This page is placed on my website to try to help people
who email me with questions. The load has become so great that I need to put this
information here. To go on record, I understand that I am viewed as a
controversial and opinionated person. However, my opinions are based on my
experience. My experience possibly overlaps with no one else in the world.
Also, the thoughts and beliefs that come from my experience generally go
against much of the thinking that has been in vogue for the past 35-40 years.
This material is only for those who would like to have my
help or seek my opinions. And these are certainly not my final opinions. I'm
always learning and trying to respond to the new insights. I am more than happy
to try to help, but what is said here makes up about 8% of where I stand in
terms of old time Appalachian mountain music. The other 92 1/2% has to be
filled partly or in full during my 4 day/5 night banjo retreats here in the east
central WVa mountains or wherever else I end up teaching. As I said, this
material is being placed here for those who want to know what I have learned
over the years and is not being placed here as a basis for controversy on a
chat line or newsgroup. I would appreciate your taking it as such/
Click on a link below
or scroll the page to read through the Questions and
Answers
Q:
How do I decide what banjo to buy?
Q:
I think I will start on a guitar and when I learn to play
it, I will start to learn to play the banjo.
Q:
I've been playing banjo and I want to learn fiddle, too
[or vice versa]. What's the best way?
Q:
I play bluegrass banjo and I think I'd like to learn to
play in your style. Would it be very hard for me to learn?
Q:
So if bluegrass and old time are so different, how do I
decide which one I should play?
Q:
Are there any good books that you could recommend to help
me get started with the music?
Q:
I am already a very competent recording musician.
How long do you think it will take before I'm ready to
make my first recording?
Q:
Any tips for keeping your fingernails in shape for frailing?
Q:
What strings do you recommend for a banjo?
Q: What tuners do you recommend?
Q: What about the fifth string tuner?
Q:
I have had problems with my 5th string making a sound
that is like metallic ringing or buzzing.
Q:
What kind of banjo rims do you recommend?
Q:
What kind of banjo head do you recommend?
Q:
Do you have any recommendations on installing banjo
heads?
Q:
Any recommendations for banjo tone rings?
Q: What do you recommend about banjo necks?
Q: Do you have any opinions about banjo inlays?
Q:
What are the differences between bridges?
Q:
Are there differences between tailpieces?
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A: It is BEST to have someone help you that knows and understands banjos for this type of music, an experienced person that is neither the salesperson or has no kickback who can help you make a selection that is playable; playable is relative. Almost never does a ‘salesperson’ in a ‘regular’ music store that sells pianos, wind instruments and the gee-gaws that are included. [not that there are not great bunches of banjo gee-gaws also] have a clue about banjos. They may even have a few hanging round about but banjos are like pocket knives: it’s not the flash, it’s what’s in the metal that counts. What's good for the goose may not fit the gander, but it's a start.
I have opinions that i have developed over 40 years of playing on and 35+ years of teaching experience. This experience was full of mistakes. Hopefully, I learned and didn't repeat them.
More expensive often doesn't mean better. Presently there is a well known bluegrass banjo builder that has started making 'open backs'. He may be the greatest or one of the greatest in that business today. But I really would like to get ahold of his $7200 [I was told] open backs. A 'bluegrass' banjo does not become a banjo that is appropiate for 'clawhammer' by taking the back off.
Depends on who is building. One of my students was told by a well known ‘open back’ maker 'if you knew me you wouldn't buy a banjo from me.' And inexpensive doesn't always mean cheap/shoddy. And expensive on the other hand does not mean it is any good. Can be a real junker; flashy but junker.
The question is: what is your commitment to learning? How long have you wanted to play a banjo? What is your style? Do you set your sights on something and work toward it or do you leapfrog? Here's what my experience says: a beginner needs to purchase the absolute best! s/he can afford. With my years of experience, I can play on junk and get something that sounds relatively good out of it. But it is unsettling when I hear a beginner saying that 'I am going to get something to begin on, and then when I learn how, I am going to really invest in something better.' That sounds like the state of many things in the US in the past 45 years.
