The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #89944 Message #3142027
Posted By: Geoff the Duck
25-Apr-11 - 11:11 AM
Thread Name: 7-string banjo
Subject: RE: 7-string banjo
The Windsor you mention was a fairly standard arrangement on English made 5-string banjos. The string disappearing down a brass tube and emerging at the point an American style 5-string has a peg sticking out of the side of the neck. The skin of the banjo on these designs is stretched over a cast iron "drum" fitted within a wooden shell. The arrangement is usually referred to as a zither banjo.
The tuning machine heads in banks of three would have been a standard manufactured item made for guitar builders and were not made in sets with two on the plate. In later banjos, you will occasionally see a plate with two machine heads on one side and three at the other. These would have been custom manufactured for the job.
As for irony, we usually have to guess, especially if it is not obvious that a comment refers to an earlier posting. It is an old thread, which I read at the time (2006), so on this occasion didn't bother re-reading the earlier part as I was responding to Adam's question. I sometimes helps to quote the earlier comment and add a manual smiley (Wasn't he a Spanish gardener ;¬) ...).
Quack!
GtD.