The Glory-Beaming Banjo

OK, so maybe I was wrong. In the last post , we discussed stuffing the pot, and I claimed this practice "isn't getting the job done" vis-a-vis the desired tonal qualities of my banjo. After switching to Chris Sands' heavy nylon strings, I removed all the stuffing from the pot. The result was pure echo. I figured it would get drowned out when playing with others, but then I played with others and it still sounded all echoy. This problem may be solved by switching to a thicker skin head, but in the meantime it's back to stuffing. Maybe it wasn't stuffing that was the problem, but rather the placement of the stuffing I didn't like. But first, let's talk about what we use to stuff our banjos. Lots of people like a sock or old rag, while others use a piece of foam of varying sizes and densities. Some people use duct tape, and I know at least one player who uses wadded up tissue paper. A guy I play with on occasion swears by Kroger plastic shopping bag...

There comes a time when you just want something different. Since we all can't own enough banjos to suit our varying tastes from day to day, a fact that our neighbors and loved ones no doubt celebrate, we must instead tinker with our instruments now and again to make new sounds. My banjo needs a tonal makeover. Right now it is set up with Ome heavy strings, a thin goatskin head and a 5/8-inch bridge of medium weight, all on a 12-inch rim with a Dobson-style tone ring. There is also a swatch of duct tape under the bridge and a wad of plastic grocery bags wrapped with tissue paper stuffed between the head and dowel stick to mute harsh overtones. Like many old-time banjo players, I'm always in search of the perfect "plunky" sound. However, I've come to the conclusion that stuffing the pot isn't getting the job done. While this practice cuts down on high-pitched brightness, it also kills the warm timbre associated with skin heads. Also, why have a tone ring if...

Trying to learn the fiddle in the months before my wife delivers our first child has proven to be a tough task, especially when the weather gets nice and running starts to occupy more of my time. Don't even ask me about playing the banjo. The summer should be the time when I while away the evenings playing tunes on my porch, but that's easier said than done. Over the last few weeks, playing music has taken a backseat to running the local trails, barbecuing, mowing the lawn and, more recently, putting together furniture for the baby's room. Only in the last few days have I mustered the courage to see what feeble skills remain since the last time I played the fiddle or banjo. There are only so many hours in the day. And with so many interests, some are bound to get short shrift from time to time. My poor banjo has been neglected the most. My plan was to use jam sessions as my primary outlet for playing the ole five-string, but it's been a couple months since I...

Aspiring banjo players are often told to go learn from the masters. One such master has made that task a little easier with the release of a new book of tunes . Walt Koken's upcoming release is a transcription of the tunes on last year's " Sittin' in the Catbird's Seat ," his first solo album in 15 years. Koken, of course, is well known in old-time music circles as a former member of the Highwoods Stringband , a current Orpheus Supertone , and co-conspirator of the " Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes ." "Sittin' in the Catbird's Seat" features original and old-time tunes and songs played in clawhammer and three-finger banjo styles. Sources include Dock Boggs, Hobart Smith, Mississippi John Hurt, Frank Hutchison, French Carpenter, and Scott Joplin. The companion book is 48 pages long and printed in an oversized, easy-to-read format with spiral binding so that you can lay the book flat. The book is suitable fo...

Biology doesn’t sound like a standard resume item for a banjo builder, but don’t tell that to Greg Galbreath of Buckeye Banjos. Ever since starting his company in 2005, he has built a sturdy reputation and now boasts a waiting list of three and a half years for one of his custom-built banjos. With a background in conservation biology, Galbreath holds a master’s degree in ecology from Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. Buckeye Banjos is based in Eggleston, Va., at the base of the company’s namesake, Buckeye Mountain, about 16 miles outside of Blacksburg, where Galbreath studied biology at Virginia Tech. Although Blacksburg lies an hour north of Galax, home of the famous fiddler’s convention, Galbreath got hooked on banjo and old-time music while living in Ithaca. After he finished his studies, he moved back to Southwest Virginia in 1996 to be closer to the source of the music. Upon returning to the region, he went searching for someone to teach him clawhammer banjo and found a...