Banjo mandolin

**sbhikes** · Jun-20-2017, 11:16am

Every now and then I look to see if there are any banjo mandolins for sale. What is the most appropriate category in the classifieds to look? Under mandolins or under banjos? I'm not sure if I want to buy one, but I like to look. Just not sure how to find them.

**pops1** · Jun-22-2017, 4:08pm

Guess I would check both, they come up once in a while and either place would be appropriate.

**Ivan Kelsall** · Jun-23-2017, 2:55am

Considering that it's a mandolin pretending to be a banjo - look under Trumpets !.

Seriously - maybe we should look under the instrument that it's supposed to 'sound like' - in this case a banjo. They look more like banjos as well. I'd put Uke-banjos in the same place,
Ivan

**sbhikes** · Jun-23-2017, 1:48pm

I always look in both sections but unless it says banjo-mandolin or banjolin or something like that in the title of the ad, I don't have any idea by the brand-name of the instrument alone. So it made me wonder, what is a banjo-mandolin? Is it a banjo or a mandolin? I would think it's a mandolin more than a banjo, but what do people trying to sell them think they are?

I want to try to learn to play ragtime and if I can get decent at it and get some other people to play it with me, I may at that time want a banjo-mandolin.

**Verne Andru** · Jun-23-2017, 9:13pm

You might also consider a resonator mandolin.

I don't think anyone is currently making new banjolins, but there are a few companies offering resonators that are also appropriate for ragtime.

**Ivan Kelsall** · Jun-24-2017, 1:14am

From sbhikes - "I would think it's a mandolin more than a banjo,..". It ''could be''' considered both,but i'd categorise them on the sound that they produce. In this case,it was intended to 'sound like' a banjo,not a mandolin. Put 4 strings on it,use a different tuning & it could be a Banjo-uke - again 'banjo sound'. Purely my take on the subject,
Ivan

**allenhopkins** · Jun-24-2017, 4:12pm

Originally Posted by Verne Andru

...I don't think anyone is currently making new banjolins...

If by "banjolin" you mean a mandolin banjo -- rather than the four-string instrument which is the actual banjolin -- Gold Tone is making new ones.

As to the OP's query, I'd put a "mandolin banjo wanted" classified in both the "mandolin" and "banjo" listings, and see what may develop. I did a quick scan of the two sections, and saw no mandolin banjos for sale; pretty sure I would have recognized an ad for one. On the other hand, mandolin banjos turn up regularly for sale at vintage dealers; Bernunzio, who classifies them in his mandolin section, has six listed currently on his website.

As to whether they are banjos or mandolins, if you classify them by what they sound like, I'd call them banjos. If you classify them by how you play them, I'd call them mandolins. If you classify them by how they're accepted and enjoyed by other musicians, and the audience, I'd call them annoying. (Not really -- cheap shot -- I work in a band with an excellent, and tasteful, mandolin banjo player, and have a couple that I play myself on occasion.)

**Picking Dick** · Jun-24-2017, 4:41pm

I have a new Gold Tone Mando Banjo, and I'd like the darn thing better if it didn't make so many mistakes. I just put some lighter strings on it and improved it some. It's mistakes are a bit more quiet.

**sbhikes** · Jun-24-2017, 4:57pm

A resonator mandolin just sounds like a loud mandolin and it's sort of ugly, too. The type I toy with the idea of maybe getting some day looks like a little banjo but it has the four course of strings and is tuned same as a mandolin and is the same size. Like that one on that guy's website called Little Wonder. I'm not ready to buy one now. Maybe not ever. But I think about it sometimes.

**Mandoplumb** · Jun-24-2017, 5:12pm

Never heard a resonator mandolin that sounded like a mandolin. It's sound is somewhere between a mandolin and a Dobro in my opinion. A subdued metallic sound, not woody at all.

**Verne Andru** · Jun-24-2017, 6:36pm

My resonator sounds like a cross between a banjo and a Dobro. It has a very "plunky" tone that gets the banjo vibe without being banjo annoying.

**Verne Andru** · Jun-24-2017, 6:39pm

Originally Posted by allenhopkins

If by "banjolin" you mean a mandolin banjo -- rather than the four-string instrument which is the actual banjolin -- Gold Tone is making new ones.

Thanks Allen. I thought Goldtone when I posted but wasn't sure.

Is that an open-back? Certainly the nicest banjolin I've seen so far.

**Picking Dick** · Jun-24-2017, 8:27pm

My Gold Tone has a great looking resonator. It's really a nice lookin' instrument.

**Verne Andru** · Jun-24-2017, 9:03pm

Upon further investigation I've discovered it is closed-back and uses a larger 11" pot (instead of 8"). Prices for a new one are more than reasonable considering what I've seen some of older, trashed examples going for.

I think it's a mighty fine looking instrument as well...