@@BanjoAddict it's a nice concise list to double check yourself with but I rather listen to the sound of your voice to be honest I like your personality and the warm way that you help us along like a brother. my brother is too much older than me to care.🤷
Strings😎👍👏👏👏👏❗️. Same with most stringed instruments, just accept that you’re buying new strings and putting up with getting them to settle when you buy a new or old stringed instrument. Experiment with trying nylon/ fluorocarbon strings too, if you have an open back. Gives a more muted, warm, old-time sound compared to the bright and punchy steel strung banjos.
that is great! i have been working on clawhammer myself! if you have not tried it yet i highly recommend checking out clawhammerbanjo.net . josh is fantastic and has a ton of learning material on his site! happy picking!
Try a "compensated" bridge. Made all the difference on my $70 Facebook marketplace banjo. It always sounded slightly out of time until I replaced the basic straight bridge for a compensated one.
It depends.. usually you are better off just buying a banjo with a tone ring. By the time you buy a tone ring and have a luthier fit and install it you could buy a decent banjo with a tone ring
I recommend beginners get a use cheap but good open back. A expensive banjo won't make you a better player but a experienced player will make a cheap one sound better due to experience. Bluegrass can be played on a open back and the volume not as loud may save you a hospital trip from your in home family going nuts. Get a banjo mute and plastic picks f you want to live long enough to get good. Also, play a learning song slow into you naturally find your speeding up. Fast and sounding crappy is no way to go. Some slower but great songs are gospel. If you try to be Earl Scruggs before you can walk you will quit. Find enjoyable slower tunes and learn them.
Another question every beginner could ask them self is if they have had other instruments and do they collect dust in a closet? Sometimes the truth reveals we go after the novelty of new to us but it's not enough to commit to becoming a good player. I have done this with six and three string guitars and have two , one each going unused because I was drawn to play certain tunes but only those. I grew up six blocks from Jimi Hendrix is and as innovative guitarists go he tanks top in my opinion but after years of hit and miss practice it's still hit and miss because my diversity for music styles is wide and the only true love is upbeat country (despise cry in your beer crap) and bluegrass banjo. Over all banjo is the winner. The most diverse and skilled musician I've seen on RUclips is Ben Perea and look for his vid doing Old Langs Syne using Keith gunners. This guy can play anything and I mean anything and very well. He also has a good banjo Pickin wife.
Good video..I think your reference to truss rod at beginning really should refer to the co-coordinator rod in the rim, not the truss rod in the neck. Just a thought.
No one take bow out, one effects height and a small amount of bow. So it's more a combination and balancing act to get the best out of each. A guitar has a truss rod, but no co-rod... Keep that in mind and so you can take bow out of guitar neck only one way - Truss Rod.
You never mentioned how any of the tips you gave affected the sound, aside from new strings, of course. How about putting a better bridge on a cheap banjo? What about changing the tail piece? Or a bone nut, instead of plastic?
from what i have experienced it is really hard to change the tone in a cheaper banjo. Changing the tail piece, bridge or the nut should give the banjo more clarity which should make it sound better. To be honest i have not done a side by side comparison from a plastic to a bone nut so im not sure about that. But one of the biggest things that affect tone is the tone ring and rim. and if you are going to change those things in a cheap banjo you might as well just upgrade to a higher end banjo. Hope this helps and thank you for watching.
You do not want your neck straight very common mistake I made my first guitar neck straight and it sucked big time..... you want a bow of about 15 thousandths at 6th feet....push down the first and 12th and look for the gap at 6th and 5th ..... later you might want to increase or decrease this.... this bow gives room for the strings to vibrate without fret buzz ....
Charlie Poole and smith Hammett would disagree. Although earl definitely popularized the style it was called 3 finger style long before earl. I am not changing anything, but I understand history unlike some………
Neck angle, fingerboard relief (truss rod), nut slot height, bridge height, even skin tension, bridge position for intonation. All done!
Ha ha! That is awesome!
@@BanjoAddict it's a nice concise list to double check yourself with but I rather listen to the sound of your voice to be honest I like your personality and the warm way that you help us along like a brother.
my brother is too much older than me to care.🤷
Thank you for sharing a couple of simple things to improve my, low-cost, starter banjo.
Happy to help!
Strings😎👍👏👏👏👏❗️. Same with most stringed instruments, just accept that you’re buying new strings and putting up with getting them to settle when you buy a new or old stringed instrument. Experiment with trying nylon/ fluorocarbon strings too, if you have an open back. Gives a more muted, warm, old-time sound compared to the bright and punchy steel strung banjos.
Well said!
