Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Bluegrass Purity Tests?

Seriously dude? An electric banjitar? With a vibrato lever thingy that I forgot the name of? And buttons and knobs? Why not add some gauges and foot pedals and stuff?

That’s just… argh… man, I can’t un-see that :confounded:

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Check out this Pre - War Gibson Electric Tenor Banjo

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Preach that thing @MissMaggie :rofl::joy::slightly_smiling_face:

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Can’t tell whether it’s a bigsby or not… frequently called a tremolo bar

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It looks like somebody attacked the thing with a fork at a dinner party.

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Here’s an example of Josh’s incredible Dobro playing:


Check out the triplets in the second Dobro solo!
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You’ll be happy to know there is one less banjitar in Fla. I bought it and it is on its way here.:stuck_out_tongue:

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Well I’m just tickled pink about that but sad for you Gary :cry: Thank you for your sacrifice, you know, jumping on that grenade so to speak.

But wait a minute. You did make a sacrifice… right? I mean, you wouldn’t actually buy that… because you… wanted it… right?

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Yep… I made the purchase. Sorry for your loss.

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I have seen the growth as it were of the availability of 6 String Banjos in the UK. I assume that they are then tuned guitar style and just offer the Banjo sound. I suppose that if I was looking to record or put together some work that was guitar based and was seeking the banjo sound behind I might consider doing that.

With time though would prefer to do it properly. This site offers that opportunity.

As for the question posed about Purity not so sure I think that the Musician argument is probably the best answer.

Fairly new to the Bluegrass world and thoroughly enjoy it, but Boom Chick , Bass Strum have some very old sources including a very clumsy piece of work based around I IV V called Bergamask. I have seen the style played at pace in Northern Italy.

As a fan on Of Scottish works I have often listened to a Duo (Originally larger) called The Corries who dabbled with combining instruments. Their hybrids were called Combolins and were effective on a notable album by the Duo.

Mainly for Purists of the Duo it was an interesting addition to their works. Not sure it gained them new fans but did provide intrigue for a while.

As for purity in a broader sense 4,5,6 ,12 string instruments are plenty they just didn’t all make it to the 20th , 21st Century.

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Bluegrass to me is the High Lonesome Sound with 2, 3 or sometimes 4 part harmony in front of a single mike. Here is Bill Monroe doing Wayfaring Stranger with no banjo and yes… it’s Bluegrass. :speaking_head::busts_in_silhouette:

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