Re: I want to buy a banjolin, but know nothing about them...
Originally Posted by
chuck3
...hard to keep in tune and intonated. The luthier I took it to after I bought said most banjolins are that way, I forget the reason why...
Not exactly so, but mandolin-banjo bridges can be even more "movable" than regular mandolin bridges, since they're held by string tension alone to a flexible membrane -- the banjo head -- rather than to a sold wooden top, as on a mandolin.
I have speculated that this may be why some early mandolin-banjo bridges are quite long and thick, more so than bridges for tenor and five-string banjos -- but of course those share the same characteristics as the mandolin-banjo, so the larger bridges may be to get different tonality from the instrument.
Mandolin-banjos do tend to be raucous, but can be muted by a cloth stuffed between the head and the dowel stick (assuming the instrument has a dowel stick). Also, head tension can be adjusted, as a somewhat looser head, especially since you're dealing with a "skin" head rather than plastic, will be "plunkier" and less shrill. And, a lot depends on how you play it.
Ascertaining the make of the instrument would make sense. "Name brands" like Gibson, Vega, Paramount, Bacon & Day etc. command decent "collectors'" prices, but there were scads of these instruments made at the "trade" level, often unmarked, sold for $5-10 through catalogs, and commanding less than $100 today. Don't be reticent to bargain if you feel it's appropriate.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
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