Just what I needed. I'm also trying to learn clawhammer. Thank you kindly sir
that is great! i have been working on clawhammer myself! if you have not tried it yet i highly recommend checking out clawhammerbanjo.net . josh is fantastic and has a ton of learning material on his site! happy picking!
@@BanjoAddict cool. I'll definitely check that out. Thanks again
This is the same banjo model I picked up second hand, super cheap! Almost love it more than my RK35…
I like the RK35 … has a ton of pop to it!
Try a "compensated" bridge. Made all the difference on my $70 Facebook marketplace banjo. It always sounded slightly out of time until I replaced the basic straight bridge for a compensated one.
I got the chance of a scholarship thanks to you!! Thank you so much!
That is fantastic!!! Congratulations 🎈🍾🎊🎉
Thanks for the great tips. I have a Savanna open back that was given to me by a friend. What do
you think about adding a tone ring?
It depends.. usually you are better off just buying a banjo with a tone ring. By the time you buy a tone ring and have a luthier fit and install it you could buy a decent banjo with a tone ring
I recommend beginners get a use cheap but good open back. A expensive banjo won't make you a better player but a experienced player will make a cheap one sound better due to experience. Bluegrass can be played on a open back and the volume not as loud may save you a hospital trip from your in home family going nuts. Get a banjo mute and plastic picks f you want to live long enough to get good. Also, play a learning song slow into you naturally find your speeding up. Fast and sounding crappy is no way to go. Some slower but great songs are gospel. If you try to be Earl Scruggs before you can walk you will quit. Find enjoyable slower tunes and learn them.
Another question every beginner could ask them self is if they have had other instruments and do they collect dust in a closet? Sometimes the truth reveals we go after the novelty of new to us but it's not enough to commit to becoming a good player. I have done this with six and three string guitars and have two , one each going unused because I was drawn to play certain tunes but only those. I grew up six blocks from Jimi Hendrix is and as innovative guitarists go he tanks top in my opinion but after years of hit and miss practice it's still hit and miss because my diversity for music styles is wide and the only true love is upbeat country (despise cry in your beer crap) and bluegrass banjo. Over all banjo is the winner. The most diverse and skilled musician I've seen on RUclips is Ben Perea and look for his vid doing Old Langs Syne using Keith gunners. This guy can play anything and I mean anything and very well. He also has a good banjo Pickin wife.
Good video..I think your reference to truss rod at beginning really should refer to the co-coordinator rod in the rim, not the truss rod in the neck. Just a thought.
No one take bow out, one effects height and a small amount of bow. So it's more a combination and balancing act to get the best out of each. A guitar has a truss rod, but no co-rod... Keep that in mind and so you can take bow out of guitar neck only one way - Truss Rod.
Could you put down the web site address for where you bought the banjo ?
Barry at banjo.com is where I get my banjos from
You never mentioned how any of the tips you gave affected the sound, aside from new strings, of course. How about putting a better bridge on a cheap banjo? What about changing the tail piece? Or a bone nut, instead of plastic?
from what i have experienced it is really hard to change the tone in a cheaper banjo. Changing the tail piece, bridge or the nut should give the banjo more clarity which should make it sound better. To be honest i have not done a side by side comparison from a plastic to a bone nut so im not sure about that. But one of the biggest things that affect tone is the tone ring and rim. and if you are going to change those things in a cheap banjo you might as well just upgrade to a higher end banjo. Hope this helps and thank you for watching.
Can you show how to restring a cheap Banjo ?
ruclips.net/video/5-9SuwMNUhg/видео.html
Molto utile... Grazie from Italy!
Italia! questo è impressionante! grazie per aver guardato!
...Adoro da sempre certa musica....
@@BanjoAddict (...I've always loved certain music...)
@@BanjoAddict ruclips.net/video/L9fFJNbHnoA/видео.html
You do not want your neck straight very common mistake I made my first guitar neck straight and it sucked big time..... you want a bow of about 15 thousandths at 6th feet....push down the first and 12th and look for the gap at 6th and 5th ..... later you might want to increase or decrease this.... this bow gives room for the strings to vibrate without fret buzz ....
Yep I go over all that in my truss rod video… thank you for watching.
@ 1:57 but i thought you WANT a slight bow in your banjo neck? why did you take the bow out? oh well
yea i go over that in my truss rod video.. ruclips.net/video/mlIfk8xSo3w/видео.html
In my case it'd take hiring someone good to play it. lol
3 finger style has always been called Scruggs style. He made it famous. Don't change tradition and history.
Charlie Poole and smith Hammett would disagree. Although earl definitely popularized the style it was called 3 finger style long before earl. I am not changing anything, but I understand history unlike some………