Five Strings and Left Hands

Subject: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Doctor John
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 11:01 AM

Not that it causes me any problem: just curious. Left handed guitarists usually swap the strings around so they are still sort of playing the right way, hitting the bass strings with their thumb. An exception was Elizabeth Cotten who really played the guitar upside down, giving her a unique sound. But you can't swap round the strings on a five string banjo because (mostly) the drone fifth string at the "top" is a short string not going up to the neck; so are special banjoes made or do the left handed just learn the usual way. Dr John

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Art Thieme
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 11:23 AM

Dr. John,

A special left-handed neck would have to be made. If the neck is wide enough for 5 strings and straight on both sides, it's only a matter of pulling out the 5th string tuner, filling that gaping hole with wood filler, and after drilling another hole on the other side, putting the tuner back in on that side of the neck.

Bill Staines also plays upside-down. Often the blood rushes to his head and he passes out on stage. In Elizabeth C.'s case, she had a hell of a lot of trouble keeping her skirt down.

Art

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 11:30 AM

Doctor, I've seen a couple of upside down five string players over the years (and a painting of one). Being a curious sort, I fooled around with the banjo upside down a couple of times, and like the guitarist equivalent, it can be done, sounds different, and I guess if you were stuck on a desert island for twenty years with an upside down banjo you'd develope quite a style.

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Arnie Naiman
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 12:10 PM

You can buy left handed banjos. Ome banjos have some nice ones listed on thier website I believe. Open back ones are available from Bart Reiter, Mike Ramsey, Kevin Enoch - all good manufacturers.

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Bill in Alabama
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 03:09 PM

The Deering Company also makes left-handed banjos. Guitars can be played upside-down, but I have heard that, because of the special locationing and thickness of the bracing members on the underside of the top, many pickers prefer a guitar manufactured for left-handed players or at least re-braced.

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 05:46 PM

seems to me one old guy in the "Roan Mountain Hilltoppers" band played his guitar backwards & upside down...and I know a lady who had left-handed autoharp and a metal 5-string banjo..HEAVY so-and-so/.//

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 01 Aug 99 - 06:50 PM

Doctor John: I'm trying to find out who made the neck for my banjerine (short necked 5-string). I bought the instrument from Michael Holmes, publisher of Mugwumps. He bought an old 4 string, sent it to this maker who made the neck and set up the instrument. At the time he was charging something like $350 for the job--both the neck construction and the set up. The one I bought is a really nice instrument: the luthier put on a fibreskin head, with planetary tuners on the neck. If you can find a good old banjo, I'm sure he can make you a neck. I have an eMail in to Mike Holmes asking about the maker and can probably post the answer within 24 hours (Mike was good about responding to eMail).

But you're on the other side of the puddle, aren't you? That would add a few bucks for shipping both ways, and a bit of time added to the few weeks he needs to make the neck (regular necks are the same price as the short necks as I recall, although there's probably an added charge for a lefty neck).

--seed

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 02 Aug 99 - 05:28 PM

Dr. J--Last night I tried to post to you the info I had promised but I kept getting an error message. Anyway, my banjo neck was made by Wyatt Fawley. Michael Holmes--www.mugwumps.com--has a link to him, or claims to. But when I contacted him he gave a lot of good reasons for a lefthander to learn to play banjo righthanded, in addition to the one I suggested to him, the lack of instructional materials, chord charts, and tablatures for left handed banjo. Here are his reasons:

They are practical and social.

1. The left hand does most of the harder and more involved work of chording, noting, etc., so lefties have an advantage when they start out.
2. Lefties are generally more facile with their right hands than righties are with their lefts.
3. Left handed banjos are very difficult to find, and generally require a custom made one.
4. Music is a social event, and pickers love to try out other instruments, something a left-handed player can't do.
5. If you don't have your own instrument with you, you can't join in on the unexpected jam that may arise.

Mike publishes an online folkmusic magazine (the addressI give above) and is a banjo historian as well as player.

--seed

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Doctor John
Date: 02 Aug 99 - 05:54 PM

Thanks ...seed, interesting material. Dr John

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Pete Curry
Date: 02 Aug 99 - 07:24 PM

Deering Banjo Company in California also offers left-handed models. (Banjo players of either persuasion may be interested to know that Deering now owns the Vega trade name and is offering a fine copy of the Vega Pete Seeger complete with Tubaphone tone ring and bracket shoe band, and a nice Tubaphone #2. The Seeger, and possibly the #2, can be seen at the Elderly Instruments website.)

Subject: RE: Five Strings and Left Hands
From: Llanfair
Date: 03 Aug 99 - 09:36 AM

I play right-handed for the reasons BSeed lists, I have never regretted it. Jim, my husband, is also left-handed, and plays his electric bass upside down (strings in usual order) he has to move the thing for the strap to fasten onto, but otherwise standard.Trouble is, he now wants an acoustic bass, and can't find one that works well for him, any ideas? Hwyl, Bron.