Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?

Subject: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 01:41 AM

I have seen pictures of some Tenor and Plectrum Banjos that have a lever on the bottom of the banjo (bottom when being held in the playing position). It seems to be connected to the dowel. What is it for? My first thought is that it is sort of banjo Whammy bar.

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: GUEST,Maurice
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 06:18 AM

I believe it's a mute, or damper, to soften the sound. It's positioned there so you can operate it with your knee without interrupting your performance. When you move the lever it brings a felt pad into contact with the underside of the head (ie skin)....pity they don't put them on bodhrans...

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 10:24 AM

Maurice,

Thanks. I take it they weren't very common. Do you know if they were manufactured that way or was this added later?

Steve

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 02:40 PM

Hi Steve. They were pretty common on the Bacon and Day, and most 'upper -end' Gretsch banjos. I doubt they got used much by the pros who could actually afford those instruments though ('cause learnin' to play quietly is one of the skills needed to BE a pro), also they tended to put the banjo out of tune. Just press you finger into the underside of the head (under the bridge,) and you'll see what I mean.

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: A Wandering Minstrel
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 03:49 PM

Actually it opens the escape hatch when you launch into Duelling Banjos for the third time :)

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 16 Jun 02 - 01:51 AM

Rick,

Why would one ever want to play quietly????

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 16 Jun 02 - 10:29 AM

Right Steve!!

Actually, they might have been used in recording sessions. The early machines couldn't handle the sharpness of the tenor banjo very well....made the cutting needle jump. Most of the banjoists started switching to guitar in the twenties anyway. I'm not talking about "Dixieland" per se, but more the 'legit' orchestra style.

I saw a Gretsch FIVE string with a lever-mute one time. Now THAT was bizarre.

Rick

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Lucius
Date: 16 Jun 02 - 03:40 PM

...and here I thought that you were supposed to pull it and count to three before tossing it!!

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 16 Jun 02 - 11:16 PM

Rick,

I would guess that was a tenor converted to a five string.

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: GUEST,NicoleCastle
Date: 17 Jun 02 - 08:19 PM

Rick,

Regarding old banjos, wouldn't your classical banjo from the 20's and earlier be typically unfretted anyway? If said lever did knock the banjo out of tune a bit, then the player could just adjust their intonation.

Or do I have my (dubious) banjo history out of whack?

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Dead Horse
Date: 18 Jun 02 - 03:02 PM

It's a doodad for getting boy scouts out of horses hooves!

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: banjomad (inactive)
Date: 29 Dec 02 - 04:55 AM

I play tenor banjo, what do the words ' quiet ' and ' subtle ' mean.
Cheers, Dave

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: Dead Horse
Date: 29 Dec 02 - 07:50 AM

On second thoughts, having seen our banjo player in action, it must be a spit valve.

Subject: RE: Lever on Bottom of Tenor Banjos?
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 29 Dec 02 - 01:53 PM

They had a different tone color. Eddie Peabody used them. Actually, they probably were made to blend with other accoustic instruments. The plectrum banjo could overpower a guitarist or a violinist. They were never used much or if at all on tenor banjos since this was the instrument of choice for the early loud jazz bands. In the very early days of recordings with the spindle and the horn, the banjo was one of the few instruments that could cut through. When the recording industry became more sophisticated, the guitar took over. Eddie Lang (Salvatore Mansano) was probably responsible single-handedly for the demise of the tenor banjo. Lang was the original innovator of the jazz guitar. There was no one playing quite like him in those days. Listen to what he did with making the Paul Whiteman band swing or the Dorsey brothers or Bix Beiderbecke in the way that Freddie Greene was to do later with Count Basie or Allen Ruess with Benny Goodman.   Django listened to Lang and developed his style with Grapelli after Venuti and Lang. Django's first instrument was the banjo...but not the tenor. It was a six-string ala Johnny St. Cyr.

Frank