john bange - Posted - 08/20/2010:  08:39:04

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quote:

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Now - without the capo - Which songs seem to work out really well on Longneck ?

I play folk, Irish, American standards from 20's to50's, no one style of music jumps out as the best on my OT800 long neck. what impressed me was the brightness of the t-b-ph pot when used with nylon strings. I did replace the no knot tp...put some downward pressure on the strings. I might go to a white frosted head next time I need to change.
what brand of nylgut strings did you get that were long enough?

TonyS - Posted - 08/20/2010:  14:43:16

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It was the post before that suggested the nylaguts were too long - I haven't tried nylon yet. String height I can't comment on because I'm a newbie to banjo, too lazy to learn bluegrass patterns, just wanting to basic strum and sing like Pete. Arrived with a few dings in the, I feel, high quality case, covered with decals but they looked like *****- so I now use a GoldTone gig bag. I happy with it and am forcing myself not to fuss with it! For now.......

tubaphonethumper - Posted - 08/25/2010:  07:35:31

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I have a long neck Bacon-Belmont built in 1965. I am short-- a whole 5 feet tall. It is no problem for me to play my LN. I just slide the pot over onto my right hip, then I can reach the first few frets just fine. I capo it at the 1st fret which puts me in open "F" tuning.
I like the slackness of the long strings-- less tension and it's easier to plunk. I use John Pearse lights. I also have a Vega#2 tubaphone. I love the #2's tone but prefer my Bacon for some certain tunes. I love the dark bassy notes you can get on the long neck.
Well tht is my 2cents.
Edna Mae

danetherton - Posted - 08/25/2010:  10:49:55

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I have an old Ode longneck, and I have loved it for years. I was given it for a birthday present in around 1986, and for a number of years it was pretty much my only banjo.
If you are familiar with a standard neck, just capo on the third fret, and tune normally. (gDGBD) When you take off the capo, you are in open "E". Played with the capo on the 3rd fret, you are there with every other banjo. When the guitarist becomes perverse and says "let's play this one in the key of "E" (or F or F#), you are right there, while other banjo players will have to either sit out, or find some chordal accompaniment that sounds rather lame.

I would have to say that I rarely ever take the capo off the third fret unless I am playing with my uncle, a guitarist, who loves to skip from one key to another. With a traditional string band of fiddles and banjos playing most Southern Appalachian dance and folk tunes (in the usual keys), you should never have to move the capo. You will of course still have to tune for the effects of the different tunings (D, C, Sawmill, etc), but in almost all cases, you can keep the banjo on the third fret, and be OK.

BobLusk - Posted - 08/26/2010:  08:23:30

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I don't find I can keep my capo on the 3rd fret in old tymey sessions. To go from G to D, I usually have to put the capo on the 5th fret and tune either my 4th or 4th and 2nd strings. Then of course is the 5th string. I finally went to a sliding 5th capo instead of rr spikes.
Also frequently find I have to retune the other strings when changing from one tuning to another. I hear this problem from other long neck players. Pete's banjo is South American hardwood - some argument over whether it is really lingnum vitae or not - but it is very rigid and he doesnt have to retune extra strings when changing from G to C.
I have a Gibson rb 170. Several friends have this model and say they don't ha ve to do extra tuning with it - part of the reason I got it, but it hasn;t been stable enough for me.
Edna - a lot of long neck players use way heavy stings!

TonyS - Posted - 08/26/2010:  15:06:12

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John Pearse heavy - with the fuzzies...
Above is why I use a Kyser Quick Change capo! :) Although Shubb is called the best and the elastic is cool......

clawforlife - Posted - 09/11/2010:  11:06:31

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ive beenwatching seeger videos on you tube for about an hour an he does actually keep his fingers achored to the head alot of the time, so zepps "seeger wildwood flower"video pretty acurate. on petes instructional video of skip to my lou where he shows his style pretty much, which i see as a combination of his basic strum and double tumbing in the context of 2 finger picking( with a sometimes third). there is even a very worn anchor spot near the bridge, and its on a seeger vega.

