New Orleans and the Guitar

[pingu]

She seems to use
x 12 10 10 10 x
A lot for the tonic F chord

sounds great ....
I might use that a bit more

[Rob MacKillop]

Haha I’ve got one. And my wife can’t complain because it was her brother who sold it to me.

Funny thing about this banjo (a Windsor) is that the company went bust in WW2 after the Luftwaffe bombed their factory. I do not know if Hitler meant to do that, not sure which side could claim that as a victory! Anyway it means this banjo must be WW2-vintage or older.

Attachment 66437Attachment 66436

Graham, is that a tenor or a plectrum banjo? If the latter, how do you tune it? They were originally tuned CGBD (bass to treble), then DGBD, but "Chicago" tuning was also popular with guitar players: DGBE, but you can't get the chord voicing that the tenor gets. Those voicing became the banjo sound in this context.

[grahambop]

Hi Rob it’s a 5-string banjo, so tuned GDGBD with a high drone G string as the 5th string.

The 5th string tuning peg is in the middle of the headstock and the drone string runs through a metal tube inside the neck and emerges just after the 5th fret (weird British design perhaps!)

Is it called a zither banjo? Thought I read that somewhere. It has a closed back. It says ‘Windsor Whirle Ambassador Supremus’ on the headstock.

When I got it that 5th string used to bind inside the tube and break when I tuned it, I think I got through about 4 strings, then I ran a piece of cotton and some lubricant through the tube and cleaned it, also I filed the tube opening to smooth the edge, now it works ok.

I haven’t played it all that much I must admit, have got some music for it though.

[Rob MacKillop]

So it does (have a 5th string). Those tunnels are very cool. I doesn't look like a zither-banjo body, though the neck might have been attached to a different body. A lot of swapping of parts went on, and it's hard to be 100% sure with any surviving instruments whether that's how they started life. But it never mattered then, and shouldn't matter now.

Check out my zither-banjo page: Zither Banjo | Rob MacKillop ~ Musician

They had quite odd stringing, including one gut string. You can get the right strings for it from these guys (scroll down when you get there) Zither-Banjo Strings - Strings - Banjo strings - Zither-Banjo - Clifford Essex Music Company Limited

If you want to set it up for jazz, get rid of the 5th string and buy a book of chords for Plectrum Banjo, or tune it to Chicago tuning, DGBE, just like a guitar, and off you go!

[kevmoga]

Danny Barker was a NOLA native that started out as a banjo player and switched to guitar as that became the favored instrument. Moved to NYC and had a successful career playing with the likes
of Cab Calloway and Benny Carter. He eventually returned to NOLA and is given a lot of credit for reviving the brass bands that were common in his youth and trying to pass that music to younger generations.

A few years ago, they started a Danny Barker festival to honor his legacies. I went to the second iteration and had a blast. Performances by NOLAs premier guitarists and traditional musicians, seminars, lectures, etc. I'll definitely go again. Check it out here:

Danny Barker Events 2020 | Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival 2019 - The New Orlean's Festival to see in 2019! Festival New Orleans 2019 New Orleans Festival 2019

[Hep To The Jive]

Dixieland banjo should be 4 string, preferably. You don't pluck, you strum! AFAIK, they always take 5th string off, that's how the plectrum banjo came to life.

I have a tenor banjo, and in 3 years I had it I had like one gig on it hahaha. Fun instrument, but the Chicago tuning never sounded good to my ears, and CGDA gotta learn all the new shapes, so I stay at the very basic level on it.

And then there is a Reso guitar, that was my favorite choice for all NOLA stuff. Very banjo-like vibe from that guitar.

But I think 6th string banjo is the way to go! If you can handle the weight.

[cosmic gumbo]

Dixieland banjo should be 4 string, preferably. You don't pluck, you strum!

Damn straight. 5 string banjo is a hillbilly instrument.

[christianm77]

I had a flick through the book 'Jazz' that accompanied the Ken Burns series. In every shot of a New Orleans jazz (or whatever they called them back then) band before about 1920 it's a guitar and string bass (unless it's a marching band). Then, after the ODJB it's like banjos everywhere. Not many tubas or sousas though in the small groups.