A Tale of 2 Banjos

[Tom Karol]

A while back I posted about snagging a 1967 Vega Wonder Plectrum Banjo. I tuned it D-G-B-E (Chicago style). It was fun, but I decided I'd rather have a Tenor Banjo (tuned in 5ths: C-G-D-A). So I got a Goldtone IT-250R set up for CGDA (just like my recently acquired Eastman MDA315 Mandola) rather than Irish tuning (G-D-A-E, a 4th lower, but still in 5ths, which is just like an Octave Mandolin). I figured I'd then sell the Plectrum. But they sound and feel completely different, so I'm keeping both! I don't suppose anyone will be surprised! Also, I'm starting to think about getting a Mandocello (Why don't they call it a 'Mandello'?) which is tuned an octave below the Mandola, but ...

[citizenk74]

That's the spirit! Enjoy as many stringy-plunky things as you can!

[Tom Karol]

[L50EF15]

I really should get a plectrum, but I play my five string like a plectrum; I love having that easy octave fingering between the fourth and fifth strings. Love my tenor as well.

[Doctor Jeff]

My nephew Bert brought his recently acquired banjo with him to the house for Thanksgiving.

I let him stay anyway, as long as the banjo stayed in the car.

I keed, I keed.

I encouraged him in his pasttime. He and his twin brother (both 17) play in an unofficial group called UTI--Un Traditional Instruments. Oscar (the brother) plays a bouzouki. They play trombone and double bass, respectively, in the school band.

Despite my gifting them ukuleles a few Christmases ago, they have not developed a love for the guitar...yet...

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

My nephew Bert brought his recently acquired banjo with him to the house for Thanksgiving.

I let him stay anyway, as long as the banjo stayed in the car.

I keed, I keed.

I encouraged him in his pasttime. He and his twin brother (both 17) play in an unofficial group called UTI--Un Traditional Instruments. Oscar (the brother) plays a bouzouki. They play trombone and double bass, respectively, in the school band.

Despite my gifting them ukuleles a few Christmases ago, they have not developed a love for the guitar...yet...

With that history so soon in life, it may be a lost cause. You remind me of a story told by "P. D. Q. Bach" (Peter Schickele, for those who don't know his music and humor):

A 10 year old violin prodigy was the featured artist at a major concert for which the opening act was a string quartet. The morning of the concert, the violist in the quartet took ill and was unable to play. With such short notice, the other members asked the young violinist if he'd be willing to play the viola with them so they could remain on the program - and, of course, the boy agreed.

In the audience was a pair of elderly music critics who'd been reviewing concerts for many years for the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. They were there to hear the featured artist, who was already a sensation in the music world. Both reviewers, who held firmly to the old school belief that the viola was a second class instrument compared to the violin, were unaware of the as yet unannounced substitution.

When the quartet came out to open the concert, the critics were shocked to see the 10 year old star with a viola in his hand. One turned to the other and remarked, "What a pity - so young, and the viola already!"

[wintermoon]

what happens when you leave a banjo in the back seat of a car?
when you return the window is broken and there's 2 banjos in there.

well, somebody had to say it....