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Planet X
Dec 10, 2003

GOOD MORNING
I am enjoying the selections that y’all are posting.

Edit: the last one the sound went to half speed a few seconds in, may want to check into that.

Planet X fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Jan 27, 2018

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Mulloy
Jan 3, 2005

I am your best friend's wife's sword student's current roommate.
So because I mentioned I liked Steve Martin's banjo playing my in-laws ended up giving me a banjo they've had forever and don't use. Is there a "Here is how to do the very basic things on a banjo" that is recommended? I can poke around on youtube, but I have no clue how to tell good vs bad instruction and don't want to shell out for lessons without having any idea if I'd even enjoy actually playing. I have played other instruments in my past (Woodwind and brass), and only really screw around with digital music now, so I can read music I've just never played strings.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Mulloy posted:

So because I mentioned I liked Steve Martin's banjo playing my in-laws ended up giving me a banjo they've had forever and don't use. Is there a "Here is how to do the very basic things on a banjo" that is recommended? I can poke around on youtube, but I have no clue how to tell good vs bad instruction and don't want to shell out for lessons without having any idea if I'd even enjoy actually playing. I have played other instruments in my past (Woodwind and brass), and only really screw around with digital music now, so I can read music I've just never played strings.

I literally just bought a banjo last week, so take this with a heavy grain of salt, but I've been thoroughly enjoying Jim Pankey's lessons on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XswGppdJs_c

Coming from a guitar background, it seems to be excellent instruction of breaking stuff down and emphasizing slow practice and building up from there.

I also bought Banjo for the Ignoramus on Amazon, because I liked the sample tabs and that it's spiral bound:

https://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Banjo-Complete-Ignoramus-Book/dp/1883206448

I don't know if that's any good, but it's got decent reviews so I guess we'll see.

Here's a picture of my shiny new banjo!

Mulloy
Jan 3, 2005

I am your best friend's wife's sword student's current roommate.

OSU_Matthew posted:

I literally just bought a banjo last week, so take this with a heavy grain of salt, but I've been thoroughly enjoying Jim Pankey's lessons on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XswGppdJs_c

Coming from a guitar background, it seems to be excellent instruction of breaking stuff down and emphasizing slow practice and building up from there.

I also bought Banjo for the Ignoramus on Amazon, because I liked the sample tabs and that it's spiral bound:

https://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Banjo-Complete-Ignoramus-Book/dp/1883206448

I don't know if that's any good, but it's got decent reviews so I guess we'll see.

Here's a picture of my shiny new banjo!



Thanks! I'll work through those and see where I end up. Also that looks like a sweet setup.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Mulloy posted:

Thanks! I'll work through those and see where I end up. Also that looks like a sweet setup.

Thanks! It's my happy corner :3:







I just finished building the shelves and wiring in and installing the lights, switches, and ceiling fan... I just need to finish staining the shelves.

I think the key for stringed instruments is absolutely just spending time everyday and gritting through the initial suck.

Can anyone recommend me a favorite set of finger picks? I like the metal Dunlop ones, but the thumb pick sucks because it's not flat so it sometimes catches when I pull up after a pick.. The plastic thumb pick I've been using is a lot better, but I think I'd like to try one a bit shorter and I just don't seem to see much variety on Amazon.

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jan 31, 2018

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Can anyone recommend me a good banjo specific clip on tuner? I've been using my snark as well as a combination of my phone, but the snark doesn't do so well with reading the fifth string since it doesn't go up to the headstock. I figure there's got to be something better out there (besides tuning the strings against themselves).

Dukes Mayo Clinic
Aug 31, 2009
You can get a special back for a Snark that clips onto the metal rim of the banjo, instead of the headstock. I’ve seen a bunch of these at jams and the neighborhood banjo players swear by them.

e: this guy http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Accessories/Electronic_Tuners/Banjo_Adapter_for_Snark_Tuner.html

Dukes Mayo Clinic fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Feb 14, 2018

Planet X
Dec 10, 2003

GOOD MORNING
I have one of these. I think I bought it off banjo hang out.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Pantomime Horse posted:

You can get a special back for a Snark that clips onto the metal rim of the banjo, instead of the headstock. I’ve seen a bunch of these at jams and the neighborhood banjo players swear by them.

e: this guy http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Accessories/Electronic_Tuners/Banjo_Adapter_for_Snark_Tuner.html

This is awesome, thanks! Just bought that and one of the newer snark ST-8 tuners, which is supposed to have more granular tuning.