If you really want to play, make the committment to continue to work on the banjo/music for 10 years. No matter what. If cash is a problem, borrow for it and make payments if you have to. You have to pay for quality, but you must not let the high price tag make it look as if there is quality when the instrument is less than claimed. People borrow all the time for autos which depreciate as soon as they move off the lot. Try to purchase an instrument that will hold its value or appreciate for resale in the future. After you have been working for awhile on your first instrument, you might possibly want to sell and buy or trade for another instrument. If you have spent your funds on an instrument that has no resale value, you will lose the money you spent on it.
This autumn there was for sale a fancy Fairbanks-Vega banjo in excellent condition built around 1920 for between $2000-3000. Unless another economic depression sets in, that banjo will hold it's value and maybe appreciate. On the other hand there are new banjos being sold for a few hundred dollars to the public right now that have little skinny necks with no tension rod nor fingerboard. The frets are put right into the wood of the neck. What do you do with that banjo when the neck starts to warp? How much do you think you can get out of this instrument in trade in or resale? And unless you have very small tipped, thin fingers how well are you going to be able to learn with that handicap? On the other hand, this same builder is making banjos and has huge numbers of advertisements in banjo rags that to me are junkers. Hype and flash is the word, but I am so repulsed by that outfit that I really hate to see one on my place. BUT, in the beginning, I didn’t know one banjo from another; most generally students don’t know and there is no one available to tell them. Now adays there is all the chat places which, if the person were to spend some time, s/he could get far more info than I had available.
However, if you already have a banjo, then by all means use that one. Resonator or no resonator, thin neck or not. Unless it is totally unplayable, do not go out and buy another. Who I am talking to is someone who has no experience, has no ‘contacts’, but is about to make a purchase.
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A: So are you going to spend the money to get a top notch guitar, work for years to really 'learn' and then set it aside? Or do you get a cheap guitar and say that that is good enough for now? Over the years cheap guitars have ruined many people who had to desire to learn to play a stringed instrument. The necks on cheap guitars often warp. The strings are often far harder to press down thus causing sore fingers. The beginner gets books and tries to teach him/herself but doesn't have a clue. Within a short time the beginner decides he doesn't have any 'musical talent', and the instrument goes into the closet. BTW, think on this: what does guitar music have to do with banjo music anyway? A student should pick the instrument that s/he feels COMPELLED to play and work on that to the exclusion of the others. That is what I did and have no regrets. It's hard enough trying to learn the instrument that is burning in your heart to play without wasting time on another instrument only to go to what you really want to play.
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A: I continue to see students picking up a second instrument when they hardly have a clue how to play the firstinstrument. Yes, there are a handful of people in this world who can very quickly become proficient on any instrument, but they are probably not to be trusted if they are that good. HAHA. I remember the WVa fiddler, Wilson Douglas, saying to a person, whom he had helped on the fiddle, but had just arrived with a spanking new banjo, looking for affirmation: "Why don't you go give that thing to someone you hate?"
Wilson had grown up in the tradition and understood what kind of sacrifice it takes to learn the music. How can someone who has not grown up in the tradition have any possibility of learning two instruments well? Tunes on the banjo are approached and played totally different than the SAME tunes on the fiddle. I have played on the banjo for almost 40 years and started messing with the fiddle in 1970 . It has taken me 32 years [’70-‘07] before I finally got started being able to do anything on the fiddle. I am speaking from experience: choose your instrument carefully and then invest all of you, all of yourself in it. Going after it half heartedly; not applying the energy and discipline it will take to really learn “just one instrument” Forget shortcuts completely. This, then, will give you the greatest payback for your investment over the years. That doesn't mean that you can't plunk or saw around on the another instrument farther along, but it does point out that you won't become a master of two instruments on a given kind of music. No matter what kind of music. And reality is, you better stick with ONLY ONE kind of music; you cannot do it all. Again, you cannot do it all. Question: which burns in your heart to play? which one do you feel compelled to play? Go with your heart, your spirit. It won't lie.
