mylesm - Posted - 02/08/2014:  08:58:51

Just received a beautiful 1925 Silver Bell from the Silver Bell Master  Polle Flauno

Its a Beautiful Banjo and set up Perfect by Polle ,One Happy Man Here

Heres a Video of it Playing Irish JIg "I Buried my Wife and Danced on her Grave"

Edited by - mylesm on 02/08/2014 09:05:46

VIDEO: Very Nice (click to view)

VIDEO: I buried my Wife (click to view)

brunomathilda - Posted - 02/08/2014:  09:53:59

Very nice playing.

I really enjoyed those two pieces

Now I think I want to play the tenor as well

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:03:55

Myles - I´m glad, that you like it. BTW - really great playing by your buddy - I love his vibrato and bluesy string bending.

Guys - don´t mind the distorted recording of the treble/high mid - do instead focus on the fantastic sound/sustain equality of ALL strings - inclusive of the often problematic G-string. The strings are btw. D´Addario 012-018W-026W-036W - plain and nickel wound.

Myles - do enjoy - and let me know, how she behaves.

Polle

mylesm - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:07:48

Yes Polle its really great the sound is distorted on the treble because its only recorded with a smartphone but the banjo sounds great sitting in front of it

My Buddy playing is Conn and hes very jealous at the moment

mylesm

Edited by - mylesm on 02/08/2014 12:10:11

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:29:29

Myles,

Nice / gentle comments / reviews like these make me really glad and help me forgetting the red figures at most bottom lines - LOL!



This morning another nice comment popped up at my mail box - from a pro jazz-banjoist in Southern Spain - I refretted, rebuilt and set up his B&D Sultana Silver Bell tenor a few months ago:



Hello my dear friend,

----------

I hope you feel alright, and I wish you the best. I am so happy with my banjo!

Attempting to learn how to play crackerjack these days... By ear! I don't have any transcriptions, but it's a nice exercise for me to try it.

Bye bye maestro!

Best regards

***********

Polle

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:37:34

Myles & Conn,

I hope, that you guys this evening will go to a local Dublin pub - have a few "warm" drafts (Aarrgghh!) and let the "Lady" sing out loud - together with other ITM instruments.

Polle

Steven M - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:45:41

Warm is the only way to drink good beer! LOL.

Gordy Ohliger - Posted - 02/08/2014:  12:46:06

Of course it's an excellent instrument!
I hope you fill all your "extra" time together.

PS~ I'm not sure about this buzz I hear. Wound second and third string? A wound second; I've never heard of such a thing.

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/08/2014:  13:32:08

Gordy,

"Any day - without learning something new or old - is in principle wasted."  LOL!

Trust seems to be a difficult concept for many Americans - so why not purchase one of my Silver Bell´s and make your own experiences - they all come with a lifetime warranty - and guaranteed without any buzzing - but also with a guaranteed modern / ultimate / unsurpassed / top-professional playability and performance - no matter their scale and / or tuning.

Do you know of any US banjo dealers / wizards offering the same?  I do know of a few myself - they are btw. all close friends of mine.

Polle

NYCJazz - Posted - 02/08/2014:  20:32:58

Polle

Forward this to your Spanish friend:

banjohangout.org/myhangout/pho...umid=3099

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/09/2014:  02:44:48

Nathan,

Thanks - I´ve forwarded the banjo arrangement to my "Spanish Connection".

Polle

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/09/2014:  03:30:37

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gordy Ohliger

Of course it's an excellent instrument!

I hope you fill all your "extra" time together.



PS~ I'm not sure about this buzz I hear. Wound second and third string? A wound second; I've never heard of such a thing.

---

Gordy,

Sorry for my somewhat harsh words last night - I was very tired and in severe pains - plus maybe I´ve had too many "cold" drafts. Sorry!

I´ve this morning listened to some of you great recordings - they did for sure bring back a smile on my face.

As for B&D Silver Bell´s - I do rebuild all examples passing my house and/or sold by me - normally with a neck/dowel raise of appr. 1/8" - this brings a large string/head clearance suited for flat picking close to the neck plus the acceptance of a tall bridge - musts for modern pro playability and performance as mentioned.

As for the strings mentioned - this is in fact IMO a medium set for GDAE tenor tuning - many of my ITM buddies are using an even more heavy set on their 23" scale tenors (mostly Silver Bell´s) - like this 014-024W-032W-042W.

Kind regards - and thanks for the smile this morning

Polle

UnknownUser - Posted - 02/09/2014:  05:17:13

I love the sound of this banjo.  The wound A is interesting choice and something to try for sure.  Silverbells make for wonderful ITM banjos and are just as good as anything coming out today.  Good work Polle.

mylesm - Posted - 02/09/2014:  12:11:33

Almost All ITM Players I know use a wound A String and yes the Banjo is definitely as good as any new Banjos Today but remember it is setup very well that is a big problem today finding someone to set a banjo up well

Edited by - mylesm on 02/09/2014 12:12:15

UnknownUser - Posted - 02/09/2014:  12:36:20

Very good to know for consideration... I've always played with gauges, not windings for experimentation.  Will check with other irish players for recos.



Slán

NYCJazz - Posted - 02/09/2014:  13:56:58

My Silver Bell #3/2 plectrum had the neck raising surgery before I purchased it. It's not something I would jump into with a new purchase... but I'm delighted that it was done. I have a 5/8" Snuffy Smith bridge with no neck shimming.

BoneDigger - Posted - 02/09/2014:  14:20:09

How much does something like this generally cost?

Todd

UnknownUser - Posted - 02/09/2014:  14:59:43

Nathan, curious can you describe your take on the work required?

NYCJazz - Posted - 02/09/2014:  20:11:41

Peter

The hole in the rim where the dowelstick goes thru was extended up 1/4" towards the head, with about an eighth of an inch taken out of the base of the tone ring on both sides of the rim. The square indent for the end of the dowelstick was also extended up, and a new hole drilled for the endpin bolt. Basically, the entire neck was raised up. A small amount of wood was also removed from the top (backside?) of the dowelstick where it contacted the rim.

Here's the rim with the tone ring removed:

Here's the dowelstick "surgery:

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/10/2014:  02:03:03

Nathan,

Have a look at this sophisticated/complicated method/procedure - lately performed and shown by Vinnie Mondello:

4stringbanjos.com/Restorations...esto.html

​Polle

Edited by - Polle Flaunoe on 02/10/2014 02:04:12

UnknownUser - Posted - 02/10/2014:  04:48:31

Interesting. I wondered if id see both of these methods. The dowel method that polle has attached seems to be the less intrusive model. So this is to allow for more bridge height correct?

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 02/10/2014:  05:52:26

PS!

Another and less complicated method - by Vinnie:

4stringbanjos.com/Restorations...pair.html

haildixon - Posted - 02/10/2014:  08:22:03

Vinnie will be performing this operation on my Vega Artist sometime soon. I'm not in a hurry for it and I think the neck has to get reset anyway so I'd think moving the whole dowel down a bit is the cleaner way to go. Shipping the banjo off this week. :)

majesty - Posted - 02/10/2014:  09:03:54

John: Smart move to send your Vega to Vinnie.It looks like a job beyond my expertise. By the way, Mobile Stomp sounded really nice.

NYCJazz - Posted - 02/10/2014:  09:37:18

Very interesting.

I don't see any change in the endpin position. Seems like this would reduce the angle of the strings at the bridge, similar to using a shorter bridge.

Did I miss a change of the angle at the heel?