I also bought a case last week for my Deering resonator banjo, the Silver Creek arch top case. The banjo seems to fit in ok, but the lid is fairly difficult to close, especially around the headstock and neck. Am I risking anything by putting this extra pressure on the top of the banjo? The other day I took it out in the case, but I think that caused the bridge to slide up, and now it's making some buzzing sounds, especially along the third string. I moved the bridge back down to where my center line pencil mark is, which seems to have helped, but I'm not convinced it's completely gone away. Are there any good online resources for troubleshooting that?

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Looking like a D'addario clip tuner myself, but is it any good compared to just tuning with a mic or by ear? I'm on a serious shoestring budget, so I'd rather not pay for anything but picks and strings if it isn't a good investment.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Tias posted:

Looking like a D'addario clip tuner myself, but is it any good compared to just tuning with a mic or by ear? I'm on a serious shoestring budget, so I'd rather not pay for anything but picks and strings if it isn't a good investment.

So I bought the snark banjo tuner adapter, and go figure, it doesn't actually fit on my banjo, the rims are too far apart. That being said, the Snark Super Tuner I also picked up is working awesomely, even with the fifth string, so I don't really even need the adapter after all.

If you're looking for a clip on banjo tuner, I'd just get the Snark ST-8 Super Tuner. It's 12$ from several third parties on Amazon, and doesn't have any problem tuning the fifth string since it also has mic input (which the basic snark struggles with since the string doesn't go up to the head stock).

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

OSU_Matthew posted:

If you're looking for a clip on banjo tuner, I'd just get the Snark ST-8 Super Tuner.

And it will fit a basic epihone 5-string model? It will, I assume, since it's clip on.

Coohoolin
Aug 5, 2012

Oor Coohoolie.
New demo recording from my folk punk band, we had some fun with it. Stripped down cover of Streams of Whiskey.

https://soundcloud.com/cominupthrees/streams-of-whiskey

Coohoolin fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Mar 20, 2018

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Tias posted:

And it will fit a basic epihone 5-string model? It will, I assume, since it's clip on.

I can't imagine it wouldn't, I use the same thing for all my guitars and have yet to find something it won't work with.

Coohoolin posted:

New demo recording from my folk punk band, we had some fun with it. Stripped down cover of Streams of Whiskey.

https://soundcloud.com/user-47088428-313963836/streams-of-whiskey

This is great--I thoroughly enjoyed that!

Planet X
Dec 10, 2003

GOOD MORNING
That’s a good song, well done.

Coohoolin
Aug 5, 2012

Oor Coohoolie.

Planet X posted:

That’s a good song, well done.

Cheers, we've got a new one up as well.

Coohoolin posted:

Drunken Lullabies, stripped down tae gently caress!

https://soundcloud.com/cominupthrees/drunken-lullabies

Give our page a like and you'll get the updates, should have another one coming this week.

https://www.facebook.com/cominupthrees/

Blacknose
Jul 28, 2006

Meet frustration face to face
A point of view creates more waves
So lose some sleep and say you tried
I bought a banjo today having never played any instrument in my life. I'm interested in learning clawhammer and planning on giving either the Clawhammer Banjo 8 Steps or Banjo Blitz video lessons a go (probably the former).

Pretty stoked to finally be getting round to learning to play something after years of always saying 'some time'. I was planning on buying a bass but I've been listening to a bunch of folk/folk punk lately and thought 'gently caress it, banjos are cooler'.

Blacknose fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Apr 24, 2018

Blade_of_tyshalle
Jul 12, 2009

If you think that, along the way, you're not going to fail... you're blind.

There's no one I've ever met, no matter how successful they are, who hasn't said they had their failures along the way.

Banjos are cooler. They have a great sound, they're pretty versatile with all those different tunings, they're just weird enough I've had a fireman gushing over how neat it is when he was inspecting my house, and if you play it slowly in the woods at night you can scare the absolute poo poo out of campers.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Blacknose posted:

I bought a banjo today having never played any instrument in my life. I'm interested in learning clawhammer and planning on giving either the Clawhammer Banjo 8 Steps or Banjo Blitz video lessons a go (probably the former).

