Hi Kendall. Louis (Grampa) Jones has always been one of my favourite musicians. He didn't record a lot with guitar but you should hear him play and sing in Jimmie Rodgers' style. Superb - and a great yodeller too.

As to his banjo sound: Every picture I've seen has him playing a resonator Vega. Sometimes a VegaVox, other times a Deluxe Vegaphone. Either of these models will give a LOT of sustain - which an open back banjo won't. He played downstrokes with his index finger and then "brushed" with the back of the nails of his other fingers before hitting the fifth string with his thumb. Occasionaly at the end of a phrase he would play it: Index, thumb on 2nd string, brush, thumb on 5th string. The style that many folks play today replaces the "brush" with a second index finger played note. It's less "mellow" and more "percussive".

Because I play a lot of "3 finger" style, I also use a resonator (on a Japanese knock-off Gibson Mastertone from the early 70s) so when I frail, it sounds closer to Grampa Jones, than say Mudcat's Arnie Naiman (who is one of my favourite banjoists). Anyway, hope that's a bit of help. It's in the "brush and the resonator".

Rick