Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?

Subject: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:04 PM

I think this is true? Any ideas why it should be so?

We have 'a guitar hero'. Any banjo ones?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: JenEllen
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:08 PM

Oh goodness...I know a half-dozen banjo player's wives that might tell you different! Some of them bluegrass fellas really know their stuff. Besides, I always figured it wasn't the instrument so much as what you did with it! :)
~Elle

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:10 PM

John Hartford with banjo in hand, not sexy? Shambles, you think this is true, wrong.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Ely
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:22 PM

I don't know. Maybe it's because the banjo is stereotyped as an old-time/bluegrass instrument while the guitar is common in so many other genres. Not that there is anything ridiculous about old-time and bluegrass.

Personally, I know several guys whose natural sexiness is enhanced by the fact that they play the banjo.

Wow, I never thought I'd use "sexiness" a music message.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:33 PM

MAN! I heard guitars were sexy, fiddlers were sexy, pipers were sexy...so I play all three...now the banjo too? Man, it's getting harder and harder to keep up with the current trends! Did anyone know that J.R.R. Tolkien secretly wished to be a banjo player? It's true...

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:44 PM

Banjos have a comical look to them, that happy round face. Some people seem to think being funny isn't sexy. Last laugh's on them...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:48 PM

What about women banjo players - are they not sexy too? Besides if it came down to the guys playing banjo I know a few that are simply "darling" and don't hurt my eyes looking at them (the players aren't bad to look at either). I personally think that banjo and banjo players are much more sexy than guitar players. I have learned to play both but my preference is a banjo everytime. Please don't forget the women as I am one!!!!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Midchuck
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:11 PM

Banjos, like fiddles, are capable of producing beautiful music, but tend to be annoying because a good proportion of the people who play them think faster is better, and think that being able to dominate a jam by drowning out anyone else makes them the best musician.

Like a gun or a fast car, a banjo is not dangerous in itself, but in the hands of a selfish or stupid person, gives that person the power to do more harm than he otherwise could.

I like banjo music, made by someone who can play the damn thing. But I don't dare say so out loud, it encourages the ones who can't and think they can.

Peter.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:14 PM

I understand Fielding plays both. Gives him a split personality. One side sexy, one not. Guess which side his wife gets stuck with...
Sounds like Mbo's got a quadraphonic personality.
Serious problems here, folks.
-Joe Offer, pop psychotherapist-

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:16 PM

It's got to have something to do with the lack of sustain of banjo tones. A banjo is preeminently a rhythm instrument, and you don't get those luscious chords that a guitar is capable of. I find it almost impossible to play a sad or a romantic tune on my banjo.

That is not to say that beautiful or sad or romantic just CAN'T be done. Listen to some of Tony Ellis's compositions as he plays them. Gorgeous. But certainly not banjistic.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Spider Tom
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:23 PM

It's not WHAT they are!
It's the way you play 'em.

I will now duck for cover I will be under a rock, but which one?
Happy plucking!

Spider Tom.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:25 PM

Hey Tom dont "pluck off" mate we will miss you!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: MK
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:49 PM

Okay I'll bite.

Duhhhhhhhhh..............the shape?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mooh
Date: 11 May 00 - 09:27 PM

MichaelK, that's what I thought too. Are we the only ones who see the curves vs lack of same? My good woman never likes to see me passed out with a guitar, wrong image I guess.

I used to think I was allergic to wood 'cause every time I passed out with a guitar in my hands I woke up with a headache.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: sophocleese
Date: 11 May 00 - 09:39 PM

Guitars are more organically shaped and made of a mellow warm coloured wood, banjos are a simple circle with too many bits of off putting metal on them. I loved the sound though of a fretless banjo made from a guord though, much, much nicer. Whatever the instrument its the skill and feeling in the playing that makes it sexy for me.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Professor Iris
Date: 11 May 00 - 09:54 PM

Okay Shambles.

Given that you felt compelled to post this particular thread, here's a quick refresher course for you on Basic Instinct 101.

Which of the following is sexy?

This one?

or,

This One?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: TheMuse
Date: 11 May 00 - 09:57 PM

I hate to burst anyones bubble, but guitars or banjos are NOT sexy. It's the person playing! I can see a million different players and all I do is listen, but I see one particular person pick up a guitar (or banjo) and start to play and . . . . WOW. . . I really want to make beautiful music (but not with the instrument!)

TheMuse

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: sophocleese
Date: 11 May 00 - 09:58 PM

I find nothing sexy about a message telling me that I am not authorized to view this directory or page. What are the pictures of? Please, I'm panting here, I've just been thinking of Harvey Keitel not playing banjo.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 11 May 00 - 10:09 PM

Michael, Mooh, & Sophocleese ~ you are all on the right track. Actually, it has to do with the .7 syndrome that seems to effect men ~ world wide. When the female waist is .7 the size of the hip and/or breast measurement men find them most attractive.

Just out of curiosity ~ I wonder if guitars that have the .7 ratio sell better than others.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 11 May 00 - 10:28 PM

Now I'll never sleep tonight. Visions of "The Piano" remade into "The Banjo" and Harvey Keitel playing it nude. Sure looks sexy to me.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 May 00 - 10:42 PM

Well gee folks.....girls can be sexy playin' too ya' know? I mean, take any example..........say for guitar, oh, let's say Emmylou Harris and for banjo, say, maybe Ronnie Stoneman..............uh, yeah.........hmmmm............Ok let's think of someone else..............

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: sophocleese
Date: 11 May 00 - 10:49 PM

SINSULL thanks for that image I will now head for the cold shower. But would he be sexier if he were playing the guitar? Actually since he never plays the piano in the movie but merely dusts it would wiping down a guitar or a banjo be sexier? I go for the guitar, I can imagine his fingers following my curves like those on the guitar better than I can on the banjo. It is the shape of the guitar that makes it sexy...heading for the shower now.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 11 May 00 - 10:49 PM

HEY what about Little Neo? Hmmmm?

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:00 PM

Yeah I know Meebo, but the joke don't work with Bonnie now do it? Always go for the laugh.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Professor Iris
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:13 PM

(one mo tyme)


Okay Shambles.
Given that you felt compelled to post this particular thread, here's a quick refresher course for you on Basic Instinct 101.

Which of the following is sexy?
This one?

or,

This One?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:15 PM

Shambles define your terms here. Are we speaking of guitars as objects, the sound produced by a guitar and subsequent music composed for guitar or guitar players as opposed to banjos, banjo music and banjo players.

I would have to agree with sophocleese, above, if we are just talking guitars and banjos as objects, however there might be an element of sexiness, for some, reguarding the banjos taut stretched skin.

Traditional banjo music is not sexy, to me personally, on the whole, but there are a few traditional banjo songs that are exceptions and Dueling Banjos comes to mind. "Swamp Thing" by the Grid, is a very sexy, compelling piece of music, along the lines of Ravel"s Bolero, as an example of non-traditional sexy banjo music. But, as sexual turn on is a very uniquely personal thing sometimes and can be subject to gender differences, my choices are probably uniquely mine.