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A: People approach me on a regular basis about playing 'bluegrass' banjo and oldtime African down-stroke [clawhammer] banjo. The best I can say is from my experience: the two musics are about as alike as dogs and cats. Both have 4 legs, 2 eyes and ears, 1 tail, body fur, toenails, hearts, livers, lungs and gizzards. But from what I have seen, the similarity stops there. It's all in the attitude, the posture, the mindset.
In the mid 70's, I played bass for one of the best traditional (though little known) bluegrass bands there ever was. However during those 6 years, I was always off just a tiny bit because I had an oldtime beat in me, that syncopation – but I didn't have a clue. Never was and never will be a “bluegrasser”. A totally different breed altogether. And remember this, just because people call themselves “bluegrass musicians” doesn’t mean anything. Often they are urban, college educated folks who just do not have that particular kind of fire. [an aside- for the record, I have about 10 years of college total; I know what it does to a person]
So, absolutely cannot or could not no matter how hard I were to try to be a “bluegrasser”. One music cancels out the other. As you can see, it's real hard to breed a cat and a dog. Donkeys and horses but you get a sterile mule. Though I have been told differently, I have never seen anyone do both 3 finger 'bluegrass and downstroke clawhammer/frailing styles well. [I recently heard that WVa feller, Don Stover, who is well known 'bluegrass' banjoist and amazingly he really does have a grasp of the down-stroke old time.] I have seen people do one extremely well but be very marginal at best on the other. Or marginal on both. [BTW, though I can't play 'bluegrass' music, I love the real vocal music which was being played mostly in the '40's,'50's, and a few traditional groups in the '60's and later. I love the music that was played by the people that knew it's meaning. If anyone should ask, I wouldn't be able to choose a preference between listening to the old Monroe, Stanleys, Martin, Reno and Smiley, Wiseman, Flatt and Scruggs, Melvin and Ray Goins, etc singing and backup - sans purely instrumental tunes - and listening to the really good fiddling or banjo from the oldtimers. I never heard but a couple 'bluegrass instrumentals' that would accept. I reject the rest; they disgust me.]
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A: Pick the music that you feel compelled to play. Choose the instrument that really grabs you. Become as familiar with the music as you can by listening for hours and days and weeks and months and sometimes for years until you find what you really want and have it internalized. This goes for those of you for whom either of these different musics are ‘alien’. Get help from a teacher who can teach and not just play well; often the quickly learned musician has no idea how to teach since s/he just does what comes so naturally. Don't be quick to try to teach yourself to 'learn' your chosen instrument because you will ingrain a bunch of habits that will have to be unlearned in the future. To unlearn and relearn just brings greater amounts of anger, frustration, tears etc. It is actually best to do nothing more than admire your instrument until the correct teacher comes along. Just wait and listen.
The music is 95% about rhythm; don't be seduced into wanting to learn tunes. LEARN RHYTHM and then learn 5 tunes period - very well - over the first year or two. Go for the goal of about 25-30 tunes that you really love for the first 10 - 15 years.
Remember: Wilson Douglas and I were talking one time and he said "IT TAKES ABOUT 10 YEARS JUST TO START TO LEARN TO PLAY THE FIDDLE" [i.e.: true old time music]. He also said to me back when I was playing music with the musicians from over in Clay County - I am from Pocahontas County - 'IT GETS AWFUL EXPENSIVE JUST TO PLAY A LITTLE BIT OF FIDDLE!' [ie: the old music] and of course he wasn't talking about currency. I know I have what Wilson said in different places on this website, but it is extremely important, so will keep hammering on it. Most of the revivalist “old time Appalachian musicians” are very lacking in the realm of good rhythm.
For much of first few years you won't have a clue. If you think you do, it will just hold up the process you must go through to learn the real music. You might become a great imitator by approaching the music this way and fool yourself and a lot of people. Approaching the music with this attitude, you will continue to be a child in terms of musical depth. Just because someone has a “big name” does not mean there is any “depth” underneath the technique.
