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My house is an orphanage apparently


ksdaddy

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If that World's Fair decal (1934) is in deed OEM, given the 'afffordableness' the tuner knobs' parting marks would suggest, if'n they too are OEM. I'm guessin' a Chicago Music Instrument effort a.k.a. Harmony.

 

I like the drunken rabbit head stock. Cain't wait to see the innards. They may tell a tale of this jewell's lineage. Now all you need is a pork pie hat and a raccoon coat.

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I'm guessing the sticker was added by an owner and probably when it was quite new. I suspect there were tons of banjo-ukes made in the 20s-30s so it's not incongruous, not like a Grand Funk "We're an American Band" stickers from 1972 on a 1910 chorded zither. I must confess the decal sold me and the funky headstock just yanked my Paypal card right out of my wallet. The dings and marks look honestly gained over the years so I will only repair what needs repairing. I don't know what I have in the banjo bridge drawer for old funky dirty tenor bridges but that would work nicely too.

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I just got an email from elderly and they said it had already been sold. I received the used instrument list via email and "bought" it about 5 minutes later. So once again Elderly has done me dirty.

 

I wish it were 1984 again, back when Elderly was run by poor hippies. I got good service then.

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I'm guessing the sticker was added by an owner and probably when it was quite new. I suspect there were tons of banjo-ukes made in the 20s-30s so it's not incongruous' date=' not like a Grand Funk "We're an American Band" stickers from 1972 on a 1910 chorded zither. I must confess the decal sold me and the funky headstock just yanked my Paypal card right out of my wallet. The dings and marks look honestly gained over the years so I will only repair what needs repairing. I don't know what I have in the banjo bridge drawer for old funky dirty tenor bridges but that would work nicely too. [/quote']

 

I'm thinking an asymetrical bridge with rounded corners that mimics the asymetrical headstock. I 'spect you'll have to sharpen the coping saw.

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I just got an email from elderly and they said it had already been sold. I received the used instrument list via email and "bought" it about 5 minutes later. So once again Elderly has done me dirty.

 

I wish it were 1984 again' date=' back when Elderly was run by poor hippies. I got good service then.[/quote']

 

Awww shux!

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Hey KS... Banjo Uke's Rock....

 

I got one that my Uncle used when he played in a banjo band back in the 1920's according to my Mom. It is a Maybelle and he had hand carved a resonator out of wood for it since there was no mic'ing back then. I tought myself how to play it (or at least the one song I do well on it... "Baby Face.... You got the cutest little Baby Face"

 

I keep it in my music room on a stand and occasionally the kids will ask me to play that for them since I did all the time when they were small.

 

Here is a photo that I just cropped of my music room where you can see it. That reminds me I should get a few photos of it. The hand carved back with a star inlay is crude but pretty awesome and it really helps to throw the sound out front.

 

BanjoUke.jpg

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Was the purpose in making them just as a novelty or is there some advantage to having one (sound wise)?

 

My guess is for a different tone. My uncle played with other banjo players back in the 1920's and had several different style banjo's from what my Mom has told me. The Banjo Uke would be used to comliment the others. I am still trying to wrap my head around who would go see a band comprised of banjo players. Maybe that is why prohibition ended..... you needed a drink if that was your only entertainment! ^_^

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I am still trying to wrap my head around who would go see a band comprised of banjo players. Maybe that is why prohibition ended..... you needed a drink if that was your only entertainment! ](*' date=') [/quote']

 

I would.

But I'm a freak 1st, and a hillbilly by heritage 2nd. I still have great aunts and uncles in the hills of WVa, that you would swear you walked onto the Beverly Hillbillies back lot. Rusted tin roof sharecroppers sort of shack, with farm animals running loose, and a still hidden up in the hills. So yes, the moonshine helps.

 

But I do like me some Flatt and Scruggs.

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I always thought it had to do with volume of the instrument. With the banjo being a louder instrument they tried crossing the Mandolin and Uke with a Banjo style resonator to increase its volume. I haven't played any Banjo ukes but I have played a couple of Banjo Mandolins, they are louder and they do have that banjo "Spank" in the sound.

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I always thought it had to do with volume of the instrument. With the banjo being a louder instrument they tried crossing the Mandolin and Uke with a Banjo style resonator to increase its volume. I haven't played any Banjo ukes but I have played a couple of Banjo Mandolins' date=' they are louder and they do have that banjo "Spank" in the sound. [/quote']

 

That is true... while mine certainly sounds more like a uke than a banjo... it has that "spank" of which you speak of. I did have the head replaced several years ago as the original had a long crack in it. I went to a local drum repair shop and they re-fitted it with some sort of animal skin they had from a very old drum. It looks just like the original did.

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I'm betting that would work. There's nothing saying a skin head couldn't be re-used in a smaller size as long as it's intact and you had a mounting ring. I've never fit a real skin head although I bought one when I made my Seeger banjo last spring; I just didn't have the cojones to try it..... maybe next time I pick up an old banjo with an odd sized head or one that's out of round too bad for a store-bought head.

 

My avatar would prefer you use mylar though!

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Was the purpose in making them just as a novelty or is there some advantage to having one (sound wise)?

 

Back in the 'Roaring 20's' a banjo and / or uke was a requesite part of a college man's paraphernalia, along with a racoon coat (full length), pork pie hat or skimmer hat, racoon tail tied to his roadster and twenty-three skidoo! These little uke banjers were more portable than their full sized compadre's. They were either tuned like ukes or claw-hammer banjos or mandolin, depending up on the player's preference. The banjo, I'd suspect, was louder than it's similarly sized ukulele.

 

I have a song book of 'all' the universities' fight songs. They have four strang banjer cords for all the songs.

 

There were also mando-banjers with four double courses of strings.

 

Gibson corporation sponsored touring mandolin orchestras, with an occaisional banjo as well as banjo orchestras. These were comprised of their titular instrument in various voices from bass through the higher voices.. soprano, maybe. Either one or both known as Gibsonites, or Gibsonians. I don't know if this was just one group or a number of groups touring different areas. I think Lloyd Loar might have ben involved in this. These orchestras, todays condescendsion of banjos not withstanding, were quite popular. I think the touring of these groups was mostly a marketing tactic aimed at selling instruments.

 

In the 20's, the guit tar was a novelty that hadn't come into it's own yet. I think, at one time, The Gibson company was known as the Gibson Banjo instrument company.. or something like that.

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I'm betting that would work. There's nothing saying a skin head couldn't be re-used in a smaller size as long as it's intact and you had a mounting ring. I've never fit a real skin head although I bought one when I made my Seeger banjo last spring; I just didn't have the cojones to try it..... maybe next time I pick up an old banjo with an odd sized head or one that's out of round too bad for a store-bought head.

 

My avatar would prefer you use mylar though!

 

You are correct.... they told me the skin they used was goat skin... not a baaaad idea if I do say so! lol......

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I'm betting that would work. There's nothing saying a skin head couldn't be re-used in a smaller size as long as it's intact and you had a mounting ring. I've never fit a real skin head although I bought one when I made my Seeger banjo last spring; I just didn't have the cojones to try it..... maybe next time I pick up an old banjo with an odd sized head or one that's out of round too bad for a store-bought head.

 

My avatar would prefer you use mylar though!

 

If you are indeed interested in using a real skin skin-head, do an internet search for Bodhran heads. There is a specific procedure for installing these natural heads to get the proper tension and not tear the skin in the process. I suspect the procedure would be the same for a banjo which is nothing more than a bodhran on a stick.

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