Household Banjos

Yo Banjo Nuts,

My wife Kelly, a banjo player herself and creator of this website, recently suggested

that I talk to you about my banjos and I figured, hell, we bluegrassers enjoy yammering

about instruments even more than playing them, so why not?

I started playing in 1967 on a Bacon Belmont my uncle Earl gave me. (Curiously, a

student of mine Bob Leblond showed up several years ago with one just like it.) Around

age fifteen, after seeing Phil Zimmerman playing an arch-top, I ordered one from

Leo Erickson in Arkansas which I used through high school. A couple years later,

Phil Rosenthal told me about Michael Allison (Providence Guitar and Banjo) who was

building Mastertone copies. I bought a maple, nickel plated flathead that Orrin Star now

owns. Finally, when Gibson introduced their reissue line around 1990, I decided it was

time to invest in the real deal. (Unlike most Scruggsian lifers, I’ve never seriously

entertained the idea of owning an original. I’m not comfortable handling gear worth

more than my house.) My father and I drove out to Al Worthen’s shop, Mountain Music,

in Old Forge, N.Y. I wanted a Hearts and Flowers Granada, my all-time favorite design,

and Al had three which he graciously allowed me to molest for half an afternoon. I came

away with “Maybelle” who has been my main squeeze for fifteen years now. Our only

problem has been what to do when she was in the shop and I couldn’t afford a backup.

Things changed last spring when I won an Earl Scruggs Standard at the Merlefest

banjo contest. I’d been thinking for awhile about trying a mahogany Mastertone (Bela

and J.D. can’t both be wrong) and the folks at First Quality in Louisville agreed to trade

me an RB75 for the Scruggs banjo. I’m now having a grand ole time comparing Maybelle

to my new 75 “Jed.” Remember, most guys who’ve been at it for forty years would have

gone through a dozen Mastertones by now!

The two banjos do sound different. However, it’s impossible to say why exactly since

they are physically different in several ways. One is maple, one mahogany. One gold,

one nickel. Maybelle has a smaller, slightly V-shaped neck. Jed has the slightly lighter

“Crowe” tone ring. One has an 11/16” bridge, the other a 5/8” (Snuffy Smiths). And

Maybelle has been played for fifteen years; Jed is brand new. I did make sure at the

outset that the heads were both tuned to G#. Head tension is a subjective issue, but

I’ve found that changing the tension less than a semitone, as little as a quarter turn on the lugs, can make a very audible difference in the overall sound. So it certainly makes sense to keep track of head tension when setting up your instrument or when trying out a new one. Ditto the tailpiece tension. I keep it well up off the head for a big, open sound, as opposed to a sharper and more focused tone. String gauge choices also impact tone. I use a 10-11-12-20 set for the high overtones, the “air” in the sound, characteristic of lighter gauges as well as for their flexibility which allows greater articulation of hammers, slides, pull-offs and chokes.

All things considered, the sonic difference does seem to fall in line with what people say about maple versus mahogany banjos. Maybelle seems brighter, ringier, though she does have a nice fat fourth string (think Scruggs circa Foggy Mountain Banjo). Jed is tubbier, rounder, perhaps a little heavier in the low midrange (think more recent Crowe). And I do appreciate the increased focus on bass response in recent years; mahogany necks and resonators, heavier bridges, looser heads, larger air chambers etc. In the days of skin heads, you needed thin bridges and maximum head tension to get any brightness at all. Old habits die hard; it’s taken years since the switch to plastic for everyone to realize that a change in setup tactics was in order. In an instrument with little sustain, “fatness” can be a real psychological boon; with each note filling more space (at least initially), you can relax a bit more, play less, and simply allow the instrument to speak for itself. Conversely, a thin tone can frustrate you into overplaying in an effort to compensate. Overanxious, aimless attempts to fill space can lead to a lack of control, rushed timing and jittery, cluttered unmusical playing.

JD Crowe Banjo

I like both banjos. I find that I tend to get used to whichever I’m playing; the sound, neck size, bridge height. The differences become most apparent when switching back and forth. For now I’m teaching and performing with Jed to find out what he’s capable of under fire and to help him catch up with Maybelle in the playing time department.

I hope you all get to experiment with your favorite instruments. Forty years later I’m still gawking, pestering and tinkering and enjoying the hell out of it. Hopefully the Gibson people will get their act together once and for all. Yes, other people make great banjos but I just don’t see why pickers everywhere shouldn’t be able to see and try out the historic designs. There’s nothing quite like sitting down with a classic banjo that looks great, feels right and makes a big, fat glorious noise just like that ideal you’ve been carrying around in your head.