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Whatever floats yer boat - Bela and Noam pick far from the bridge

Let your ears guide you

Every banjo has a sweet spot . I find my flat heads seem to be somewhere in the middle. My Frank neat arch top , for what ever reason gets picks closer to the bridge.?! I agree it can sound tingy-ish . As stated above, let your ears be your guide . Best of luck .

quote:

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Originally posted by Beowoulf

AI tells me to screw the experts and go with what I like! LOL! What do you folks think?

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Screw the experts and go with what you like.

When I play alone at home I want a mellower sound, so I also tend to play away from the bridge and close to the neck. I also play without my hearing aids. Often without picks. In a jam or gig I'll play everywhere from the bridge to the neck depending on the song, the volume of the ensemble, and what I feel like at the moment. Sometimes that close-to-the-bridge sound is what's called for. I wear my hearing aids at jams, with the listening program set to "Music" and the volume lowered a bit.

Decades ago when I'd keep a head long enough (and play enough) for it to develop worn spots from my fingers planted close to the bridge, I had evidence I was playing a lot in that position. I don't like worn heads, I don't play as much as I used, and I have more banjos, so none of my heads have those spots any more. Worn heads work fine. I just don't like the look. So I replace them.

Seems like you would want to move around, depending on the "sound effect" you are trying to get out of your instrument. The closer to the bridge you go, the more staccato vs. legato sound as you move away from the bridge. I think a good player (not me) has this in their bag of tricks.

And this may be more applicable for single-string playing than Scruggs style?

Scruggs, Crowe, Osborne, and Emerson always got great tone out of their instruments. When they were playing a solo with notes located between the nut and the fifth fret, the little finger of their right hand was right in front of the bridge. If they played notes located below the fifth fret, they usually moved their right hand away from the bridge.

The type of thumb pick and the way you shape and wear your finger picks also affect the tone that you get out of your instrument.  If you've got the bands of your finger picks squeezed tight on the tips of your fingers, with the blades hanging way off your fingers, that may be the source of the undesirable tone you're getting.  The purpose of a finger pick is to add a hard metal surface to the tip of your finger, not to add an extra appendage to your finger. 

The great Yogi philosopher once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching". Below is a video of a performance by the greatest Bluegrass banjo players. In addition to Scruggs, Crowe, Osborne, and Emerson, the video also includes Don Stover, Al Munde, and Jimmy Arnold.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Scruggs, Crowe, Osborne, Emerson, Stover, Munde & Arnold

My head wear is kind of from the neck joint to the bridge.
There isn't a One-Way for the "experts".

string gauge comes into play for me--
on my baritone I can actually find spots on the strings where they are more in tune --but that really does not help on this subject--
When right at the bridge -there is a clarity achieved on barn burning things like Flint Hill Special on the Carnegie Hall album - when he plays the lower part--
getting off of the bridge --lets the notes run across each other too much-

sometimes achieving -the separation of notes--does not go hand in hand --with the best  tone imo--

I never could came close to Earl's ability on Flint Hill Special --
sustain of previous notes especially open strings are a good part of the sound of banjo music

my opinion i ask no agreement

also but maybe already mentioned is straight out of Earl's book ,the x-y position article --it depends on where the left hand fretting --the right kinda follows suit--this serves well in other styles

when I said ''off of the bridge''-I meant ''barely off of the bridge'' the bluegrass tone legends get it rumbling in a reserved way there--

I rarely play close enough to the bridge to touch it.
I like the fuller tone (bass response) halfway between the bridge and neck and very often playing over the 22nd fret when someone (me or someone else) is singing.

I prefer playing the tone I'm pleased with and don't try and sound like anyone else.