Banjolins

[tannisroot]

Hello,
Does anyone out there play banjolins (AKA melody banjos)? Essentially this is a 4-string mandolin with a banjo head, not be confused with the 8-string banjo mandolins or banjo ukes. I've only seen one in person. I don't know what the general opinion of these instruments is, if any. For example, is it considered an inferior instrument?

[hokelore]

David Grisman played one on the Retrograss recording he made with Mike Seeger and John Hartford. I think he also played it on John Cohen's solo CD. Not sure about that last one. I'll have to pull that one out; probably time ot listen to it again, anyway.

Never actually seen one in person.

Tim

[BradB]

I saw one for sale earlier this year and almost bought it, but the intonation seemed a little off. They look like fun, but they can be pretty obnoxious sounding.

[Ken Berner]

Any banjo-family instrument can be muted very easily. I rather like a muffled, plunky banjo tone. Sure, these insrtuments have their place in most genres, although limited in most. The small 5-sting pony and piccolo banjos are rather rare, but melody banjos and banjo ukes are fairly common, being 4-string. Mandolin banjos are very neat instruments; some better-sounding than others, depending on their tone ring.

[mandroid]

A mystery brand 8 string has been happily living its new life with 4 strings, a tenor bridge, and a new nut spaced and notched to suit.
Tone ring, in this case , none, rim thin, about 10 mm, including sheetmetal shell.
Water on 3 sides of me so Remo synthetic head,[10"], is just the trick.
and a wool boot sock between the rimstick and the head plunkys up the tone just fine,
to my ear at least.

Irish soprano banjo may be another name..

[Ken Berner]

mandroid, Are you using a Remo Fiberskyn head, or one of the others? Mine is original calfskin, but I have a Fiberskyn head ready to install when necessary. I'm curious as to how they sound.

[mandroid]

I got a replacement head from Stewmac, all they had is topfrosted .
then I saw the varietys that Elderly carried, so when the frost layer bald patch bothered me enough on my Vega 8 string, I got a 'renaissance' #head for it .
Also having no frost outer to wear off and get dirt from hands in it, I probably would get a fiberskyn #for the 4 string next time .

[mythicfish]

A little bit of M-B goes a long, long way.
Maybe one tune per set is all you need to make a lasting impression.
Any more than that and someone may make a lasting impression on your noggin.


Curt

[mandroid]

Think of it as a soprano voice harmony for an irish tenor banjo.

[8ch(pl)]

I saw a film called Widow's Peak. It was set in Ireland in the 20's. There was a band in it that had a Mandolin-banjo. I don't know the name of the band, it was some years ago and it was, by the way, a good film. There is a place in Irish Music for the instrument it seems.

[Ken Berner]

Glen, There is a local Irish session held monthly, that regularly includes a banjo uke, strung GDAE. The player may as well not even attend, as it is played so lightly. She is picking melody, but I just can't hear it very well amongst multiple fiddles, dual flutes and guitars, etc. Sometimes it sounds like a foxchase!

[epicentre]

Hey Tannis:

I could be off on this but, I believe a melody banjo is a small banjo with 4 strings, whereas a banjolin or a mandolin/banjo has 8.

I have a Beare banjolin, but took 4 of the strings off. Makes it not quite so piercing. Nice for Celtic stuff. Small and easy to pick, and keeps tune quite well. Has metal strings and is loud enough to make its' presence felt in a session.

Mind you, one is enough. I wouldn't rush out and buy another in a fit of MAS or anything.

You interested in one? They do come up from time to time on e.bay.

Epi

[allenhopkins]

Here's (http://www.bernunzio.com/item.php?sku=059465) a Weymann "piccolo banjo" at Bernunzio's, with a 15-inch scale, comparable to a mandolin and longer than a banjo-ukulele. This could be the kind of instrument this thread calls a "banjolin," which I have always understood was an abbreviation for "banjo-mandolin," the eight-string instrument with which we're all familiar.
I think the Weymann could be the "melody banjo" that we started talking about. Banjo-ukes are usually much shorter scale, four strings, and banjo-mandolins generally have eight strings.

[mandroid]

I note Gold Tone Uke banjos at 13.75 inch scale would be useful , friction pegs are easier with nylon strings ,( as I found with my wooden head uke banjo after using steel strings for a while .
then converting myself to baritone martin uke strings [(3) and soprano (1)treble)] .

I see a new Tuning pegs [http://elderly.com/accessories/items/TK7801C.htm]
with 16:1 ratio gearing. rather tall , I suppose 2 stages of planetary gears in there,
but would make tuning light gage steel strings easier. Of course regular worm and pinion gears are simpler .

[spats]

Banjolin or mandolin banjo?
I think that the introductory definition given by tannisroot is perfect!