I think I have earned the blue ribbon for dumb questions…so here’s another!
I am finding myself having to hold up the neck of my banjo when moving up and down the neck. This makes it tough to play when you’re having to hold up the neck and make a chord/fingering change at the same time.
Would a nicer strap solve that problem (I have a cheapie) or is this just something we have to learn to live with?
From my personal experience with mine I would say yes, a good strap will go a long way with helping you out with that. I personally have a Lakota Leathers cradle strap on my banjo and I like it quite a bit. The cradle part of the strap seemed to distribute the weight of the pot evenly and where the strap came up from the pot on the neck side it seems to be right in line to transfer the weight of the neck on my left shoulder allowing the banjo neck to just sit upright without me even holding it.
Without knowing what weight distribution you have on your banjo it’s hard to tell.
Where is the balance point on the instrument? Some banjos have lighter pot assemblies and heavy necks (such as less expensive Kays etc.) If this is the case with yours another strap may not fix the problem.
If I grab my banjo where the head meets the neck and lift only the neck comes up (this is with most). The point where it balances is only a couple inches from the center of the center of the resonator, so I can put the neck at whatever angle I choose and it will stay there until I move it.
— Begin quote from "fiddlewood"
Without knowing what weight distribution you have on your banjo it’s hard to tell.
Where is the balance point on the instrument? Some banjos have lighter pot assemblies and heavy necks (such as less expensive Kays etc.) If this is the case with yours another strap may not fix the problem.
If I grab my banjo where the head meets the neck and lift only the neck comes up (this is with most). The point where it balances is only a couple inches from the center of the center of the resonator, so I can put the neck at whatever angle I choose and it will stay there until I move it.
— End quote
I’ll have to double check that when I get home tonight. My banjo is older and the neck seems longer than usual. It may be that the balance breaks that way too much, causing the head/neck to slip downward while playing standing up.