Regarding the banjo's percussiveness, I find this aspect of it's music can be quite sexy and the effect is often mimiced by flamenco guitatists, who recognize that quality of it's percussive sound. But like all things, if it is repeated over and over again, without let up or some dramatic tension, it can become boring.

As far as sexy players, I find most musicians, on any instrument, who become so into "it" that they start to drool, are very sexy, especially when playing what I perceive to be a "sexy tune", but that could just be a quirky thing on my part. *BG*

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:19 PM

anyone else like "Drooling Banjos"?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Professor Iris
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:21 PM

Well I will be demoted from position for this.

When you click on the above links and get the 404 URL, click on the refresher or reload. It should come up.

If not, don't worry about. Wasn't important.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:27 PM

Iris, I just thought they were some more forbidden pleasures.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Adam Shaylor
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:52 PM

I would have to agree that the question supplied for this forum assumes that banjo's aren't sexy when, in fact, they are.

Of course, I happen to play the banjo AND be a sexy guy. Someone mentioned a female banjo players - if I met any my age, I sure's hell would be turned on.

I also play the fiddle, and I've gotten a fair amount of attention for that. Now that I think about it, just about any kind of instrument can be sexy if you know how to play it and the subject of your romantic interest likes that genre of music.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Gary T
Date: 12 May 00 - 12:42 AM

Guitars can produce mellow, smooth, seductive sounds; hot-blooded, earthy, humpin' sounds; sweet, innocent, lilting sounds; etc.

Banjos can produce energetic, jangling, intrusive sounds.

Yes, that's stereotyping; yes, there are exceptions; yes, not everyone sees it that way. But among those who do find a guitar sexy and a banjo not sexy (who I believe form a sizable proportion, likely a majority, of people), I'll bet that's their perception.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:10 AM

Gary T, I would agree with that perception, except for the words "jangling and intrusive".

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Raul B. Jones
Date: 12 May 00 - 02:04 AM

it's relative. playing the spoons is sexy in some circles. try not to worry about being sexy. just play

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 May 00 - 02:14 AM

Sinsull, I sympathize. After you conjured the image of a naked Harvey Keitel playing a banjo, I don't think I'll be able to sleep either. Good God. What's next, a naked Neil Young with a clarinet? Break out the Nitol.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Racer
Date: 12 May 00 - 02:56 AM

A guitar has a nice warm pleasing sound that fills the room.

A banjo goes "dink!"

-Racer

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Slider
Date: 12 May 00 - 04:18 AM

Why is a guitar sexy? Well ,just look at it! That long slender neck...All of those well rounded curves...(I like 'em like that)...all of those potential positions...maybe that tailpiece(depending on the guitar.Yeah ,I guess even a Dobro might be sexy, depending on the lighting and the level of intoxication...), maybe that arched top or that flat top depending on one's taste, but none of them are worth the effort without a sound hole....I hope my musings don't banish me from this company of scholars!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 May 00 - 05:16 AM

"Banjo and banjo players are much more sexy than guitar players. I have learned to play both." Intriguing.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Marion
Date: 12 May 00 - 10:11 AM

Wasn't it Freud who said, "Sometimes a guitar is just a guitar"?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Kim C
Date: 12 May 00 - 10:11 AM

I'm with TheMuse on this one --- it depends on who's playing! Bela Fleck, for instance.

But sexy is an attitude more than anything else.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 May 00 - 10:50 AM

Sophocleese and Lonesome, I've moved on to Orson Welles with a flute. (sigh) Those eyes; that voice.

Does anyone remember the name of that ridiculous spy movie starring Rudolph Nureyev in which he "plays" Natasha Kinski? Hilarious.

After reading the above, I am now worried that the reason I find banjo players sexy is that my body resembles a banjo more than a guitar. Ah well, back to Orson and his flute.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Toad
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:18 AM

Banjos arn't sexy?? Darn!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:28 AM

I've always wondered if women think a regular banjo is adequate or do they prefer the long necked models??

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:31 AM

"Shambles define your terms here. Are we speaking of guitars as objects, the sound produced by a guitar and subsequent music composed for guitar or guitar players as opposed to banjos, banjo music and banjo players."

I don't know, is the answer. Reading the thread, I am beginning to understand a little more. I don't even know if 'sexy' is the right word. This image, just seems to be a fact.

My thinking went something like this: I would advise any young person, who was having trouble with self-esteem or making friends, to learn to play the guitar (or another instrument). From my experience, girls appeared to be attracted to blokes that played guitar and blokes would want you to teach them how to play. I would not however advise them to take up the banjo and I wondered why?

I think that I may have been attracted to girls that played the guitar (Joni). I don't remember being exposed to one, but I don't think I would have been attracted to a girl playing the banjo. Unless of course they also had, "red hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme"?

I am getting 'all hot' now. I have this picture of 'Red Molly', on the back of a 1952 Vincent, playing 'drooling banjos'.

Motor bikes were sexy but three-wheelers, were not.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:39 AM

So you reckon she didn't marry me for my little kazoo? Her previous boyfriend built & played guitar. (He went on to marry her best friend, we've (both sets) managed to stay married for nearly 30 years, now he's learning fiddle!).It certainly wasn't for my singing voice. It must have been my extensive repertoire (nudge nudge).
RtS

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:51 AM

Doesterr, you should listen to Barney McKenna play a slow air on the tenor banjo if you think they can't sound sweet. This is a difficult question for us men, there are'nt many female banjo players in England, and with the best will in the world I cant find any men banjo players sexy. Peace and love, Dave

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 May 00 - 12:39 PM

Having dated women who were shaped like guitars, banjos, and mandolins, I'm not sure I relate to the "shape" issue.

I will say however that a promo photo of Peggy Seeger (with banjo) that I saw when I was 15, beat every "Playmate of the Month" hands down. On the other hand, Leadbelly (with guitar) did nothing for me. Likewise Joan Baez and Judy Collins.

Rick (who never dated anyone shaped like a Hammer Dulcimer)

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 May 00 - 12:49 PM

Shambles, Barney McKenna has been a "hero" of mine for many years.

Jon

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Jon W.
Date: 12 May 00 - 12:57 PM

So, did the first time ever Ewan MacColl saw Peggy Seeger's face, did she have her banjo in her lap?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Fortunato
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:41 PM

Hey Fielding that must have been some photo of Peggy Seeger. I'm trying to imagine a centerfold in Sing Out with a NUDE Seeger......AAAAAAAAIIIIIII. OMIGOD wrong Seeger. Ugly. I think I hurt myself. (Sorry Mike)

Heretofore I've respected your opinion, Rick, but better than Playboy? Well each to his own. Whatever bangs your beezer.

regrets, Fortunato

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Fortunato
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:41 PM

Hey Fielding that must have been some photo of Peggy Seeger. I'm trying to imagine a centerfold in Sing Out with a NUDE Seeger......AAAAAAAAIIIIIII. OMIGOD wrong Seeger. Ugly. I think I hurt myself. (Sorry Mike)

Heretofore I've respected your opinion, Rick, but better than Playboy? Well each to his own. Whatever bangs your beezer.

regrets, Fortunato

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Clinton Hammond2
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:46 PM

I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that a banjo sounds something like someone dropping the silverware down the staris when played... LOL!!!

