I think I need a banjo...

[dannopelli]

I mean really, why bother learning how to use all these new recording toys, keyboards, interfaces and software, if I do not have the ability to record banjo parts.

Why bother working on getting even better tones from my several Anderson guitars, Dr Z amps, etc, if I do not also have a banjo?

I have never played a banjo, but how hard can it be? I know if I wanted I could tune to like a guitar!

Doesn't everyone need a banjo?

(I really am only half kidding here, I kind of would like a banjo!) :D

[dannopelli]

And I am not dissing banjo players or banjos. I keep hearing banjo parts in my head. I was just making a lame joke about priorities. I really do think it would be cool to write a few things with banjo parts!

[ckofahl]

dannopelli,

I've had the same thought, but wondered about adding a mandolin. Can you tune a mandolin like a guitar? I remember years ago at a guitar clinic a great player Tommy Tedesco said he got a lot of sessions because of all the stringed instruments that he played. He said his secret was that he tuned them all like a guitar.

[dannopelli]

dannopelli,

I've had the same thought, but wondered about adding a mandolin. Can you tune a mandolin like a guitar? I remember years ago at a guitar clinic a great player Tommy Tedesco said he got a lot of sessions because of all the stringed instruments that he played. He said his secret was that he tuned them all like a guitar.

Tommy was like one of the best ever. I used to read his guitar player column!

[Road King]

Banjo issues keep me up all night man. To play or not to play, that is the question. Whether it is nobler to continue to hone my craft as a guitarist or to expand my horizons as a musician. Whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous shedding on a new instrument or to rest in the comfort and familiarity of my fabulous Anderson. I mean...this crap is killin me....:D

[dannopelli]

I wonder if Tom would build a banjo? Or a mandolin? What would he name it?

Andolin?
Anjo? (Isn't that a city in Japan?)

This is getting kind of comical...

[guitarzan]

A couple of options: you could check out Deering's 6-string banjo (made famous by Kieth Urban for his entire career and lovingly dubbed the "Ganjo")

The other option is to check out the L6 Variax. I've done banjo tracks with one and in the mix you wouldn't believe it WASN'T a banjo. Also, if you believe forum chatter, the rumor mill says a new and MUCH MUCH improved Variax may see the light of day soon.

[tom]

i'll have to be the voice of reason here. banjos are showing up in unlikely places these days, and they do have a nice spot in all kinds of music. i feel the same about mandos. but, and this is a big but, please learn to play them in their standard tuning. to get the real feel of either, you need the different chord voicings and intervals. i have a mando from my grandfather, but it needs a little work since our last dog ripped the strings off it.
my secret lust is for a pearl red accordion, but don't tell anyone.

[guitarzan]

I'm not sure if that's the most honorable or the most disturbing secret lust I've ever heard. :D

[tom]

i went to the german show some years ago and i found "the guy" who makes the coolest accordions(i know that sounds like a oxymoron) in bavaria. laurie took pictures of me with a rhinestone encrusted pearl red beauty complete with buttons, not a sissy keyboard. i have them hidden away.

[tom]

i guess i should say that it is cajun music not polka that fuels my lust.

[dannopelli]

I think there is definitely a place in modern music for the accordion! And there really should be more music written in 3/4 (Polka/Tejano) time. :D

[dannopelli]

i went to the german show some years ago and i found "the guy" who makes the coolest accordions(i know that sounds like a oxymoron) in bavaria. laurie took pictures of me with a rhinestone encrusted pearl red beauty complete with buttons, not a sissy keyboard. i have them hidden away.

You are going to HAVE to post a few of those or this place will go CRAAZY!

[JohnnyBeck]

Accordians played tastefully have the potential to have just as sweet a spot in a good ballad as a well played B3 organ. A different spot...but sweet none the less. I dig 'em. Go Tom...more power to ya man.

[Suriel Zayas]

danno, listen to some bella fleck music and you probably wouldn't want to pick up a banjo.:rolleyes::p :rolleyes:

[Suriel Zayas]

danno, listen to some bella fleck music and you probably wouldn't want to pick up a banjo.:p :rolleyes: :p

[David]

Danno DEFINATELY get a Banjo! Great to have laying around the house, unless of course you have Dogs that eat strings!
A good friend of mine had an accordian/concertina in his irish rock band, Black 47, and you almost didnt need to mic it, I would love to find a player out here to insert that distinctive sound into the band, it has instant fun all over it!dp

[ConnemaraGuitar]

And then there was the cartoon with two panels:

In the upper panel, St. Peter is greeting a man at the Pearly Gates, saying "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp."