However, if you keep it honest and take the best shortcut which is the 'long way around' you may play what sounds 'bad' to many people, but you will play with depth. So play your heart. Don't be taken in by the 'stars'. This is 'homemade' music, the music of the folk. There are not supposed to be nor CAN THERE BE any 'stars' here. That is for commercial music; music for the stage. No one is allowed to be god; over the years I have heard of one “OT” musician be referred to as 'god'. Be careful of all of us who have a reputation and/or make money with it. Our temptation is believe the press if it builds us up into 'gods'.
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A: Books won't help you with the most important aspect of the music. They can only help with the least important part - 5% : that is melody. But if you use books to teach you the music, they will kill your rhythm if left to their own devices. After you get the rhythm and can sustain it without allowing notes on the neck to interfere THEN AND ONLY THEN are you ready to use the books. Here, at this point, they can be a tremendous help to those who can use them while disciplining their rhythm hand. I do not use tab. It would interfere with anything I desire to play. However 3 student friends worked for several years to put together a book of 27 of my tunes that I learned from the old folks. most of the tunes have never seen the light of the 'real world'. Included is a CD with me playing all the tunes plus many many B&W photos that I took in mid-october 1970 of the Hammons family.
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A: Please don't go out and make a record in just a short time after starting. Remember what Wilson said. Give it 10 years. This is best for the music. I'm glad that life kept me from recording my first, 'HOLD ON', after waiting between 1968 and 1988. In the beginning, you probably won't think so. Spend your time listening to the old people, with few exceptions, the people born before 1910. Or sometimes even better before 1905. This way you will possibly miss those who were influenced to a large extent by the commercial music. If you are going to say that you are playing 'old time' music, then push far back into the 19th century and the people who were influenced by that music.
Once connecting with them and internalizing the way their music goes, then you can just start to pick up the 'threads' that are most important. Let these threads wrap around your mind and spirit. After doing this, then you can MAYBE begin to start to listen to some of the younger musicians. Because you have disciplined yourself to listen to and internalize the old people's music, you will start to be able to discern which of the younger players are the fakes, the dishonest, the imitators, the counterfeits. Don't be fooled by reputation whether it be mine or anyone else's. The self-promoters have a way of selling promises which cannot be delivered. It'll take a while, but you can learn little by little with your spirit rather than your intellect. The intellect gets easily fooled!!!! Remember how Solomon figured out which of the two women was the mother of the baby presented before him. [A real good story; look it up] Always play honest music, not hot shot music. then you will never lose interest. And it will always be good. Because your life is in your music, and it's not some shallow clone of someone else. IE: do not try to clone Tommy Jarrell or Burl Hammons or whoever. A pure waste.
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I discovered superglue will really help with keeping the fingernails from breaking or wearing out. I prefer the kind with a brush in the bottle. I have never seen the 'tough fingernail polish' stand up to the abuse that downstroke picking dishes out.
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A: I use the least expensive medium gauge [except for Black Diamond]. A few years ago, I was told by a banjo supply house that there were 3 companies that made strings. Light gauge strings are almost always too sloppy/floppy for me. Now since I had the bad automobile accident in october 2005 that busted up my right hand as well as broke left hip, I will require medium-lite string right often. However, I believe that old banjos with no tension rod in the neck should be strung with light gauge.
BTW, I often use a worn out medium 2nd string .012 for my 5th string. I don't want to have any kind of sustaining ring with the 5th. I want it dead so I can play it with more action and have more control over it. But, now, since the wreck, I have had to back off from this practice somewhat. 5th strings that are too light on the other hand will be hitting the frets if played very hard on a low action.
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A: I have preferred 5 stars over the years. There is a set on my banjo that was built for me in '72 and they have never slipped a lick. There are black knobs on the market that I prefer over the white ones. Recently I had a banjo that had more expensive tuners, but I didn't like them. They wouldn't hold properly. however this was written some years ago, and have changed my 'tune'. It seems that most all the geared banjo tuners start to wear out. The gears start getting 'gritty' while turning the keys. The man that builds my banjos, Jeff Kramer, has discovered the Keith tuners. Plus he builds banjos that almost all of the hardware is brass, and Keith has issued all brass tuners in his line.
