lot of friction to keep it reasonable. If my EBM is at all unbalanced, it's small enough so I don't really notice it.

Is it a great acoustic banjo sound? No - don't expect this to sound like a good Mastertone acoustically. The head is small, and the body obviously is quite different from an acoustic banjo. But in a band mix at a fairly high volume, it's the best thing I've found - it's a good working tool in certain situations. I had a Deering Crossfire - interesting sound, but I had trouble getting the signature percussive banjo sound from it. Fine for a different sound, and takes processing well, but it wasn't what I wanted.

Just a note...The most widely read and studied book on learning to play the pedal steel guitar was written by two BANJO players.

Bingo. I estimate that my start on pedal steel would have been much more frustrating if I had not spent some time working on 5-string banjo first.

[Marc Mercer]

I know a guy, who ... can do a magic/music show in full circus clown makeup! He , also can run sound.

He must be famous; many's the tale I've heard about some clown running the sound at various shows...



Speaking of clowns, this feller here might be responsible for helping give the banjo a bad rap:

[Ulric Utsi-Åhlin]

I happen to love the 5-string banjo ; I´m shopping
for a good All-American 5-stringer even as we speak ; fact,folks.McUtsi

[Andy Jones]

I've played bluegrass banjo since I was a teenager,much longer than I've been playing steel guitar.I am certain this was an advantage when I started playing steel.Here lies the problem:I dearly love both instruments;but I despise mixing the two.I dearly love classic country,western swing and bluegrass;but I WILL NOT mix them together.I've been duped in the past to"bring your banjo to the jam"more than a few times and it was always a disaster!Drums,ten out of tune guitars,a hack mandolin player,electric bass and me.I hated it!There is nothing that I like more than to play banjo with musicians who know what they're doing.Same with Country musicians.I agree with Mike D.that a banjo sounds like h@#l in a country band.Same with a steel in a bluegrass band.That's just the way it is with me.

Andy

[Mac McGhee]

Makes me wonder what Don Warden would say to Buck Trent!!!!!Hmmmmm

[Steve Broatch]

I play banjo, steel and dobro in our band. So the situation of banjo and steel playing together never arises.

Playing Scruggs style banjo for several years before I started on steel definitely gave me a headstart on right hand picking technique, playing with finger picks, string skipping etc

[Jack Dougherty]

This one will certainly fan the flames (on me)

Definition of Prefect Pitch.....

Throwing an accordion in a dumpster and hitting a banjo....

[John Haspert]

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all get along? I agree about using the instruments in the right context. Just don't tell Buddy Emmons and Doug Dillard or Herb Petersen or Jay Dee Maness that the instruments don't get along. Wheatsraw Suite (Buddy Emmons and Herb Petersen) of the Dillards is what got me hooked on Pedal Steel.

[Bo Legg]

http://www.banjonews.com/BNLimage/anibangeek.gif

[b0b]

... She's a friend of our bandleader,she came down and spent fours days with us, at 70 she has the fire and energy of most teens,and one heck of a banjo picker, she did'nt clash AT ALL with the rest of the band, had a GREAT time working with her. She's a pro, she knows when to play, most important when NOT to play,...

Anytime before or after 6 o'clock.

[Ethan Shaw]

I can't wait to get my new BOSS banjo emulator. It was designed for 6-string, but I have high hopes for the steel. That way, I can make money, but still play steel guitar!

[Jim Cohen]

Dave, you look like you're trying to hurry up and finish that banjo solo before b0b shows up at the gig. Come to think of it, that might be the origin of all that really fast banjo-picking...

[Doug Beaumier]

edit

[Dave Mudgett]

Nah, Jim - it's just that banjo players like the sound of those notes so much they want to play a lot of them. or maybe someone told 'em they were getting paid by the note.

I think Godwin's Law on reductio ad Hitlerum has just been invoked - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

So before this gets shut down, I have to add - perhaps you don't like banjo in a country band or steel in a bluegrass band. But are you sure you've heard it done well? If there was a single album that convinced me that the latter could be done brilliantly, it was the album "My Home Ain't In the Hall of Fame" by J.D. Crowe and the New South with Doug Jernigan on pedal steel. Listen to the Harlan Howard tune "She's Gone, Gone, Gone" with JD, Doug, Jimmy Gaudreau, Bobby Slone and Keith Whitley just tearing it up and now tell me that it all stinks. Maybe that'll still be your opinion, but I'll never understand that if I live to be 200.

[Tom Stolaski]

Last year I brought my Deering electric to a practice session. We were doing a song that had banjo all the way through it, in the backround. I got out that thing and started playing. The guitar player walked out of the building with his guitar still strapped on. The drummer packed up his drums. The bass player put away his bass. I have never seen or heard from these guys since. Now I am afraid of even telling anyone that I own a banjo.