TonyS - Posted - 09/11/2010:  12:39:17

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Still learning to figure out most of what you just said!
But I agree - I down loaded a bunch of Seeger and thought 'oh $#%^' Skip to my Lou - kiddie song. His playing was amazing and I'm gonna strum like that as soon as I master it!

clawforlife - Posted - 09/12/2010:  09:25:47

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sorry i didnt mean to sound complicated, i hate complicated. his style is basically this( to me) his basic strum or seeger strum, up-pick index, down strum with the rest of the fingers, and pluck with the 5 string with the thumb. then when he fingerpicks he sometimes sticks his pinky and ring finger on the head near the bridge as a anchor and picks with his thumb and index finger, sometimes he doesnt anchor and just lets the hand float as he picks the same way. he picks both thumb and index finger as the lead, but mostly he leads with his thumb. all this means is he plays the melody notes with his thumb while keeping the rythym with his index finger in kind of a roll pattern called double thumbing that works very well for singing. there is great example of this on the site ezfolk.com under tabs and tutorials in the bluegrass section. and he sometimes uses a third, ring, finger here and there. he alternates between the basic strum and finger pinkin, using the strum while hes singin and the pickin to spice it up when hes not. but somethimes he just does one or the other or plays one of the many other styles he knows, but im just tryin to explain what i get of his personal style. seeger was great he invented his own style and invented his own banjo and had a hand in changeing the world with his banjo. i think he deserves alot more credit than you know who but hey who am i to judge but i do get a vote right. mines for pete. i hope this explains okay, i hate complictated.

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Edited by - clawforlife on 09/12/2010 09:27:10

TonyS - Posted - 09/12/2010:  09:37:30

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Thanks for the reply claw !!

Joven - Posted - 09/15/2010:  10:36:56

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Bought a Long Banjo Neck from EBAY (Asian) very good quality maple, lots of inlays neck. Mounted on a Bacon rim, put some strings, A great sound!

Long live the Long Neck!

john bange - Posted - 09/15/2010:  10:43:48

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HEY...maybe we should have our own thread...

TonyS - Posted - 09/15/2010:  11:36:45

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(Moe's voice to John B )
Why I oughta moider you wise guy!

STRING UPDATES - what strings are you using.......

TonyS - Posted - 01/08/2011:  15:39:12

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OK all you very helpful, though slightly odd pickers of the Longneck - strings again ?
I know there are lots of variables but what do you use and why ...
Do we know what Mr Seeger used (he probably installs anything, tunes up and sounds good!)

john bange - Posted - 01/09/2011:  09:12:00

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Tony,
Look at my review of my OT800 long neck...I have had it over a year now and have replaced a few items but still think the banjo is a great buy.
I got rid of the case that came with it. It was awful. The hooks and nuts were not good on mine and I had to tighten the head all the time. I finally got some from Elderly and the problem ended.
This is a great thread. john

clawforlife - Posted - 01/09/2011:  10:03:18

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ive had my longneck about six months now and i have to say, i am glad i made the switch. i love it. its a goldtone ot800 neck on a dan pennington maple block rim. it came with a flat brass tonering but i put a whyte ladye on it and added a gibson tailpeice and a new remo frosted head. instead of the no knot and the elite ren. head. it sounds great and loud, i imagine it would holt its own next to the tubaphone.

i was think of getting the ot800 pot assembly to make it complete then getting another whyte ladye ln. but it sounds so good i hate to mess with it. has anyone tried tuning to G without capo, the capoing at the second fret for a, then c and d and so on up high?????

TonyS - Posted - 01/09/2011:  12:29:46

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Thanks John - I started it cause I have no idea what I'm doing! (I' the piano player)

I don't know Claw - I got the 5th string to G with no problem - but all the strings? Too much tension?

wbheilmann - Posted - 01/09/2011:  15:37:02

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Just a couple of observations regarding this thread:

I've owned an OT-800 LN for about 8 months now, and absolutely love the daggone thing! It is completely stock, except for a Kerchner tailpiece. It is such a powerful machine that I often stuff a piece of foam rubber between the head and top coordinating rod to mellow it out just a bit.

The only thing I don't like about this banjo is that it weighs as much as an M-14 rifle...about 9 pounds. This is mostly due to the weight of the tubaphone-style tone ring, extra-deep pot, and bracket band. It gives me a sore back after about an hour.

The hardshell case that came with the banjo is adequate, but very poorly balanced (top heavy). Frankly, it's a pain to haul around.

I use a cradle strap, so bending hooks is not an issue. The shoulder pad is 3 inches wide and very comfortable, and it gives a well-balanced feel to the banjo.

Strings...hmmm...well, the truth is (according to Greg Deering), there are really only a handful of US companies that make steel banjo and guitar strings, and those few companies actually make the strings for all the other brands. I've used John Pearse and D'Addario medium-gauge strings, and there is no issue of length with either brand. And the two brands look and sound the same to me.

I play mostly old-time tunes (claw) and folk songs, and this banjo's sound is very well-suited for both styles. As others have pointed out here, the long neck offers added flexibility when it comes to playing songs in singable keys...and after all, that was Pete's original intent.