Pretty stoked to finally be getting round to learning to play something after years of always saying 'some time'. I was planning on buying a bass but I've been listening to a bunch of folk/folk punk lately and thought 'gently caress it, banjos are cooler'.

Congrats man! What banjo did you get?

I really enjoyed Jim Pankey's learn bluegrass banjo series on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/XswGppdJs_c

I thought that was an excellent place to start, and taught me quite a bit! Please he's got plenty of other videos to keep going on other songs.

Blacknose
Jul 28, 2006

Meet frustration face to face
A point of view creates more waves
So lose some sleep and say you tried
It's a Rover RB22. Nothing fancy at all, just something cheap to try it out with.

I watched some of that guys videos the other day. He seems like a really accessible teacher but I'm keen on learning clawhammer and his stuff all seems to be bluegrass.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal
Bought and built one of the backyard music banjo kits so I could have a lightweight banjo to take backpacking, and holy hell I love this thing so much, I actually play it way more than my Deering Goodtime Special!



Also just discovered Jim Pankey has a series of videos for learning clawhammer/frailing style, so that's my next thing I want to work on learning :D

E: fixed link

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Jul 10, 2018

Colonel J
Jan 3, 2008
I've coincidentally been learning clawhammer - as I understand it, there are 2 motions :
1) hitting with one finger
2) brushing all the strings + pulling off with the thumb.

Should my thumb come to rest on the smallest string for both motions, or is it fine if it just comes down for the second one? As a guitar player I'm more used to keeping it in the air for motion #1, but I'm wondering if it's a bah habit that'll bite back later.

quadrophrenic
Feb 4, 2011

WIN MARNIE WIN

Colonel J posted:

I've coincidentally been learning clawhammer - as I understand it, there are 2 motions :
1) hitting with one finger
2) brushing all the strings + pulling off with the thumb.

Should my thumb come to rest on the smallest string for both motions, or is it fine if it just comes down for the second one? As a guitar player I'm more used to keeping it in the air for motion #1, but I'm wondering if it's a bah habit that'll bite back later.

floating your thumb makes it easier to drop thumb, which you will do a lot of when you inevitably get bored of bum ditty

i don't have my banjo with me atm so I can't check how I do it, but I'm 99% sure I keep my thumb floating for all motions except sounding the fifth string, but again I hardly ever play bum ditty these days so :shrug:

Colonel J
Jan 3, 2008

quadrophrenic posted:

floating your thumb makes it easier to drop thumb, which you will do a lot of when you inevitably get bored of bum ditty

i don't have my banjo with me atm so I can't check how I do it, but I'm 99% sure I keep my thumb floating for all motions except sounding the fifth string, but again I hardly ever play bum ditty these days so :shrug:

Thanks for the answer, I'll keep doing what I'm doing then. Banjo is amazing, it's like easy mode, better sounding guitar for me so far. I really like the reactions people have when I take out the banjo and just start doing random poo poo, kids in particular get very impressed.

In other news, I'm looking at mandolins on kijiji. For 100$ should I get :

- an Epiphone mandolin : https://www.kijiji.ca/v-amplificateur-pedale/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-epiphone-pedales-overdrives-boss-bd-2-t-rex-et-ehx/1367228362 )

- or this Alabama : https://kijiji.ca/v-instrument-a-corde/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-alabama/1362257403

or there won't be much of a difference anyway at this price level?

Coohoolin
Aug 5, 2012

Oor Coohoolie.

Colonel J posted:

Thanks for the answer, I'll keep doing what I'm doing then. Banjo is amazing, it's like easy mode, better sounding guitar for me so far. I really like the reactions people have when I take out the banjo and just start doing random poo poo, kids in particular get very impressed.

In other news, I'm looking at mandolins on kijiji. For 100$ should I get :

- an Epiphone mandolin : https://www.kijiji.ca/v-amplificateur-pedale/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-epiphone-pedales-overdrives-boss-bd-2-t-rex-et-ehx/1367228362 )

- or this Alabama : https://kijiji.ca/v-instrument-a-corde/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-alabama/1362257403

or there won't be much of a difference anyway at this price level?

Probably not much difference. I hear good things about Savannahs for that price range though.

