Tenor Banjos and Tenor Guitars

[Miltown]

Stupid question, perhaps, but since these are often tuned the same, and often have the same scale (or at least I think they do), is moving from one to the other pretty easy? I'm trying to decide whether to get a tenor banjo or tenor guitar...but whichever one I decide to get first, will switching to the other down the road be a pretty easy jump? Or do people tend to use very different techniques for these two instruments?

[crisscross]

I'm no expert on either, but for me, switching comes pretty natural.
What style do you intend to play? It seems, advanced Irish tenor banjo players focus on right hand ornaments, and Jazz banjo players focus on chord-melody playing, whereas tenor guitar players are not so specialized and do a bit of everything.
But the basics are the same. I practice stuff written for tenor banjo on my Kala tenor guitar to save my neighbors' nerves like for example pieces from Mel Bay's "Riverboat Banjo".
Tenor guitar https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/bill...ease-come-home
Tenor banjo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnYDvzZ9LNw
The banjo sounds a little crisper and lends itself a little more to four note chords, that might sound a little muddy on tenor guitar, but these are subtleties, the basics are the same.
AFAIK, historically the tenor guitar was created so Dixieland banjo players didn't have to relearn when switching to guitar.

[Mike Snyder]

I play a 17-fret short-scale tenor banjo. I've played a number of tenor guitars and few are of such short scale. Recently played a Collings that was awesome in sound and appearance but a real stretch to finger playing melody, let alone chord. I do not have large hands. Also it seems harder to go GDAE with the guitar than the banjo and keep good volume and tone on the G. That needs to be a seriously large string to keep from being floppy. The higher tuning of DAEwhatever works better on guitars, I think, but is out of my wheelhouse for fiddle tunes. I'd love to have an old Gibson tenor to mess with and look all the time on the net. Several builders have short-scale tenors out but they're scarce and I've never played one.

[arturo7]

The neck on a banjo is not as wide as the guitar. There is some adjustment needed to left hand positions, but the learning curve isn't so steep.

[Jill McAuley]

Fletcher Tenortones or some of the smaller vintage Regal or Martin tenor guitars are of a smaller scale. One difference is string tension: the G on my tenor banjo is 40w and on the tenor guitar it was a 48w or 50w - I use .50mm picks on tenor banjos, but used heavier ones (.89-1.0mm) on the tenor guitar. On both I play using mandolin fingering.

[bruce.b]

I play a Herb Taylor archtop tenor guitar, 21.25" scale and width at the nut of 1 1/8", which makes the neck feel like the neck on many tenor banjos. I also play tenor banjo and switch back and forth effortlessly. I play the same stuff on both, Irish and any fiddle tune that I like. I play most tunes the same on way on both. Sometimes I'll do more chordal stuff on the tenor guitar, but that's only rarely at the moment. My guitar really helps with the switch since the neck is the almost the same and being an archtop it has less sustain than a flattop and a sound that works well when played in a tenor banjo style. I love my guitar and couldn't imagine playing anything else as my main tenor. I'm still looking for the ideal tenor banjo for my playing style and ear. I have one with a 23 inch scale and I've decided that is too long for me. My other has a 20.25 inch scale and it's tone isn't quite what I want.

[MdJ]

Stupid question, perhaps, but since these are often tuned the same, and often have the same scale (or at least I think they do), is moving from one to the other pretty easy? I'm trying to decide whether to get a tenor banjo or tenor guitar...but whichever one I decide to get first, will switching to the other down the road be a pretty easy jump? Or do people tend to use very different techniques for these two instruments?

Dear Mil,

I am lucky to own a vega archtop tenor guitar and tenor banjo - both from the '30's, same neck profile, same scale length. I am self taught and fingerpick pretty much exclusivley (tho, as i understand, the 'proper' way to play both of these instruments would utilize a plectrum) - the difference in response between 'skin' and 'carved spruce' is pretty tangible... in attack, as a string is intitially plucked, and of course in terms of sustain. This requires more adjustment in playing than i ever would have expected.... Banjo always feels a little behind the atchtop in the initial response to striking a string, and the sound decays quicker....

The adjustment required of my right hand as i change from one to the other is subtle but always there.... I suspect that the physically identical necks on the two instruments make the difference in sonic response more obvious .

All the best,

MdJ

[s1m0n]

Tenor guitars were initially invented to enable TB players to get the hot new guitar sound without having to learn a new instrument, so easy switchability has always been a feature.