Hopefully these observations have been useful -- WB

TonyS - Posted - 01/23/2011:  10:26:02

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Thanks WB -
the case looks like a good one but the handle/balance makes it fairly useless (except for storage).
I like the OME strings with the fuzzies but don't know why! I'll check out the tailpiece you mentioned but barely able to operate a screw driver, I may leave well-enough alone!

john bange - Posted - 01/29/2011:  10:27:34

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The Christy on ebay looks pretty good...less than $250 right now. I played one once...was not bad

Mr. Bill - Posted - 01/29/2011:  22:40:12

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Well, I have come late to this party! So I'll add to the total count of owners and long neckers. I got Pastor Harry's OME Grubstake and there aren't too many of those roaming around. It's well made for what was supposed to be an entry level instrument. I saw the comments about cases. I got a TKL hardshell long neck case and it was, as stated, WAY out of balance...nose heavy. I finally paid a local luggage store to move the handle forward and that cured the issue. I'm still looking for a gig bag. I appreciate the tips on the strings and will look for some of those heavy gauge ones. This long necker gets used a LOT. It's great in song circles and jams...far less retuning even for # or b keys. There's a local ODE that's been for sale periodically. It has two extra pegs in the head for speed tuning from G to C. I don't know if those were stock or added later. Thanks for the thread.

john bange - Posted - 01/30/2011:  08:35:21

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WB's right about the OT800 long neck...even with my weird tunings and fishing line, if I want peace and contentment in my house, I need to stuff a towel in the back of my banjo when practicing. It is loud... (and heavy).

BobLusk - Posted - 01/30/2011:  09:58:18

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I just tried nylon strings on my gold tone long neck mm150. A lot of fun!

wbheilmann - Posted - 01/30/2011:  12:22:03

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The OT800 LN is loud, but it sure has a nice tone, especially when played claw-style. The block of foam rubber in the back seems to take just the right amount of "edge" off of it. The block usually comes out for a jam, though, especially with another banjo operator picking bluegrass-style on a resonator jo.

A friend of mine has an early 60's Vega Seeger, so we got together and compared his Vega with my Gold Tone. He was pretty impressed with the GT's volume and tone, but he also noted that the GT was heavier than the Vega. The observed differences -- (a) the GT pot is about 1/2 inch deeper than the Vega, and (b) I use medium strings on the GT, whilst he uses light strings on the Vega. AND...these two banjos sound very cool when played together.

Bottom line -- the GT suits me very well for old-time clawhammer tunes, American folk music, and Irish/Scottish/English pub songs and ballads. I couldn't be happier with it.

WB

john bange - Posted - 01/30/2011:  12:42:22

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[quote][i]Originally posted by wbh


Bottom line -- the GT suits me very well for old-time clawhammer tunes, American folk music, and Irish/Scottish/English pub songs and ballads. I couldn't be happier with it.

WB

that about cover it...me too!

wbheilmann - Posted - 01/30/2011:  13:37:46

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Mr. Bill -- Got any photos of that OME of yours?

BobLusk -- Nylon strings on a longneck with a WL tone ring...now that fascinates me. I would love to hear what it sounds like.

john bange -- Yeah, it just seems to fit my musical interests and playing style like a glove. And you sure can't beat the price for a solid, high-quality longneck. Given the funds, I would have gone for an American-made longneck banjo, but they all far exceed affordability for me. This GT banjo brings me a lot of fun and satisfaction. It sounds great and handles great, so I'm happy.

WB

TonyS - Posted - 01/30/2011:  14:58:32

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Thanks WB I think the GT works fine (for me)
Don't forget the new LN Group!

wbheilmann - Posted - 01/30/2011:  16:28:55

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Thanks Tony...didn't know about it until now...just joined the group.

WB

BobLusk - Posted - 01/31/2011:  09:08:43

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What LN group?

wbheilmann - Posted - 01/31/2011:  10:48:32

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Bob -- On the menu in the upper-left corner, hover your mouse pointer over "Members," and then click on "Groups." A list of groups will appear. Click on Tony's new "Long Neck Banjo" group, and you're in.

Hope this helps -- WB

Mr. Bill - Posted - 01/31/2011:  23:15:50

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I do have pictures of the Grubstake. I just gotta figure out how to post them. Oh, and thanks for the help with joining groups. I hooked up with the long neckers just to see what's what.
M.B

TonyS - Posted - 02/02/2011:  16:16:10

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...and I was really liked this forum topic I started - well, lets all move over to the Group I guess...
Please post pictures too- I hava a new Apple and I'm still learning!

Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 02/02/2011:  17:02:42

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quote:

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Originally posted by TonyS

...and I was really liked this forum topic I started - well, lets all move over to the Group I guess...
Please post pictures too- I hava a new Apple and I'm still learning!

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The thread can still go on, notwithstanding the existence of the Group.

In fact, the groups are not set up in such a way as to be really conducive to this sort of back and forth conversation.

The thread, on the other hand, is very good for that.

I assume this thread is linked to the group, and if not, it should be.