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A: I prefer the geared one with a capstan. This seems to do the job far better any other that I have encountered. Once installed properly, I have never had any slippage or other problems that show up with other types. There is one tuner that I detest and completely reject. That is the one that looks it is very simple and can handle the string well. So you slip the string down into the slot and start turning the knob. the string is then wound up inside between two pieces of metal. All well and good UNTIL you break that string off and try to get the loose end out of there. Often you are about skunked. May take an hour or more to get the piece of wire out and restring it. Nope, not for me.
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A: 1. Make sure that there is a fifth string nut on your banjo and that it has plenty of height. I am seeing some banjos coming from the builders that just have a railroad spike behind the fifth fret to hold the 5th string in place. The string rattles against the fret and sounds bad. They do this to a buyer who is usually a beginner and doesn't know any better. This is irresponsible. There are far better built banjos for less cash than these junkers. Once again, its the hype, the advertisement. The ENRON of junker banjos.
2. I have seen many banjos that have a metal screw being used as a 5th string holder. (1) This can be good because it allows for height adjustment. (2) But it's bad because the slot in the screw head, if not worked over, is too wide causing the string to wiggle in the slot and make a annoying metallic sound. The best remedy is to raise the screw to the desired height, drop the string into the groove, and then carefully twist the screw so that each end of the screw slot rests against an opposite side of the string. Sometimes this doesn't work. Another option is to drop in a piece of paper that is thick enough to take up the slack so the string sets in a shimmed seat. OR you can spend a few cents for a plastic/bone nut, carefully drill a proper hole that is just a tiny bit larger without drilling completely through the neck, and then start sizing the nut so that it is the proper height. [However the original maker will have trouble setting a nonadjustable nut because it would be different for each player.] As my Prussian friend's grandfather said: 'Measur twicet, cut vunst.' For 'clawhammer' style, I prefer a 5th string up off the frets. You need plenty of height so that the thumb will drop way back, down, in, below, behind that string.
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A: I personally prefer rims that are the standard 11" because they usually have more ring than plunk. In earlier times the rims came in sizes that you wouldn't expect, running from less than 10 1/2'' to 12'' and more. Remember, that was the age of tom cat hides, flour pokes paper or whatever was available. Mylar and other plastics have replaced ground hogs and tom cats which has made a great difference in strength, stability and sound. But when you are dealing with old banjos, you have to measure very carefully.
For the most part, I don't care for the 12'' rims that are around today. Listen close: I am only speaking of the rims with thinner wood. They usually don't have enough punch or ring for me. They seem to have a more plunky sound which has been in vogue since at least the 60's. I have a banjo that was a renecked 11 1/2'' rim. It has plenty of ring but not plunky. . Best to get help.
I got the 11 1/2'' in '72 and it is still one of the best sounding banjo i have ever played. I have stopped using it only because the fingerboard is too narrow for my hand. It is the standard width. Since the time I wrote this, I have been thru several banjos. Presently Jeff Kramer at Cloverlick banjos is building all of mine. He builds me 23 1/2'' neck scale w/ wider fingerboard. I plan to never go back to those long necked uncomfortable things. There has been a whole bunch of R&D and his tone rings are second to none anywhere in the world. Jeff uses Tony Pass rims exclusively. They are expensive but are also second to none. The wood is the submerged wood lifted out of the Great Lakes. And hard as a rock.
Not only are there different rim diameters but there are different rim depths and rim thicknesses which seem to affect the sound. Mass does seem to make a difference. Then there are all metal rims made out of aluminum. They are strong and hold up well. However, most I have encountered are built with a part that is higher than the outside rim. This ends up acting as a 'tone ring' and is called an archtop. For various reason I don't care for them. More than the sound, the main reason is the arch is right at the place where the thumb needs to be sliding way, back, down, in behind, below the 5th string. Proper control of the 5th string is the most important part of playing this proper rhythm. I did see a banjo that was built by a present-day non-assemblyline maker which had a metal rim without the archtop. I think the banjo head was resting on brass which was resting on the aluminum rim. It really had a warm sound rather than a tinny metallic sound.