I agree with the above though, it's not the instrument, it's what ya can do with it!!

{~`

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: black walnut
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:54 PM

this is the funniest thread i've read in a long long time!

i had to pick myself off the floor where i was heaped in a pile of giggle fit in order to write you this.

~'nut

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 12 May 00 - 02:04 PM

Banjo players are sexy because they "let their fingers do the walking".

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Jim Krause
Date: 12 May 00 - 04:21 PM

Hey Guest, I think lady any instrumentalists are sexy, banjo players, fiddlers, makes no difference. I also think the banjo IS capable of playing pretty, even romantic accompaniment to soft and tender ballads. Althogh he is known mostly as the guy who thought up Homespun Tapes, Happy Traum does a very nice job on a couple of songs, "Thirsty Boots" composed by (Somebody) Anderson, and the traditional "500 Miles." Those rippling rolls done with bare fingernails, not fingerpicks are just soooo smooth. I could see going courting, and serenading your sweetie with your banjo on your knee, if you know her favorite ballads. Sounds positively romantic to me.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 May 00 - 04:32 PM

Any person can make any instrument sexy if they play it with passion. It's the passion that makes it sexy not the instrument.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 May 00 - 04:33 PM

Rick, you weirdo, if you want to date someone on the Hammered Dulcimer thing, I can make myself available. KISS ME FOOL

And MARION----I don't recall Freud saying that, but I think former VP John Nance Garner said, "A woman is just a woman, but a banjo is a SMOKE." He said something like that anyway............

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Lanfranc
Date: 12 May 00 - 06:05 PM

I can remember feeling that Shirley Collins playing banjo and singing was sexy. It was the voice and the simplicity of the accompaniment that did it, plus I was at an impressionable age. Add her sister Dolly on portative organ and Davey Graham on guitar and .......!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 12 May 00 - 06:28 PM

Thanks for the compliment Mbo and Catspaw.

Maybe I should make a fur lined leopard skin case and strap to match.

Little Neo who can see sensuality even in a scrub board player.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 May 00 - 07:10 PM

How about some sensuality in just a plain old fat guy Neo?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 12 May 00 - 07:25 PM

Yep Catspaw, with a warm heart, a big smile and a good sense of humor I could find a whole bunch of sensuality in a plain old fat guy too.
Give him a set of spoons, and I'd just melt!

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mooh
Date: 12 May 00 - 07:53 PM

I (mis)spent part of my youth gazing at a glossy picture of Suzi Quatro in leather and a bass guitar, bit I swear I only had eyes for the base, I mean bass. Mooh.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 May 00 - 07:57 PM

Its OK Mooh....She probably appealed to your basser, uh baser, instincts. Did mine.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Guitar picker
Date: 12 May 00 - 09:14 PM

Because Banjo players tend to drool

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Racer
Date: 13 May 00 - 12:25 AM

A guitar can be in many shapes and sizes. Electric guitars can range from the exotic "flying V" to the trusty "stratocaster." Semi-acoustics have less variance than electrics, but more than acoustics. Acoustic guitars usually look about the same, but their shape is exotic in its own way.

With a banjo, you're almost always stuck with a board nailed to a drum.

-Racer

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 13 May 00 - 12:37 AM

Drool isnot necessarily the banjo players perogative Guitar Picker, my husband drools when he plays guitar and my daughter drools when she plays mandolin. I think it might be a genetic disorder though.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Metchosin
Date: 13 May 00 - 12:40 AM

my other daughter however, plays bass and she doesn't drool so maybe, poor thing, she takes after me.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 13 May 00 - 03:33 AM

Maybe this is the answer? Electric Banjos

Not to drooling, however. But it could make it more risky?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 13 May 00 - 09:11 AM

Jon W, yes she did, introduced to each other by Alan Lomax Peggy came to England to play banlo in a TV. play

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 13 May 00 - 09:13 AM

That should have said banjo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: sophocleese
Date: 13 May 00 - 10:05 AM

Since we've mentioned mandolins and hammered dulcimer what about fiddle, viola, cello and bass. Which are the sexiest in that list? They're shaped with exciting curves similar to a guitar and are woody like a guitar. Personally I find cellos exciting but it might be because they're played between the person's legs, a guitar is on the lap which is also a comfortable, intimate place to be but a fiddle and viola are perched awkwardly on a shoulder. Then again I melt at the sound of a bass.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: bbelle
Date: 13 May 00 - 02:24 PM

I never seen or heard a drummer that I thought was sexy. There's a certain sensuality about the guitar ... some men look like their making love to their guitar, which I think is very, very sexy. Regarding banjo players ... perhaps the reason they're not thought of as sexy is because they're always having to tune in midstream ... moonchild(who has never dated a banjo player but lots and lots of guitar and piano players)

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 May 00 - 02:32 PM

Fortunato. When I was 15, I was a conosseur of both Playboy AND Sing-Out.(for vastly different reasons)

The promo shot of Peggy (wish I could find it, and get one of the "computer folks" to post it), in jeans, white shirt and banjo....well, I can't go on...just too nostalgic!

On the other hand, Elke Sommer never made Sing-Out (nor played banjo) and I had no complaints there.

Rick

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 May 00 - 06:38 PM

Wasn't it A woman is only a woman, But a good Seeger is a smoke?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 13 May 00 - 10:27 PM

My old uncle used to say that it all depends on what your sexual preferences are. He was a great guitarist. That said, I often heard him declare that the banjo was first invented as an I.U.D. for Catherine The Great.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 May 00 - 10:31 PM

Great line Art!!!!

But Art, you, of all people, should know better than to start something dealing with contraceptives around here!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 13 May 00 - 10:31 PM

Art is that because Catherine's husband was so absorbed in playing his banjo that it became a good method of birth control for them?

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 13 May 00 - 11:24 PM

Hello all.. God Sex and Banjos.. Who would have thought.. How about the blond in the Dixy Chicks.. I guess being country western no ones had a look hah?????To bad she does'nt frail...Sort of Grampa Jones meets the Maraline Monroe.. There's a fantisy (or Night-mare depending how you put the whole thing together)..I think Bonnie is our best bet for Banjo of the Mounth photo in reality . With respect , Her freind Guy.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 May 00 - 11:53 PM

Neo, use some "horse sense".

