Actually, IMHO open back banjos sound better when played clawhammer style, and resonator banjos sound better for bluegrass or Dixieland styles. I just prefer that fat, tubby, thumpy sound that you can only get from an open back. And open back banjos just plain lose it altogether when played bluegrass style. Yeah, I know some southern banjo players play the tarnation out of resonator banjos clawhammer style, Elmer Byrd, for example, Grandpa Jones, for example. There is one lady from Columbia, MO named Cathy Barton who played a resonator banjo with a ARCHTOP tone ring clawhammer style. Boy, that was loud. I think she still plays that same banjo, though mostly I hear her playing more hammered dulcimer nowadays.