Magic Fluke "Firefly" Banjo Uke tuned as Mandolin/Melody Banjo

[David Colpitts]

Hello, All.

I am fresh from Mando classes with Mary Coogan at Catskills Irish Arts Week (briefly described in another thread) but am moved to share the feedback I got from her and my classmates about the Firefly. I have it setup with Aquila Soprano 5ths strings, so it is in the range of mando, but has that slightly banjoid twang. Bottom line: everybody liked the sound, and it didn't clash a bit with the "real" mandolins in the group. In fact, it had just enough of a difference in tone to complement the others. I have a beautiful old Gibson Trapdoor Mandolin Banjo, but for the price (well under 200 bucks last year), the weight (just under a pound!) and the seeming imperviousness to humidity and temperature (a soggy hot week in the mountains) it has become my new best friend for learning mandolin tunes and (despite its differences) techniques. It just might be a nice addition to your fleet, and certainly makes a great travel instrument. An Irish session mate said he spent 500 bucks on a "beater" mandolin to take to Ireland, and would have loved something like the Firefly.

Regards,

David

[Paul Busman]

That's thinking outside the box.

Not exactly related, but I'd been wanting a tenor guitar but can't justify the expense. I have a nice Trinity College octave mandolin that I rarely played because it's kind of muddy for playing melody. I took off one of each pair of strings and am now really enjoying playing it as a tenor guitar. As a plus, it has more of an Irish look than the typical hourglass bodied tenor guitar.

EDIT-- did I post about this already on the Cafe? I'm old, I forget things...

[mandroid]

Using the same Strings on my Spruce head banjo Uke, I find the G needs to be heavier/thicker,
but as it was intended to be used paired in 8 string sets , I understand why it's not ...

[David Colpitts]

Paul, I don't kow if you already posted, since I, too, am old. But to continue the "outside the box" part of the chat, I made my cheap "tenor guitar" by retuning a 40 dollar (brand new!) Rogue Baritone Uke, so I now have the same scale and scale length as the tenor banjo in a light, really easy to play, and actually sweet sounding (though soft, quiet) experiment. I did it once before an a much more expensive Diamond Head (a whole 60 dollars) but the Rogue feels and sounds better. Go figure.

And, Mandroid, I refer to the single sets designed for ukes. I also have the "mandolin" set of Aquila Reds, which I have installed on my Gibson Trapdoor Mandolin Banjo. The plain Nylgut fifths strings do feel a bit soft at the low end, but the Reds are much tighter and feel more like steel, in a way. But I still only use four on the Mandolin Banjo, so it is truly a "Melody Banjo."

Regards to all,

David

[mandroid]

Ive bodged a couple used no name 8 strings to 4 steel string melody banjos ,
tried 1 actual made to be Vega, but really felt friction pegs, short scale, and steel strings ...
were not a good combination..
the ones I modded have regular worm geared tuners..

last year, I got some Gotoh 4:1 planetary Uke Tuners they even made the nylon strings easier to deal with..