The Queen's Guard

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 May 00 - 12:50 AM

Art, I thought it was because banjos were made of stretched sheep skin.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Peter T.
Date: 14 May 00 - 02:27 PM

That reminds me of a useless piece of information that stuck in my head that Charley Poole came from Spray, North Carolina. Is there really a Spray, North Carolina?

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 14 May 00 - 02:43 PM

Thanks Guy, you just made my day.

Now Rick, I know I can be really stupid even though I know I am not but..........
What are you talking about "horse sense"?
Does that mean Catherine The GREAT needed an IUD big enough for the size of a horse?
Or did you meant something else?

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 May 00 - 02:52 PM

Not anymore Peter.......Its a part of Eden, NC.....just south of Danville, Virginia on the VA/NC border.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 May 00 - 02:54 PM

Now think of that scene in Animal House when the guy on the stairs with a guitar is trying to chat up a girl with "I gave my Love a Cherry", and John Belushi rescues her by smashing the guitar on the wall.

Imagine that had been a banjo. Wouldn't have worked. Totally different situation. He'd have got the girl.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 May 00 - 03:08 PM

My wife described the banjo as being 'BORG'!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: RichM
Date: 14 May 00 - 06:07 PM

Guitars are. Banjos aren't. Don't know why, just the way it is...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 May 00 - 06:11 PM

Guitars are more romantic. Not the same thing at all.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 14 May 00 - 07:53 PM

Romance is in the eye of the romancer

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 May 00 - 07:55 PM

"Resistance is futile"

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 14 May 00 - 08:48 PM

Getting back to the scientific data ~~~ Several years ago I took a test that had to do with the most desirable female body shape (one of the more enjoyable tests that I've ever taken). The test consisted of several female body outlines with the only difference being the ratio of the hips and chest to the waist. I found out later that my answers were the same as men all over the world ~ The ratio of 7/10 was the most desirable (sexy). I applied this same theory to my instruments ~ the results are as follows:

Martin D35 Chest 9/10 Hipps 7/10

Gibson ES 125 Chest 8/10 Hipps 6/10

Classical Chest 8/10 Hipps 6/10

Fiddle Chest 8/10 Hipps 6/10

Pretty close eh'!

It was impossible to apply the formula to the banjo's because the bodies are round. I guess the waist would be the diameter however the smallest distance on the linear axis would be zero. If you devide 10 for example by 0 you can see why banjo's are not sexy at all.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 14 May 00 - 09:02 PM

Dear Captain Roberto
Not only is sex & romance in the eye of the beholder, but love can not be measured by scientific data.

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 14 May 00 - 09:07 PM

Little Neo ~ Do you mean love and sex are the same thing? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not always the case.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 14 May 00 - 10:00 PM

Dear Captain Crunch Okay, lets try this again.......
Love can not be measured by scientific data
Romance is in the eye of the romancer
And sex, is sex

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: bflat
Date: 14 May 00 - 10:19 PM

somtimes when i play my guitar it's just music and sometimes when i play my guitar i feel sexy that is when i feel the guitar is sexy...osmosis/diffusion. feels good.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 14 May 00 - 11:44 PM

Dear Little Neophyte ~ I agree with you 100 % ~~ Love cannot be measured with scientific date and romance is in the eye of the romancer (you will have to take that up with "bflat"), however, scientifica data can be used to determine shapes that men find sexy. Now, I need to go have some kind of a relationship with my classical guitar ~ the closest guitar I have to 7/10. (LOL) as Cap't Crunch rows across the lagoon ~~~~

Cap't Row Bare

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Fortunato
Date: 15 May 00 - 10:37 AM

Hey how come you guys have the sexy discussions when I'm already asleep?

fortunato

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: jeremie
Date: 15 May 00 - 11:03 AM

Hi !

Everybody knows the traditional image of a spanish man playing the guitar for a woman, not banjo. So, as a french man, I think guitar is more romantic.

jeremie

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 15 May 00 - 01:48 PM

OK! Picture this-man on his knees in a crowded room singing Roseville fair just for you. Huh-who needs guitars! And believe me clawhammer banjo players know some pretty nifty finger work!!! Of course Geoff's has a duck on it but......

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Kim C
Date: 15 May 00 - 03:46 PM

I dated a fat guy when I was in college and he was sexy. (He was a bass player.) I think John Goodman is sexy too. It's an attitude.

Of course I am biased but I think the fiddle is sexiest! Primarily because it can "say" a lot of different things, bring forth a plethora of emotions. But I have to tell you, everytime I play in public, I get a throng of men following me around. Sometimes it's amusing, sometimes not. Once I had a solo gig (without Mister) and one bloke was downright annoying. I told my teacher that if I had known the fiddle was going to give me such power over men, I might have picked it up long ago!

But then again, perhaps it was a good thing that I waited till after I was married........

I think another part of the fiddle's intrigue, for me anyway, is its age-old reputation as the Devil's Box. (If anyone can splain to me exactly WHY the fiddle was the devil's instrument, I'd appreciate it.)However, I prefer to think of it as the Angels' Strings. For me it really is a gift from God.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 May 00 - 04:52 PM

But the jewa harp is the only one that vibrates.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 15 May 00 - 10:43 PM

That should be an "s" and not an "a".

The jawas are the little guys in Star Wars who scavenge droids.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 15 May 00 - 10:57 PM

Art, the trouble with the juice harp is that they can take a chunk out of your tooth and/or bite your lip. I gave up on those little hummers years ago.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Sailor Dan
Date: 16 May 00 - 04:29 PM

Lil Neo;

Don't be upset by these guitar players, Isn't it just awful that some guy has to hold a female shaped instrument that he can strum with his fingers to feel sexy as his mind runs to exagerations.

Now having a banjo in your grasp is like having a lean mean playing machine that needs control. Either male or female.

And with that I think I will go back to work

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 16 May 00 - 06:38 PM

Why Sailer Dan, you are so insightful.
Then I guess playing a banjo is kind of like taming a wild stallion.
That sounds like a hot passionate endeavor to me.

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: black walnut
Date: 16 May 00 - 06:46 PM

keeping a banjo in tune is kind of like taming a wild stallion.

now, a dobro in the right hands....

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 16 May 00 - 07:45 PM

PICTURE THIS ~~ It is a warm late spring evening, there is a full moon and you decide to visit your girl friend. You go over to her house, ~ stand by the white picket fence. ~ toss a pebbel on her upstairs window. She opens the window and ...... you pull out your 5 string banjo and launch into "Foggy Mt. Breakdown". (now that would certainly win her heart).

Of course if you are in to OLD TIMEY you might want to try something like "Shoot the Turkey Buzzard". A tenor banjo player may play something like "Waiting For The Sunrise".