In the next panel, the devil is greeting a guy at the entrance to Hades, saying "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordian."

Regardless, Danno needs a banjo. I offered to sell him one with a stretched velvet front featuring a painting of Elvis. The old Elvis, since the round space needs to be filled.

Regarding mandolins, I made an Irish bouzouki that you might like...it has four courses of strings, like a mandolin, but a long neck and a tear-shaped body with a sound hole. Sounds like a mix between a guitar and mandolin. I'll post a picture later.

I'm convinced that to play a mandolin you need hands the size of a three year old's!

[tom]

i remember seeing the second frame of that cartoon with mozart turning around to see an orchestra of freckle faced kids with banjos.

[dannopelli]

My contribution to today's festivities!

Think maybe I'll ask for a banjo for Christmas!

[mdrs]

Professionally speaking, I am seeing some serious musical dissorders displayed in this thread;

Guitardation
Mandolin Deficiet Dissorder
Banjophelia

................I'm not gonna even TOUCH my impressions about the Accordian....

:cool:

[ConnemaraGuitar]

I just can't resist:

Accordian Deficit Disorder (ADD)

[dannopelli]

I just can't resist:

Accordian Deficit Disorder (ADD)
That was teed up for you!

[Casper]

What do you never hear in a studio session...?
That must be the banjo players Porsche..;)
I have a friend at work just learning the Banjo. Its all about the finger rolls homey...
Shaun

[ConnemaraGuitar]

Here's a tweak on an another old joke:

What's the one thing that can render an entire band speechless?

When the banjo player says "Hey guys, I wrote a couple of songs I'd like us to play."

[tom]

how about this one?
a guy has trouble getting rid of his accordion. he tries selling but no offers. he tries giving it away, no takers. so he parks his car in a bad part of town and leaves the doors unlocked with the accordion in the back seat. he comes back an hour later and finds two accordions in the back seat.

[Casper]

Whats the difference between a guitar player and a large pizza?
A large pizza can feed a family of four....:rolleyes:

[dannopelli]

http://www.users.bigpond.com/prodigalson/guitaris.htm

http://www.guitarsite.com/jokes.htm

[LonestarGtr]

Danno,

Don't feel bad about Banjoitis. I, too, had the dreaded disease a few years back and ended up with a beeeeeautiful green Nechville Meteor (electrified!) banjo. I got all of the appropriate thumb and finger-picks and worked diligently for about a week trying to master a simple finger roll. It started sounding pretty good. FWIW, I've tried to play other banjos and if you're going to learn Banjo in standard tuning, that Nechville is the nicest banjo I've ever played. That being said, I sold it to someone who didn't have to try as hard as I did.

If you just want the "sound" of the banjo, I'd go for the Deering. You can really hear it on the Matchbox 20's "Unwell". Otherwise, I think there's gotta be some new medication for banjoitis.

[dannopelli]

Danno,

Don't feel bad about Banjoitis. I, too, had the dreaded disease a few years back ... Nechville Meteor (electrified!) banjo. ...

If you just want the "sound" of the banjo, I'd go for the Deering. You can really hear it on the Matchbox 20's "Unwell". Otherwise, I think there's gotta be some new medication for banjoitis.

Thanks Mike,

I really am just looking to maybe add some banjo sounds. Kind of like why I got a Taylor Nylon, to get the nylon sound.

Appreciate your advice, and everyones'!

[ducmike]

I took my family to the annual Mercy Me Home for the Holidays Christmas show in Greenville, TX tonight. They sit down and do a few songs unplugged in the middle of the set. Well, Mike Scheuchzer (guitar) bust out a banjo, and Jim Bryson (keys) with an accordian. Great fun and the most unusual version of "Silent Night" I have ever heard.:D

Anyway, having read this thread, I found it interesting.

Great Show too.

[Pietro]

So there's this banjo player and a snake that both get run over by a truck...

The snake was on his way to a gig...

...unlike the banjo player...

Oh, and what's the difference between a violin and a viola...

Violas burn longer...

[strat56]

Danno,

I don't know what kind of music you enjoy playing, but every country song on the radio today seems to have banjo in it.

Along with Fiddle, Dobro, Pedal Steel, Slide guitar, Mandolin, Baritone guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar.

[dannopelli]

Danno,

I don't know what kind of music you enjoy playing, but every country song on the radio today seems to have banjo in it.

Along with Fiddle, Dobro, Pedal Steel, Slide guitar, Mandolin, Baritone guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar.

Shopping spree???