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Colonel J posted:

Thanks for the answer, I'll keep doing what I'm doing then. Banjo is amazing, it's like easy mode, better sounding guitar for me so far. I really like the reactions people have when I take out the banjo and just start doing random poo poo, kids in particular get very impressed.

In other news, I'm looking at mandolins on kijiji. For 100$ should I get :

- an Epiphone mandolin : https://www.kijiji.ca/v-amplificateur-pedale/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-epiphone-pedales-overdrives-boss-bd-2-t-rex-et-ehx/1367228362 )

- or this Alabama : https://kijiji.ca/v-instrument-a-corde/ville-de-montreal/mandoline-alabama/1362257403

or there won't be much of a difference anyway at this price level?

If you're interested in a mandolin, I'd sell you a fender with a custom electric output for 100 + shipping. PM me if you're interested

Blacknose
Jul 28, 2006

Meet frustration face to face
A point of view creates more waves
So lose some sleep and say you tried

OSU_Matthew posted:

Bought and built one of the backyard music banjo kits so I could have a lightweight banjo to take backpacking, and holy hell I love this thing so much, I actually play it way more than my Deering Goodtime Special!



Also just discovered Jim Pankey has a series of videos for learning clawhammer/frailing style, so that's my next thing I want to work on learning :D

E: fixed link

Did you go for the fireside or the basic kit? How was the build process and what's it like to play?

Catatron Prime
Aug 23, 2010

IT ME



Toilet Rascal

Blacknose posted:

Did you go for the fireside or the basic kit? How was the build process and what's it like to play?

I bought the fireside kit, but didn't know I had to purchase the arm rest separately, so I didn't get one till recently. Build process was pretty simple and straightforward, basically just sanding down the neck and the circular disc for the top, stained the neck with a several coats of Danish furniture oil over the course of a few days, and the disc with a few coats of water based poly. From there, you screw in the tuning pegs and tack in the nails to hold looped strings. If you have an auto center punch, it makes the process a lot simpler for dimpling the wood where you want the screws to go in. Also don't forget to put the brass tacks in for fret markers. After that, dry fit, sand, and glue! Let it set up for a day, and install the strings. Measure between the nut and the 12th fret, and that's the distance for where you place your bridge. I put my bridge on backwards at first, which caused buzzing on my first string, so I had to loosen my strings, flip my bridge around, and readjust. I also glued my nut in with titebond wood glue when I installed the strings, so I could make sure it was oriented straight.

After several months of ownership, I will say that I freaking LOVE this thing! It sounds great, weighs drat near nothing, and is so much fun to just grab and play, I don't even touch my Deering Goodtime Special resonator hardly at all. Glad I have the Deering, but if I did everything over, I would have bought this thing first. I take it everywhere and don't give any fucks about the usual white glove instrument treatment.

Protip -- for a strap, I used two small S biners and attached a shortened amsteel whoopie sling, which is perfect. Basically it's got two loops and tugging at one end or the other loosens/tightens it, and it locks once you put pressure on the knot.

It took me several weeks of staring at the box before I got around to building mine for a bluegrass festival I was going to the next week. Overall though, it was an easy process... Just takes a little time to sand and stain. Again, can't recommend this thing highly enough, especially for how freaking cheap it is!

E: If you want to, you could cut out the headstock and do so much more than I did, which would be a great reason to buy the kit vs a premade one. I had planned on stencilling and painting something into the top and cutting out the headstock a bit, but was in a crunch to get it built to take with me Duck Creek Log Jam, so I didn't. No regerts though

Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Jul 21, 2018

Blacknose
Jul 28, 2006

Meet frustration face to face
A point of view creates more waves
So lose some sleep and say you tried
Sounds pretty good. I'm tempted to pick one up as a winter project.

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Hey, sorry but I can't find a better thread: What's a good, cheap brand of starter ukulele? I'm in northern Europe, if that matters.

Coohoolin
Aug 5, 2012

Oor Coohoolie.

Tias posted:

Hey, sorry but I can't find a better thread: What's a good, cheap brand of starter ukulele? I'm in northern Europe, if that matters.

Buying a mandolin instead.

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quadrophrenic
Feb 4, 2011

WIN MARNIE WIN
can't frail on a mandolin

i fully 100% support old-time uke

unfortunately I can't help you, I live in a country that's just filthy with ukes and the answer for me is "walk into a mom&pop music shop and buy the third most expensive one"

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