Sailor Dan ~~ when you are my age the guitar thing is about as good as it gets. I should probably confess that I also play 5 string and tenor banjo's. There are some really beautiful tunes that can be played on the banjo if you don't try to tame them by beating them to death.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 16 May 00 - 07:50 PM

No no no Cap'n! You'd play In The GoodOld Summertime, And The Band PLayed On, When You Wore a Tulip (And I Wore a Red Red Rose", "Carolina in the Morning," "Little Girl," "Lover's Lane" (by the Squirrel Nut Zippers..awesome banjo playin'!) Well that's what I'd play if I knew how to play! Banjos may not be sexy per se to some folks, but they're DEFINATELY romantic!

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: black walnut
Date: 16 May 00 - 08:09 PM

neo, you know that i know that ALL instruments are sexy and probably especially the banjo, and that i have nothing against the tuning of banjos. neigh, nothing at all. don't fret that.
(only a harp player could be so nice to a banjo)

~'nut

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 16 May 00 - 08:59 PM

black walnut, you hit it on the noggin.
All instruments are sexy because they reflects the musician behind it who are naturally sexy.
Captain Crunch should do some scientific research on that theory.

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 May 00 - 09:28 PM

Let's hear it for the ukelele!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Sailor Dan
Date: 16 May 00 - 10:09 PM

Hey Capt Bob

Are you older then Methuselah,, I must be near that age and believe me, sometimes you have to tame the stallion to have contol. You dont lose anything by gaining control and the fire is still there even though you make real sweet sounds. Even sneaks out once in a while.

But instead of Foggy Mt, you could play, We'll meet again sweetheart, or Greensleeves or the flower of mexico, or Wheels, or Raindrops keep falling on my head. Lots of sweet things.

They tell me this drum with a stick nailed to it can really make sweet sounds.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 May 00 - 10:46 AM

MEEBO-------

"Banjos are....DEFINITELY romantic."

I'm beginning to get a handle on what's wrong with your love life............

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 17 May 00 - 12:16 PM

There ain't nothin' wrong with my love life, Spaw, and I'd advice you to lay off, pally boy.

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 17 May 00 - 01:28 PM

Spaw & Mbo, I want you two to make nice. Mbo, get a dictionary. Catspaw, go hammer your dulcimer.

McGrath, I always thought that men found those topless beauties strumming ukeleles and wearing grass skirts sexy. Another vote for attitude?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 17 May 00 - 01:40 PM

"Topless beauties strumming ukuleles and wearing grass skirts." Hmmm... you think it was the ukuleles that made them sexy?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 17 May 00 - 01:47 PM

L'il Neo,

The banjo, having all those polished chrome surfaces, is the ONLY instrument that CAN reflect the musician's behind. Kind of like a rear view mirror--right?

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 17 May 00 - 01:50 PM

L'il Neo,

The banjo, having all those polished chrome surfaces, is the ONLY instrument that CAN reflect the musician's behind. Kind of like a rear view mirror--right?

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 17 May 00 - 01:52 PM

I think the range of expression available on guitar is much wider. Try playing a convincing version of Bessame' Mucho or The Girl from Ipanema on banjo....see what I mean? Now, when it comes to Turkey in the Straw, I admit the banjo wins hands down. But have you ever heard of using Turkey in the Straw to coax somebody into the sack? I mean, outside of Catspaw using it on the local girls when he was at Berea?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 17 May 00 - 02:11 PM

Art, how did you know I used it to put my lipstick on?

Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 17 May 00 - 03:25 PM

Art - Double post/2 cheeks?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 May 00 - 03:49 PM

Well the thought of in a grass skirt is not one that had ever occurred to me...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 May 00 - 04:08 PM

Actually I didn't use Turkey in the Straw.....I think it was The Unquiet Grave as we went at it on John G. Fee's gravesite.

And Meebo....stick with guitar and don't be serenadin' with a banjo iffn' ya want to actually make use of yer tool....No, not the tuning wrench.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 17 May 00 - 06:17 PM

There is a good and quite telling article in the current issue of THE OLD TIME HERALD (Vol. 7, No. 4, Summer 2000 that asks many musicians about their first instruments and how they remember those. Even the banjo players and the fiddlers and the mandolin players ("mannolin" as Bill Monroe used to call it) remembered a GUITAR with more affection than the instrument on which they achived their notoriety. Even old $10.00 STELLA guitars, like my first one, were mentioned with great fondness and nostalgia. Many of the reasons are similar to ones posted in this thread.

The article by Gail Gillespie is titled MUSICAL AFFAIRS OF THE HEART : OLD TIME GUITAR TALES. There will be other articles in future issues with the other instruments as the star, but the guitar was just about everyone's first instrument and therefore seems uppermost in folks' minds and hearts.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 17 May 00 - 07:57 PM

McGrath ~ I'm sorry that I failed to use the scientific approach on the "Ukulele". I have five uke's and two of them rate right down there with the banjo ~ both the pineapple shape and the banjo shape are ZERO'S sex appeal. However, my NOBILITY UKE measures in with a:

7/10 Chest ~~~~ and a 7.5/10 hips

according to the formula the Nobility Uke has the most sexy shape of all of my instruments.

There seem to be a lot of banjo players out there who are stallion "tamers". I actually wonder how many of you have ever attempted to "tame" a stallion?

I have owned six horses over the past several years. The 2nd happiest day of my life was when we bought horses for the kids. The HAPPIEST DAY of my life was when we got rid of the last horse. BANJO PLAYERS TAKE THIS TO HEART maybe the happiest day of your life lies ahead.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 17 May 00 - 11:00 PM

Captain Crunch,
Do you take a scientific approach to your wife too? Taking her measurements and comparing them to your instruments?

Just wondering,
Little Neo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Sailor Dan
Date: 17 May 00 - 11:13 PM

Capt Bob

As a horse owner, YOU should know that you dont tame a stallion, you learn to control him. As a controller the happiest day of your life is the day you ride him under control knowing full well that all hell could and would break loose if you relinquish that control.

Just like a banjo and a boat, all full of piss and vinegar but thoroughly enjoyable under control

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 17 May 00 - 11:18 PM

Of course I do Little Neophyte ~ actually all men do this but do not tell their wives about it. To keep it a secret we use the hands to do the measuring. The span (about 4 inches) is the distance across the palm of the hand. The inch is the width of the thumb. six inches is the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. By moving the hand around a bit a feller can get all of these measurements and the wife never has a clue about whats going on.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: zander (inactive)
Date: 18 May 00 - 10:30 AM

Alan, Shirley Collins is sexy, full stop.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Kim C
Date: 18 May 00 - 01:06 PM

Drums are sexy. There's something very primal about a good, rhythmic beat.........

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 18 May 00 - 01:50 PM

Sailor Dan

Of course I know that full well Sailor Dan. Why do you think I put the "~~~~" around "tame". Earlier in the thread some of the folks said that you had to "treat aa banjo like a wild stallion and "TAME" them". Apparently none of them had ever been around horses before.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 18 May 00 - 10:24 PM

Simple question. Just imagine to be IN THE PLACE OF THAT INSTUMENT, regardless whether you're male or female. A banjo is a thing hanging from someone's neck. A guitar may be too but often it is hugged...EMBRACED...FROM BEHIND(!!!) Forget about the shape - that is only to make it more comfortable.

