Wade Ward. One of the best clawhammer players, period. Resonator banjo.

I went into a local shop a year ago and picked up a resonator banjo and played my take on Ward's Mississippi Sawyer. I saw all kinds of stars and constellations. Never on either of my open back banjos could I have imagined a sound like that. It was so full and robust!

But I can't afford any fancy resonator like that...

Then, just today, I go into another local shop and play this old 1940s low-end resonator banjo from a sub-company of Gibson. I mean this was a basic banjo. It had a plastic head on it! I started picking Tommy Jarrell's John Henry. That banjo sounded amazing!!!! 400 bucks. (Still a pinch for me.. but it ain't a "G" or more.) Some lady in the shop said that when I was playing she didn't think it was a resonator banjo! OMG! That's what I was thinking... Why don't I get a cheap resonator banjo and get to work!

Great posts up here. It's just all about what you like to hear. There ain't no rules on what you can play and can't. Do you, man!

Peace,

BBM