*** Heads up: I just encountered a spanking new banjo that had a rim that was about 11 1/16 -11 1/8. This was from a maker that was advertising 11" rims. When we pulled the head off to replace it, we tried to put on 2 other store bought heads that were marked 11". They wouldn't fit. Just refused and we couldn't figure out why. Then we relooked at the head that came off, did a bunch of measuring and finally decided [in disbelief] the maker had stuck a head on the banjo that was about 1/16'' larger than 11'' and sold it that way without telling anyone. What if it was purchased by someone with little or no experience working with banjos? The rim was advertised as 11''. What would they have done if they had ordered the new head to replace a broken one and it would not fit? What would have happened if the new owner had taken it to someone in a music shop down on the corner who doesn't know much more about banjos than the new owner? As Riley used to say: 'What a revoltin' development this is!'
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A: This depends on the banjo, the tone ring, the size rim and the sound that you prefer. I don't like the banjo heads that have a fiber layer over the mylar plastic layer. These heads tend to just dull the sound. ''If there is anything else available, I spit on the so called 'fyber skyn' banjo heads''. I prefer a banjo head that will let the banjo ring. Here's the problem: think of all the variables that are presented here. Think of all the heated discussions, debates, disagreements which can and have gone on for years over these many variables. For now, I guess i would possibly recommend the Renaissance head that has just come out because it almost has the color of the old hide heads, is thin, is made of some sort of plastic, but does not have the fiber overlay. [Jeff Kramer uses these exclusively] Over the years i have just used the mylar heads that are spraypainted white. but for looks i would go with the renaissance. It doesn't cost much more. Just be careful of anything that dulls your banjo (unless you want a dull sounding banjo).
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A: There are great long discussions about technique for tightening the banjo head, ways to do it and how tight and what pitch to tune it to. I just try to keep installation simple. Put head down over rim, put the tension hoop down over it, hook the bracket hooks around and start tightening gently and evenly. Important: make sure that it is evenly tightened. I usually do a couple brackets on one side and then 2 opposite. I just keep working around and start over. You might ask how long do you do that. I have heard people say tighten it until the head breaks and then back it off a half a turn. Ha! Reckon i wouldn't recommend that one. If it's a new head, tighten it up, put the banjo together, string it up, and play on it for a while. This head will be stretching for weeks/months. Keep your key wrench handy. Tighten it again in a few days in the same manner. If the head is a hide head, then you will have to be much, much more careful. Other's have said that the tension should be the same as a gnat's hindend stretched across a 5 gallon bucket. Reckon i wouldn't recommend this either. I will leave it to your choice. However, I prefer to have the banjo head about as tight as it will stand.
Banjo heads are also tuned by a few people. Some swear by it and most don't even know about it. But problem here seems to be, as the head stretches, the string 'pitch' will change. And on weekly basis sometimes.
And you will see a lot of people stuffing something into the back/behind their banjo head. Diller says: 'If they are doing that to enhance the sound or tone down some overtones, all well and good. But if they are just going to dull the banjo and not let it speak, then send it to me and I will send them some old junker banjo that sounds the same as the good one. This way they will be happy with the dull/dead sound and I will have a banjo that I can get to ring as banjos should.'
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A: This is another place for a good debate. There are many kinds out there. The ones that i would avoid are made of or contain in some part of them steel or aluminum. I have found that they give too much of a tinny sound for what I am after. The banjo I played for 22 years had a home made brass 'Whyte Laydie' tone ring sitting on the 11 1/2'' x 5/8'' rim. This was warm and strong.
I had a 10 15/16'' original Vega Whyte Laydie rim with a new neck on it. It had a nice strong warm sound. However, the new 'Whyte Laydie' banjos seem to have a metalic sound. I contacted my 21 year old banjo specialist, Andy Fitzgibbon , and he said that Vega started putting steel in their 'WhyteLaydie' tone rings in the late '20's. He carries a magnet to check those old Vegas when he comes across one. These new copies have a steel ring instead of brass. Why? Cheaper? Certainly not! Idiots making the decisions who have never plonked on a banjo? possibly. Who knows?