To guitar players: ever tried to handle someone the same way you handle your guitar? You can try the western style with its (her/his) waist on your right knee (easier to beginners) or the spanish style on your left knee (more acrobatic). Maybe it's not a good idea to use a bottleneck. DO NOT USE A CAPODASTER! Prefer fingerpicking to plectrum techiques but consider using picks (some like it harder).

A joke? I'm absolutely not sure. To me girls with cellos are very sexy (even when I see them carrying their instruments on their backs) and I remember of getting a little jealous when I saw my girl friend falling in love with a bassist (she ignored the guitar player completely). Just see that from the point of view I explained above...

Also, learning to play the guitar mostly urges you to learn singing, too, and that ist an additional factor. A guitar enables you to perform a song alone, without any additional accompaniment, a banjo much less. A banjo is played from inside a band, and only in bluegrass music its player is the 'primus inter pares'.

Joerg

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: BanjoRay
Date: 19 May 00 - 12:11 PM

Girls with cellos are very sexy? Wasn't it Sir Thomas (Tommy) Beecham the conductor who pointed at a lady cello player and shouted "You've got God's gift to mankind between your legs and all you can do is scratch it!"

Cheers

Ray

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 19 May 00 - 12:16 PM

Hey, you bet girls with cellos is sexy! Cellos is sexy! Girls are sexy! Girls with instruments is sexy! Girls with saxophones is sexy saxy city!

--mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 19 May 00 - 12:22 PM

Mbo, Cello means the musical instrument not cellophane.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Kaleb
Date: 19 May 00 - 12:23 PM

Preach on brother MBO!!!
There's nothing sexier than girl playing a kick-ass fiddle tune.

-Kaleb

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 19 May 00 - 12:28 PM

You got it, Brother Kaleb! And I could mention one or two other instruments besides sax and guitar that girls ROCK on! ;-)

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 21 May 00 - 08:33 PM

Mbo, you're right. Girls with saxophones ARE sexy (besides the fact that any girl making music instead of only liking it is sexy anyway). But WHY??? A clarinet is not the same (same mouthpiece, so don't tell me the old jokes again). What's the difference between a saxophone and a clarinet (or a recorder or any other instrument that also can be considered to be s***'d YAWN!) Any idea?

Joerg

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mbo
Date: 21 May 00 - 09:09 PM

Dunno Joerg, but clarinet was one of the other instruments I was talking about...

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Irish Rover
Date: 22 May 00 - 03:55 PM

You Guys Jeez, It's not the insturment itself that's sexy it's how you touch it. you could have the most sexy person in the world interested in you, but touch her wrong and you're alone. same is true of insturments.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 22 May 00 - 10:52 PM

YES, Irish Rover, I think you see what I was trying to explain. The question "Why are guitars SEXY and banjos not" means "Why do we think being touched like a guitar is the right way to do it, and why can't the guitar be replaced by a banjo?". WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? This difference seems obvious to me for guitars and banjos. Personally I notice an even stronger effect with cellos: A girl with a cello transfers to me an impression of ACTIVE tenderness without any bitchy allusion, and that is what really works. (That doesn't mean I object to girls behaving bitchy when they seem to do it with their heart - this works nearly the same way.) I was completely confused by Mbo mentioning saxophones because (TO ME!) there is also a difference between a girl playing a saxophone and a girl playing a clarinet, and I am unable to figure out, why. Well, this might be a very a quite personal impression, but are there people who share it or similar ones? And is there something common that applies to the difference between guitars and banjos, saxophones and clarinets or whatever? Can I learn from musical instruments how humans want to be touched? Even better: how to tell humans that I want to touch them the right way?

Joerg

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Bill D
Date: 23 May 00 - 11:02 AM

ah...indeed...touch & technique mean more than which instrument..Think about a banjo being frailed,,,then about some gentle, tasteful melody pickin'...Then imagine a guitar being whanged in some beginners version of "The Sloop John B", as opposed to a soft, finger picked love song where the fingers sort of caress the strings...Even a properly done mandolin vibrato can be quite sensual....

so, with that said, I am off to practice triple-tonguing my recorder...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 24 May 00 - 09:21 PM

Mhm, Bill D, I think you are on the right way to do some music of the kind I'm interested in if you just remember that it's not speed that does the trick but the feeling ;). (By the way - what is triple-tounging? I'm a guitar player so how should I know?) However, what you are saying is confusing me again. You don't change the instrument, you change the final result. Is a guitar more sexy than a banjo BEFORE you play it or AFTERWARDS - i.e. once you know what music can be done to/with it?

Joerg

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Hilary in NZ
Date: 25 May 00 - 07:36 AM

i s'pose all this doesn't look too good for bodhran players. (although I do have some rather phallic looking beaters)

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 25 May 00 - 09:28 PM

Non sequitur, Hilary (I'm trying HTML now, let's see how it works). A bodhran is just an example that being beaten does not always mean being touched wrong. (Oww!! I can only hope that I'm not beaten for this myself.)

( Let's quit joking for a moment:

There's rhytm but there's also RHYTM! Some are quite easy but there are some you have to put your whole soul into just to avoid to be as boring as so much else, and when the conditions are wrong and you can't get the right feeling at that very moment you will fail. I've seen bodhran players BENDING OVER their instruments in deep concentration, CARESSING them with their left hand, needing their WHOLE STRENGTH to keep their right hand moving, and I saw ECSTASY on their faces when they experienced MANAGING THE PROBLEM by that. Would have been much sexier if they just had been female.

Back to joking now: )

Well, if you misuse your phallic looking beaters to misuse your bodhran...

Joerg

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 25 May 00 - 09:32 PM

It worked !!!!!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: bflat
Date: 25 May 00 - 10:04 PM

I had the pleasure of watching and listening to an intimate concert of the talented Michael Smith. As he worked his guitar his pectoral muscles moved with the rythem. Never saw this before in a performance. It was sensual to say the least. PAUSE....just thinking about it tells me why a guitar is sexy.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Hilary
Date: 25 May 00 - 10:21 PM

Joerg -

I think that makes me feel better...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Joerg
Date: 26 May 00 - 10:57 PM

Hilary -

I think that makes me feel better...

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Hilary
Date: 27 May 00 - 03:48 AM

i love the way this thread has WAY the most postings of anything on today - 147 and I think the nearest was the sicko headstone thread with 100. Amazing what the word SEXY will do in a title.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: lajka
Date: 27 May 00 - 05:14 AM

*smiles*

The taste is diffrent. Me, myself is more intressted in the musican,if he are sexy or not......

