greenepickins - Posted - 04/09/2012:  16:46:37

So ups just dropped it off. A few things to start:

The craftmanship in this banjo is absolutely beautiful! The floral design in the headstock and neck are stunning.

It has a VERY thick headstock.

It has a rolled brass tone ring

HORRIBLY set up! I need to take it to Gold Tone  a few towns over IMMEDIATELY!

It is in amazing shape for being as old as it is. Nice Dobson neck.

I was wondering about people's preference on how they are set up. Should the action be sort of high? Bridges? Strings? tailpiece?

Chris threw in a no knot and a Feilding tailpiece and it has a very old looking one on it.

To play faster paced clawhammer what gage cello banjo strings are appropriate? 

I have included pictures so you all can have an idea of what I have. It really is a breath taking cello banjo!!! Thanks for reading folks.

Any suggestions in any area with this thing would be great!

NCjones - Posted - 04/09/2012:  16:59:37

quote:

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Any suggestions in any area with this thing would be great!

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Put some strangs on it.

greenepickins - Posted - 04/09/2012:  17:01:42

LOL there were some on it and I tried tuning it up out the case and one popped so I am just going to get a new set with the set up. Good advice by the way hahaha!

stanger - Posted - 04/09/2012:  19:09:52

I'm currently using Savarez hi-tension guitar strings on my Gold Tone cello, and like them better than the Gold Tone strings. I used the 2nd string in the set for the 5th, 3rd for the 1st, etc. I found the Gold Tone strings to be a little harsh sounding, but that's just me.

The thing I've learned about playing the cello is- they don't like to be played fast with any stroke style, and they don't like to be played over the neck or close to the neck. Mine turns into deep gravelly mush in both instances.
If I want to play a fast tune, I pick it 3-fingered style without fingerpicks, or use Dock Bogg's style. I also found that simplicity is the key to the cello. I had to cut away a lot of the frills out of my 3-finger style to keep from sounding like a pile of mush.

Clawhammer works best when your right hand is much closer to the bridge than on a regular banjo- that's were the note definition is. The string tension, even with hi-tension strings, is still very much lower than guts and nylons on a regular banjo, and playing close to the neck feels sloppy loose. The strings feel much better under the hand when played close to the bridge. And it feels nothing at all like steel strings.

They don't sound good with a full strum going on in whatever style I play, either. In a tuning that's an octave lower than a standard 5-string, the cello is down there in electric bass territory, and it needs to be played in it's own singular way. Just as a bass has it's own thing that doesn't work on a guitar, so it is with the cello banjo.

I got mine from a frustrated claw hammer player who didn't adapt his playing techniques, and it took me a month to figure out what worked and didn't, but once I got the hang of it, the cello is a very addictive banjo! I have had immense fun finding tunes that just sound better than when played on a standard 5-stringer, and some, especially the lonesome stuff, sound incredibly good with those ultra-deep tones.

Have fun! You are just about to venture into brand new territory. Find your own roadmap, and be amazed!
regards,
stanger

But once you get a handle

SWCooper - Posted - 04/10/2012:  12:14:42

Lordy, that's a beautiful banjo. I have a sweet little Bay State student banjo which I string with Nylguts. Don't know about that with a cello banjo, though.

greenepickins - Posted - 04/10/2012:  19:30:57

Great replies and thanks! I actually took it to the Gold Tone factory today and it needed alot more work than I had expected. They actually have to take out the dowel stick and put a cordinator rod in it and cut a little of the neck so it can angle more. They said the neck is actually perfectly straight, but with strings and a new bridge etc, its going to run me $200. But HONESTLY for something that my grandkids are going to one day ply, it is WELL worth it. Its too beautiful of a banjo to pass along or sell. I actually tried out some gold tone cello banjos and they were "okay". They just didnt have the sound I expected. The downfall is I already play very fast clawhammer so I guess I need to slow my roll a little.
But to some it all up, Wayne (who was nice enough to actually come and talk to me and work with me) said that all in all its going to be a GREAT banjo!

XXXris - Posted - 04/10/2012:  22:23:52

I'm suspicious of them telling you to cut out the dowel and put a co-rod in it.... Maybe a more knowledgeable person will chime in here?

