tenor banjo

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 10:38 PM

Actually you clicked three times.

Don

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,Maurice
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 03:14 PM

...sorry, I must have clicked twice...

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,Maurice
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 03:13 PM

When they were still known as the Ronnie Drew group he had a harmony tenor (the one with a sort of guitar headstock and tuners). I used to have a calfskin head but it was inclined to get a bit soft when the weather wasn't right. Now I use "Fibreskin" which is a synthetic substitute and works well for me. I also use a thing called a "tone enhancer" which clamps to the strings behind the bridge and to my ear improves the tone quite a bit. You can move it about and if you bring it close to the bridge it works as a mute.(But it might not fit if your bridge is low) Have a look at the Stewart MacDonald website.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,Maurice
Date: 29 Jun 08 - 03:12 PM

When they were still known as the Ronnie Drew group he had a harmony tenor (the one with a sort of guitar headstock and tuners). I used to have a calfskin head but it was inclined to get a bit soft when the weather wasn't right. Now I use "Fibreskin" which is a synthetic substitute and works well for me. I also use a thing called a "tone enhancer" which clamps to the strings behind the bridge and to my ear improves the tone quite a bit. You can move it about and if you bring it close to the bridge it works as a mute.(But it might not fit if your bridge is low) Have a look at the Stewart MacDonald website.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Zen
Date: 28 Jun 08 - 01:32 PM

Just changed my strings again today and adjusted the gauges a little.

I have a 17 fret short scale tenor with a fiberskyn head (11"). Gauges are now 12, 20W, 28W, 40W nickel strings in GDAE tuning and I get a quite sweet but earthy sound with that setup. I usually buy electric guitar D'Addario strings loose in the local shop and trim the balls out so as to get the gauges I like (although I may may get Newtones the next time I put a sizeable order in with Malcolm Newton as I use them on several other instruments).

Zen

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Gulliver
Date: 25 Jun 08 - 08:57 AM

I've got a natural skin head (calfskin maybe?) on my old Framus standard-length tenor banjo. It has a nice deep mellow sound and is loud. I use a nylon Dunlop .73 or sometimes .60 pick--harder picks bring out a brighter tone. It sounds best with strings not too old--I change mine about every 4 weeks.

I'd imagine the head (my banjo's is pretty big)would affect the sound more than the string gauge (I use .10 .14 .24 .36 or thereabouts).

I've seen some tenor banjo players pad the inside of the head with a piece of foam, like American old-time banjo players do with their five-string banjos, to deaden the sound somewhat. Another thing that affects the sound is if one plays with the little finger resting on the head, again it deadens the sound a little, depending on the pressure used.

Sully used .08 .12 .22 .37 strings on standard-length.

Don

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Deeps
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 03:22 PM

Barney played a standard length (19 fret) tenor banjo until quite recently. Since suffering a stroke he has now switched to a short scale tenor banjo (17 fret) to make life easier. He never played a plectrum banjo (22 fret) to my knowledge, the scale length of a plectrum banjo makes playing fiddle music too much of a stretch. Barney uses mandolin fingering using mainly the first three fingers to cover the frets, many Irish style tenor banjo players use all four fingers. He has always employed a plectrum (currently a Jim Dunlop 60mm nylon pick) in his banjo playing, not a thimble as popularised by Tony 'Sully' Sullivan.

The Music Room and Eagle Music both stock heavy guage Irish Tenor banjo strings suitable for short neck tenors.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Stringsinger
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 12:52 PM

Tenor banjos are versatile. They can play Irish, Chinese or trad jazz, even contemporary or modern jazz. I like the Ome banjos the best because they maintain their sound at different volume levels. I like Bacon and Days although they are often more cumbersome than the Omes because of their set-up. They are older banjos and don't play as smoothly as the Omes. The old Paramounts, Orpheums and earlier banjos have their own distinctive sounds. The plectrum banjos tuned like a five-string in C tuning without the fifth string have closer voicings in the chords so they have a different musical characteristic than the tenor which is open-voiced and emanated from the violins and viola players of the early
Twenties for jazz bands. (the tuning was the same).

Irish tenor banjo is a recent development obviously taken from American trad jazz single-string players such as Harry Reser or Elmer Snowden and applied to the reels, jigs, etc.
Its use is usually as a monophonic relationship to other single-line playing and not used as a chordal instrument in most cases as is the octave mandolin or Irish bouzouki.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Zen
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 12:19 PM

Looks like a standard scale length Paragon tenor in this 1973 clip of the Octopus Jig. I also saw them do the same back in the late 60s in London.

Great stuff!

Zen

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Marc Bernier
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 09:06 AM

He certainly played a plectrum banjo in the early days. If your looking to recreate his sound, Don't change your strings for about a year and play every day, thing strings will eventually develop that "earthy" growling sound. The secret is not to break a string at that point. I believe he also played with a thimble instead of a pick or plectrum.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: greg stephens
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 05:08 PM

I play in CGDA tuning, using the standard gauge tenor sets anyone will sell you. And I have always used a vellum head, which sounds extremely earthy(or animal).I have never liked plastic heads, they are loud, but they dont carry, and have no heart.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Mooh
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 04:57 PM

Mine's a Gold Tone IT250 (short scale, tuned GDAE) with D'Addario strings J631 (12/16/24/36). For an "earthy" tone maybe try a hide head or a Remo Fiberskyn head.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,Zen
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 04:43 PM

As far as I can remember Barney played a standard scale length (not short scale) Paragon tenor banjo in his earlier Dubliners days. I believe he plays a Boyle short scale now.

I use 12 20w 30w 42w on my short scale tenor in GDAE tuning.

Zen

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: Leadfingers
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 04:23 PM

I am pretty sure that Barney McKenna didnt play a short neck tenor but a G Plectrum banjo , same neck length as a Five String !

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 03:32 PM

For the GDAE tuning, using info on a couple of Redwood sets,

Light - 11, 15, 24, 36
Heavy - 13, 20w, 30, 40.

So somewhere around there. Mine is strung 13, 18w, 28, 40

Subject: RE: tenor banjo
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 02:19 PM

itdepends on your tuning,if youare tuned cgda rather than gdae,you will use lighter strings

Subject: tenor banjo
From: GUEST,plonkers
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 02:12 PM

i`m trying to get that earthy sound on my short neck tenor banjo as played by the dubliners any ideas as to string sizes at the moment i`m useing guitar strings which sound fair, the set size has a 13mm b string i use as the e