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mooh
Date: 27 May 00 - 07:43 AM

Guest, Hilary,

What's so sicko about the headstone thread? Hardly anybody took it as an opportunity to take the Ebenezer Scrooge route and think about changing their lives so that it's reflected on their headstone. The way some folks act nowadays, it seems they think little about how they will be remembered and memorialized. That aside, 100 responses ain't nothing compared to this thread...

I prefer guitars, but that's me. I once had brief possession of an Orpheum tenor banjo with the sexiest fingerboard inlay that really turned my crank, and a hide head that felt divine. Shoulda kept it.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Sailor Dan
Date: 27 May 00 - 09:00 PM

Moooh,

maybe you should have kept that Orpheum, then you would have been the sexiest of the guys here

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Mooh
Date: 28 May 00 - 09:21 AM

Sailor Dan, I do have a picture of me with it somewhere. My good woman didn't like the sound of it (or any other banjo for that matter) so I wasn't exactly encouraged to keep it. Funny, that's never stopped me before.

Now a guitjo (like the Deering) would be a welcome addition to the household, but maybe that's not sexy either way.

Still grazing for a banjo. Moooooh.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Spider Tom
Date: 29 May 00 - 06:49 AM

Are there any laws against this rediculous misuse of the word "sexy"
Lumps of wood or steel bronze and wood can't by their very nature be sexy,
they can be plucked fondeled strummed or splintered but they can't be sexy (well maybe in a crutchless gig bag, or a black leather shoulder strap)
But you'd want to be desperate, If you were there is a problem with either, one has a hole but no skin and the other has skin but no hole, maybe two highly oversexxed instruments could be mated and we could breed,guitarjos or bantars.GET A LIFE *GB* Spider Tom (snuggling up to a small curvey guitar)

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 06:30 AM

Having seen on TV last night Billy Connolly and Ricky Tomlinson both 'out' themselves as banjo players, I tend to think it is the player rather than the instrument..

Interestingly, Billy Connolly expressed a great admiration for Eric Clapton and his wish for his name and photo to appear to appear on Eric's fridge......

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 07:29 AM

Perhaps I should explain the last bit.

Billy saw a signed message to Eric, from that other well-known banjo playing sex symbol Bob Marley, saying "I shot the sheriff".

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 02:25 PM

Finding anything LESS sexy than a banjo would be quite a challenge...

Why is this thread over 150 posts long and still going?

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: flattop
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 02:29 PM

How about a harmonica?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 02:39 PM

Take off, eh? Harmonicas are dead sexy! The more harmonicas the better!

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: flattop
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 03:05 PM

Only a pervert would find and instrument that you suck on and drool into sexy.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 03:09 PM

Uh huh. It takes one to know one!

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: flattop
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 04:01 PM

Such profound wit! Next you'll be resorting to name calling, Little Shit Hawk. Why do I feel like I've been pierced through the ear with a Marine Band reed?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 06:58 PM

I absolutely love setting you up for comebacks like that, flatso! Hee! Hee! How's the weather down East?

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Oct 01 - 07:18 PM

Yeah, there's nothing sexier, Little Hawk, than a harmonica player sucking back yesterdays phlegm-filled bacteria colonies that had been doubling in number every 20 minutes until his spittle cooled and dried.

The weather is great here in North Sydney. I watched three cruise ships leave the harbour today. Amazing to look out the kitchen window and see a big white hulk moving slowly over the waves.

Not having a phone installed is great too. No one bothers me all day. Walking to the library to insult you is a bit of a nusiance but well worth the trip.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Oct 01 - 07:23 PM

Oops, that's me, flattop.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 22 Oct 01 - 08:15 PM

Based on sound and shape of instrument, it is a little like comparing Betty Boop with Jessica Rabbit.

:::giggle!:::

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Stev
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 12:01 AM

Let's face it, a guitar's not the image enhancer it used to be. I'm concerned I look like an idiot most of the time I'm walkin down the street case in tow. I'm puttin my chips on my little SS-10 open-back. She caught my eye up there on the rack from the get go and we've been takin advantage of each other ever since.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 12:12 AM

I agree flattop, that not having a phone is a blessing in disguise. Not having a computer is too, truth be told. The happiest week I can remember in a long time was spent in Cuba sans phones and computers.

It's nice to know that you are willing to walk all the way to the library to insult me. I'm flattered. I'm only willing to walk half that distance to insult you. Fortunately, the computer is here in easy reach.

North Sydney, eh? Neat. I'd love to see the ships going in and out too.

Now, the hramonicas...well, I have developed a technique which greatly reduces the amount of spit going into the harmonica...almost none at all...but germs? Lots of germs! Yes, and they reproduce at a shocking rate too! But do I care? No. However, I don't like playing other people's harmonicas, for that very reason, nor them playing mine either.

Look, let me know when you get a decent haircut (so I can be seen in your company), and I will see if I can make it down for a visit and sponge off you for a couple of months. It'll be like old times! I'll play all those great song parodies that you love so much and you can show me around town to all the hot spots in North Sydney.

Beauty, eh?

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Gillie
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 10:56 AM

What about banjolins and banjalaies?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Stev
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 08:56 PM

yep, I was banjalaid once.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,SINSULL
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 09:08 PM

Jed Marum with banjo...end of discussion!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 09:12 PM

Now, Mary, don't assume you can end a discussion on Mudcat quite that easily... :-)

Sorry to say it, but I don't even know who Jed Marum is!

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,SINSULL
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 09:19 PM

Now whose fault is that? But I doubt you would find him sexy...then again, I don't really know who Little Hawk is.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 09:33 PM

That's the whole problem with virtual reality right there. Well, I'm a thin Canadian folksinger (or maybe ex-folksinger) who likes Dylan, Baez, and Buffy, and studies a lot of spiritual stuff, but that still doesn't tell you much.

I've had a lifetime of fascination with North American Indian history and culture, and I believe in reincarnation.

Still doesn't tell you much.

Ah, what the heck. I don't know who you are either.

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Bluebeard
Date: 23 Oct 01 - 10:59 PM

Well...somehow I missed this earlier discussion, on the annual trip back to the UK I think. Been playin' 5 string banjo most of my life. Met lots of women as a musician. It ain't the instrument you play, it's the person who plays and the way they play. Too many people think one can only play bluegrass or clawhammer on a banjo. Pick it and stroke it on a song like "The Lakes of Pontchartrain". Sexy as any instrument on earth!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 10:08 AM

I suppose you could reduce the spit but keep the germ count high by playing it with a lower orifice, Little Hawk.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 01:03 PM

I never cease to be amazed at your lurid imagination, flattop! How does the ocean look today?

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 05:11 PM

I think that guitars are generally associated with romantic mood music and banjos are not. The sensual music of the bossa nova, the French chanson, the Spanish classical guitar, the South American or Mexican romantic tune has a lot to do with the chordal harmonies and the lyrical melody played on the instrument.

Lyricism can be played on a banjo but is not often done. Generally, the sound is exciting and not conducive to the easy soft strumming of a guitar which in my view is generally sexier.