OM45GE - Posted - 04/11/2012:  03:58:26

Think twice, cut once. I would get a second opinion about making irreversible changes to a nice old instrument.

pernicketylad - Posted - 04/11/2012:  04:15:03

I wouldn't dream (nightmare) of putting co-ordinator rods on that banjo. 

You don't need to do that to change the neck angle. There are plenty of expert repair folks who will be able to reset the neck properly.

Edited by - pernicketylad on 04/11/2012 04:16:02

Bart McNeil - Posted - 04/11/2012:  05:57:05

If the instrument has any value I would not allow them to improve the banjo by installing a coordinator rod. it may "improve" adjustablility but destroy any value it might have as an original unmessed with banjo. My uneducated guess is that it is not a high quality instrument but cello banjos are rare enough that it would be a shame to "improve" one when not necessary.

dculgan - Posted - 04/11/2012:  08:00:53

The banjo has already been altered quite a bit with the neck and then fingerboard replacement and IMHO it no longer has collector value. Its a mongrel, nothing wrong with that, but it does free you up to be a little creative. In fact I once mated a Dobson neck to a different pot and got a banjo that I play almost every day.

csbdr - Posted - 04/11/2012:  08:49:14

I'm the previous owner and agree it's a nice frankenbanjo, but collector value is already gone. I was really shocked at the recommendations to engage in such radical surgery as well. I thought resetting the neck angle might just require proper shimming, not changing to con rods. Puzzles me quite a bit....

deuceswilde - Posted - 04/11/2012:  09:39:34

I presume we all know that a 13" rim is "regulation" for what was called "orchestra" models. That size banjo was intended to be tuned to concert pitch. This is not a cello or bass banjo. It may be a challenge to work out the proper diameter strings to get a banjo this small to work at one octave below concert pitch.

If this were mine, and the neck properly set for a banjo of that era, I'd put standard nylon strings on it and tune up to concert pitch.

My above statements on rim size refers to "narrow" rim late banjos, and not 13" early banjos. Those are usually pitched 3 to 5 half steps below concert.

deuceswilde - Posted - 04/11/2012:  09:46:53

That's crazy talk from gold tone. From your post, those guys seem to only know modern "Gibson" style construction. I'd keep them away from this one. Real dowel construction, not the fake gold tone variations, are great. Once again, thin two support bridge of maple, cedar or hard pine, standard classic nylon strings and concert pitch. This era of banjo used 1/2" bridges. There are still many "banjo luthiers" that don't know and will try to adjust for a 5/8" modern bridge.

greenepickins - Posted - 04/11/2012:  10:27:27

Oh wow! I guess i screwed myself pretty darn bad the, huh? I am a newbie when it comes to anything about working on a banjo and I trusted their opinion at the moment. But now I have to second guess all of that after reading these posts. I just want to play the thing and I think that dueceswild is right about the strings. Ugh I wish there was something I could do. Do you think that if I dropped it off late yesterday that they already started surgery???
Thanks everyone for help. I feel like a complete idiot right now.

Andy FitzGibbon - Posted - 04/11/2012:  18:50:56

quote:

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Originally posted by deuceswilde



I presume we all know that a 13" rim is "regulation" for what was called "orchestra" models. That size banjo was intended to be tuned to concert pitch. This is not a cello or bass banjo. It may be a challenge to work out the proper diameter strings to get a banjo this small to work at one octave below concert pitch. If this were mine, and the neck properly set for a banjo of that era, I'd put standard nylon strings on it and tune up to concert pitch. My above statements on rim size refers to "narrow" rim late banjos, and not 13" early banjos. Those are usually pitched 3 to 5 half steps below concert.

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The appropriate strings/pitch would depend a lot more on the scale length of the replacement neck than the rim diameter.

There's no reason to install coordinator rods to reset the neck.  Gold Tone just doesn't know how to reset a dowel stick correctly.  Not surprising, since they don't have much experience with true dowel stick construction.

Andy

greenepickins - Posted - 04/11/2012:  18:54:46

Dang that makes sense!!! They hardly EVER have dowel rods in their products. Wow I should have gone somewhere more "local".