banjolin/mandobaj?

Subject: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: GUEST,Wa Ban Zhou
Date: 28 Nov 03 - 01:20 PM

I have one of these, given to me by a friend long de-ceased( otherwise I would ask him)Its got a small skin banjo head, strung and plays like a mandolin, with four sets of doubled strings. No label on it or nothin' like that. Makes quite a racket. Does anyone play one of these or no where I might get a recording of somebody else doin' it?
Thanks
Wa Ban Zhou

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: fogie
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 05:28 AM

It's a banjolin isn't it? You play what you would play on a mandolin but with a different sound- like those guitar banjos. Its not a banjolele, which is what George Formby played.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Cllr
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 05:34 AM

Try leadfinger he plays something similiar

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 05:49 AM

I've got two of them, it's the worst instrunent in the world.
Not a single redeeming defect.
Eric

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Ship'scat
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 06:23 AM

Frank Ferrel, the noted New England fiddler said he used a Vega Little Wonder banjolin to play daances for grange halls when the noise was too loud as there were no sound systems in those days.

My wife uses her Little Wonder to play Irish dance music in noisy sessions. Not much good for ballads

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 08:29 AM

Mandoline Banjos and Banjolins were a common instrument at the time of banjo bands. I have happened across several over the years. Some were very nice instruments to play, others were poor quality and unpleasant. I suspect that eric the red has ones which fall into the latter category.
I can't think of any recordings though.
Quack!

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Bill in Alabama
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 12:13 PM

Many years ago we used a Vega Little Wonder in our performances, and, as I recall, played a break with it on one of our albums, now out of circulation. We thought it a fine instrument, in that it was a unique voice which fit in well with certain songs, and allowed us to change up instruments to provide variety in our concerts. I sometimes switched to a mandolin-banjo (a German maker--can't remember the name). Now I use a Deering Banjo Lute for accompanying soft/slow vocals where my banjo would be less appropriate.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: RWilhelm
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 04:09 PM

I have two. They are hard to keep in tune but are great for jug band music where tonal accuracy is not so highly prized. A Gloucester fisherman told me he had a shipmate who played one.   He liked it because it was small and less susceptible to water damage than a completely wooden instrument.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Joybell
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 05:17 PM

We call them Banjo-mandolins here as I understand they also do in England. I had one as my first instrument when I was 10, in 1955. There was a Banjo-mandolin group here in Victoria, Australia called The Victorian Banjo Club. Hundreds of us kids had them and we played at all kinds of venues including on the new television shows. They sounded quite horrible but they were durable and completely indestructable. Also we ex-Banjo Club musicians can still do a mean tremelo on a better sounding Mandolin and we knew our fingering. They gave a lot of us working-class kids our introduction to music and a chance to perform on the radio and television. Once we played on a real showboat on the river Yarra in Melbourne. It was night-time and the boat was strung with fairy lights. A magical experience that still makes me cry. Now I run a mile when someone tells me they found a strange little banjo in their attic, but I have fond memories of them none-the-less.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Gypsy
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 11:24 PM

We call 'em Manjo's around here. Fun instrument!

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 04:41 AM

FUN? Gypsy, FUNNNN!!!!??????

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 10:36 AM

I have two of em as well and take great delight in leaving them in their cases most of the time.They can be a sod to tune and have only one (questionable ) advantage. In a noisy sesion you CAN hear what you are doing, though no one else in the session will any thing but YOU.As any one who knows me is well aware, for me to say any thing is
too loud, then it must be a lot TOO LOUD.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: GUEST,Wa Ban Zhou
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 10:53 AM

I must admit that the thing actually sounds quite horrible, but if I had to have an instrument to fight my way through a crowd...I think mine was hand made, but then again, it came with a case into which nothing else will fit, with a Continental Trailways bus tag from Fort Smith, Arkansas tied to the handle, so who knows? Don't y'all be gettin' too greedy, 'cause i'm keepin' it. ( or maybe I'll give it to one of my kids for a wedding present)
Wa Ban Zhou

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: Joybell
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 04:47 PM

I gave mine to the kids. Told them it was a family heirloom. Told them not to take off the neck and use it as a drum - although I've known some musicians who have done that.

Subject: RE: banjolin/mandobaj?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 02 May 12 - 09:01 AM

Lady Hillary just bought one of these by Gretsch. The skin is dated 1921 and has the name "Homer Slater" written next to the date. Any clues?