At Gloucester Cajun Festival yesterday:
A uke player (and his wife uke player) was telling me someone is marketing a mandobanjo. Mandolin 8 string tunings with the banjo skin to make it louder!

Banjocello next?

The banjo was designed to make it loud, in the days before amplification. Its association with black people is an accident of history. I guess you could tar the resonator guitar with the same guilty broad brush strokes, but we don't. We pick our sensitivities, to suit our bette noir.

Now how are we on the ukulele, and steel guitar? One of those comes in for a lot of stick. And its literal translation is "Jumping Flea". Talk about tarring with a reputation!