There are certain love songs that can be played on the banjo that might be construed as being sexy but even then, the instrument quality in it's timbre just doesn't quite match the lyricism of the guitar.

Violins and guitars tend to the kind of music that is considered romantic and sexy whereas the banjo and accordian and fiddles are fun, exciting and not particularly sexy with perhaps the exception of the French chanson or the Slavic and Russian tunes played on the accordian. One musical instrument style refers to candlelight and the other to bright stage lights or a rustic back porch.

Of course this is gross generalization. The biggest question has yet to be answered, sexy to whom?

Frank

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Gillie
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 08:38 AM

Sarah Grey can make the banjo look sexy!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 01:16 PM

The ocean looks like sarah, gray.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 02:11 PM

Sorry, Little Hawk, I should have said, 'blowing it with a lower orifice.' I still don't believe in all those tricks that you claim to perform.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 02:30 PM

Being sorry isn't good enough. I want a cash settlement.

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 03:11 PM

Money, money, money. Always a mercenary, Little Hawk.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:28 PM

flattop - You scum-sucking varmint! You obscure, profane, incompetent wretch! You have all the charm of a vulture perched on a dead pig's ass. All decent people scrupulously avoid your company, and disdain your witless attempts at humour. You are lower than smegma. You are vile, mundane, and utterly without class. To actually insult you is impossible, because nothing can be said about you so awful that it is not true. You, sir, are filth. Unregenerate filth.

How's that? Better? I await your next missive from the library, assuming they have the bad judgement to let you in the door again...

*(visitors to Mudcat should be cautioned that these ongoing exchanges between myself and flattop bear little or no relation to the other material on this or any other thread, and should not be taken as pertinent to the general scene in any way whatsoever...)*

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: hesperis
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 06:41 PM

Sigh. "these ongoing exchanges" bear little or no relation to anything at all, much less anything even half-reasonable.

Men will be boys... immature ones, at that.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 01:47 PM

Must have been the word 'money.' Don't like people knowing about your secret desires, Little Hawk?

A doorknob can be sexier than a harmonica, well maybe a keyhole, depending on your preference and you frame of mind. Are you spending a lot of time staring at the keyhole these days?

I was thinking last night that some flies have 9 lives - as I chased one around the apartment. It's not just kats.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Gillie
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 04:19 PM

To Guest 01.16pm 25th inst

THAT wasn't nice!!!!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 04:33 PM

That "Guest" was flattop. He's slumming at the library, and keeps forgetting to identify himself.

There are more flies where that one came from, flattop, so behave yourself. My secret desires have never wandered in the direction of keyholes, but there is a line in one Dylan song about that, actually...

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: CarolC
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 07:53 PM

"all the charm of a vulture perched on a dead pig's ass"

I really, really like that one, LH. Although I probably wouldn't apply it to flattop myself. You should hear him sing like Tom Waits sometime. What could be more charming than that?

And I'm really enjoying trying to come up with a mental image to go with "slumming at the library". That's beautiful imagery, is what that is.

On the question of banjos vs. guitars and sexines, I think it really depends on who's playing it. For instance, I don't think I would regard Burl Ives as being sexy on either instrument. But Patrick Stewart would be sexy playing anything, even a washtub bass or a kazoo.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Genie
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 10:18 PM

I think Sophoclese has the right idea. Ladies, would you rather be shaped like a guitar or a banjo?!
Gents, would you rather hold a woman shaped like a guitar or one shaped like a banjo?
I've even heard some speculate that men designed guitars to look like women!

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 04:53 PM

It's not in the shape its in all in the plucking.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 05:12 PM

That's probably why guitars sound so good...because they are shaped like women. Natural resonance, harmony, and balance.

Carol, you are right. Patrick Stewart would look sexy on any instrument. Maybe Martin should do a "Patrick Stewart" model...

As for Burl Ives, he wouldn't look sexy even if perched atop a female orangutan....which in his case would at least appear to be an almost incestuous act! (Hee! Hee!) He did have a great voice though.

Pluck off, Shambles! :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: SINSULL
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 05:56 PM

SINSULL tells all! I had a crush on Burl Ives as a young girl. And still find him very earthy and sexy as Big Daddy! Have fun with that LH. Must have been the banjo.

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: CarolC
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 06:18 PM

That's very interesting, SINSULL. Maybe the Burl Ives/sexiness thing has to do with context. My early memories of him are as the voice of the snowman in one of those claymation Christmas specials from the 1960s, which puts him (permanently, I'm afraid) in the category of 'too wholesome to be sexy'.

I will 'fess up on a little secret, though. The only time I ever felt the hots for a musician was when I saw a guy playing a long necked Seeger banjo. That long neck really showed the muscles of his arm off to good advantage, and the way he held it made me want to know what it felt like to be that banjo. So I guess I'll have to put myself in the banjos being sexy (sometimes) camp.

Guitars have an effect on me too, but it's more of a pulling at my heartstrings kind of thing rather than lust.

This thread is almost 200 posts long. Should there be a part two?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 06:36 PM

Carol - The danger in a part 2 is that the insult war between myself and flattop would become truncated, as it were, and possibly fall through the cracks and be lost altogether! A very disturbing prospect...

However, I can see your point.

I don't believe that thing about "the only time I ever felt the hots for a musician". "ONLY"???? Come on!

SINSULL - Really??? Hmmm. Okay... Well, I agree that he played the part of Big Daddy with real panache, so, yeah...I guess that makes sense. I've just always thought he looked so much like a well-manicured orangutan that I couldn't help grabbing the opportunity for that joke. I have a warped sense of humour, but I'm Canadian, eh? You have to make allowances for us in the Great White North...the long winters drive us all slowly mad.

Did you ever see the Burl Ives film with Ricardo Montalban in it? It was a serious movie about a disturbed teenager and his drug-addicted mother. Montalban played a small-time hood and drug dealer. Can't remember the name of the film.

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: CarolC
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 06:48 PM

I'm a freak, LH. What can I say?

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Oct 01 - 10:51 PM

You're in good company!

- LH

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 29 Oct 01 - 01:22 PM

This thread is getting long and unyieldy. Considering what people find sexy perhaps I should not contribute to it's elongation.

Since SINSULL had enough bad taste to admit that she found Burl Ives sexy, there might even be hope that a spit soaked harmonica could turn on a perfectly perverted person.

_____________

'Never play Ping-Pong with a mental patient because it's all we do and we will kill you.' - from Amy Hempel's story, Today Will Be a Quiet Day

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: The Shambles
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 04:21 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 07:34 AM

I'd rather hold a woman shaped like a woman than a woman shaped like anything else.

I've seen some ugly guitars but never an ugly banjo.

eric

Subject: RE: Why are guitars SEXY and banjos, not?
From: Col K
Date: 27 Oct 05 - 07:36 AM

200
And neither are sexy