What makes a good banjo?

[Stuball48]

Bela Fleck.

But come on, somebody had to do it, what makes a good banjo?

The first thing I thought of was:

I love Bluegrass music and have a good friend who performs old Country and vintage Rock and Roll. He told me the most beautiful sound in Bluegrass was "the sound a banjer makes ----------hitting the bottom of a dumpster."

 

[Default]

So, aerodynamics?

 

[adorshki]

The banjo isn't used in jazz much anymore, but the greatest surge in banjo popularity (prior to Scruggs) was when it was used as a rhythm instrument by just about every jazz combo in existence from the '20s to the early '50s. Their ubiquity is why you still see so many vintage tenor (4-string) banjos on the vintage market. Tens of thousands of the (damn) things were sold.

 

[79D25MMan]

I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I'd like to pick up a decent 5-string. I don't buy into the mocking and derision banjos often get. I think they're a pretty cool instrument!

I think I'd prefer an open-back. What make one inexpensive banjo better than another inexpensive banjo.

I got a very strange clawhammer tenor Banjo from the Idaho Youth Ranch (unsure if they have them up North). It is labeled "Tempo", and appears to be from the 1960s, open-back, and probably American made. It was $65. The strange part is that the headstock has 8 tuners, sort of like a "banjolin", but it is in a tenor banjo scale. I believe it is like a 12 string to a 6 string guitar, so kind of like a 12-string-esque tenor. It is currently setup as a 4 string tenor.

Anyways, I believe the banjo type can depend on the style. Clawhammer banjos actually have higher action. I believe the resonator banjos tend to be more expensive then open back. I think it also depends on the hardware, wood, maker, and build quality, some of the same stuff that you'd look for on a guitar. I also believe it has to do with the construction. Banjos have rods running through the length of the head, and I believe (I could be wrong) they can have a second running perpendicular to the first reinforcement rod, thus making it more sturdy and valuable. I am not by any stretch a banjo expert or even a good banjo player. Hope this helps!

 

[Cougar]

Well, this is the one I picked up. I like the tuners going off to the side of the headstock - couldn't get used to the ones out the back of the headstock. I noticed Sal added a banjo track in a couple of his multitrack pieces. Sounded good! The Deerings often had real light, maple-looking fretboards and headstocks - just looked crappy IMO.

 

[Sal]

I think you made a good choice! We used an open back on my songs too. It was a Vega Seeger long-neck and a lot of those models came with the tuners to the side as well. A good look and functional.