I had a pre-war Gibson copy by Huber on a Tony Pass rim. It was heavy and didn't work well. Between 1880 and 1930 there was a lot experimentation with tone rings. My first one was an 'Improved George Washburn'. It was a real thumper and was referred to as 'snotty'. With the Kramer banjos, they are extremely sensitive so must be very careful while playing one, especially the 'eklectric'. The 'eklyte' is geared for most folks. I really dislike the woody banjos after having these. A woody just doesn't have and/or retain a good sound.
Again, the combinations were/are endless. And a lot of time gets spent on this kind of discussion RATHER THAN listening to the old people's music. Listen to the old folks. Stop wasting your time in the endless and meaningless, really, discussions. Someone showed me recently a discussion about Burl and his tune, 'The BIG SCIOTY'. The person had spent great amounts of time analyzing it it and was saying this and that about it. I figgered out years back that 'analyze' come from the root word 'anal'. Learn to play the music. That is hard enough
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A: Great discussions fly about concerning the kinds of wood used for the neck: the strengths and weaknesses. About whether the wood in the neck affects the sound of the banjo. And on and on. There is probably a lot to this. I don't pay any attention since I can't hear well enough for it to make much difference. More importantly for me is how it 'feels'. I prefer the wide, relatively thin or not so round or 'V' shaped necks. I like the finishes that let the hand move smoothly. I don't know why, but I prefer the necks made by certain makers [from the US] over any that I have handled/used from any other place in the world. Those from these few makers 'feel' right. My new ones have colored veneer under fingerboard, underpeghead, down middle of the neck. This was helpful for stabilizing the necks before metal was being placed in the neck. Now it's just for pretty. As for wood, I prefer walnut first. Then possibly maple or mahogany next. I dont think I like the rosewood. The 23 1/2'' necks Jeff builds for me are always walnut. Then the black walnut neck and the Pass rim is stained so they make close match. Do not like the lacquer spray finish; do not like the neck with just regular varnish. Have seen that stuff wear off within 3-4 months. The other 2 kinds of wood can be worked with also and make a nice looking banjo.
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A: The fancy fingerboard inlay adds nothing to the playing. Side dots do because they show you where the fret you are reaching for is located. If you want inlay, go for it. But is it worth the extra expense? It is mostly for the folks that are watching. Or when you sit around and handle the banjo yourself and dream about being one of the really all time greats. You can't see the fingerboard when you play. One inlay that i prefer is from a 'pen & ink & pastel' that Elaine Diller drew and Jeff uses his version of it for peghead inlay. Comes in 4 or 5 pieces of different colored pearl and abalone. That one I am partial to. I prefer clean finger board and side dots. Anything else is fluff and a waste. Remember, you asked.
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There are a lot of different kinds of bridges making a lot of different promises. These might affect the 'bluegrass' banjo more than the openback. Let the buyer beware. However, I did see a student friend install an expensive $28 bridge on a poor sounding aluminum rimmed banjo. ['hotspot or red dot?'] The sound change was a miracle. However I have seen that same kind of bridge installed on a right good banjo and the sound wasn't enhanced at all. Go figger.
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A: There is the adjustable and the nonadjustable. There are several different adjustable tailpieces to select from. These put a downward pressure on the bridge which is supposed to cause the vibration from the strings to go through bridge better, for sure. Throw the old 'no knot'away by going out to open area, shut your eyes, turn around 4 or 5 time and then throw as hard as you can; then turn around a couple of times and walk away. This way you will never ever be tempted to put it on any banjo of yours again. OR as Wilson said to my friend re his brand new banjo, ''Why dont you give that to someone you hate!''
As for the kind that pushes down on the bridge, I don't have an opinion on which one to select. I have used Kershners which have strengths and weaknesses for years. BUT NEVER EVER A 'NO KNOT' AGAIN, IF POSSIBLE. It's just one more way to cut corners.
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