The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46306   Message #691789
Posted By: Knitpick
17-Apr-02 - 12:14 AM
Thread Name: What Banjo Do You Play?
Subject: RE: What Banjo Do You Play?
Main banjo is a B&D Silver Belle, converted to five-string from my late uncle's beat-up tenor (so beat-up that we had a baggy over the peghead to catch the pearl as it fell out). I also have an S. S. Stewart Princess model, strung with nylon strings. Loverly sound, that. Third is a no-name fretless with a light shell (Stewart style) and steel strings. Fourth is a fretless made by George Mathews of Birmingham (England), strung with nylon. Last is a Frank Proffitt-style fretless in cherry, made by Alberto Vazquez and myself back in the 70s. It is strung with steel or nylon as my mood suits -- currently steel, I think.

My tenors are fewer in number -- a resonated Orpheum with a 12" head and a May Belle open-back tenor. I also have a Goldtone guitar-banjo. Kinda plunky and funky, but fun.

I have a Vega Tube-a-phone banjo mandolin I bought on my honeymoon. I don't currently have any banjo-ukes, though.

I also have two banjos I recently acquired as stock to sell or trade. One of them is a Gibson neck on a non-Gibson shell that is a wonderful-sounding banjo. It'd sell for a lot if it were a true Gibson (it'd be an RB-100, I think), but I'll probably only make back what I paid for it as is. Too bad, it's a wonderful banjo, both resonated and open-back.

The other for-sale is a Gibson trap-door banjo-mandolin that's coming from Florida, but isn't here yet. I bought it through Ebay, as I do many instruments. I'm hoping it's as nice as the similar banjo I traded for the Mathews fretless.

Bob Clayton