Banjolins?

Trad Strings
1

I traded in my old Flatiron mandolin when I bought my new Martin HD-28V a couple of weeks back.

I was thinking I might get another mandolin, but the good F styles are pretty expensive. I had a homemade banjolin for a while, so I’m thinking about getting one of those.

Elderly has a number of 1920-something Gibsons and Vegas, but at the moment I think the Gold Tone MB-800 Mando-Banjo http://www.folkofthewood.com/page634.htm is really interesting. I think I’d prefer the open back to the MB-850 resonator mode http://www.folkofthewood.com/page3356.html.

Has anyone tried either of these? Any other new models by other makers?

I’ve also looked at tenor banjos and octave mandolins, but the long scale seems to be a bit more than I want to deal with. I suppose I could get a tenor banjo and capo at the 7th fret…

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WARNING: no one will want to play with you :laughing:

banjolins combine the most disadvantageous parts of a banjo and a mandolin – high register, all cut and no sustain… i remember hearing about a taped jam by Grisman and Garcia in which Dawg was playing a banjolin; at the end of the jam Garcia could be heard saying “now that is a truly obnoxious instrument…”

want a good mandolin without a high price tag, get a Mid-Mo, if you can afford a little more and want an archtop the Breedloves are nice too.

p.s.: Folk of the Wood is a nice site to look at, but caveat emptor, read up around the web (mandolincafe.com, banjohangout.org) before you do business with them… in any case, it looks like they might be riding off into the sunset if recent scuttlebutt proves true.

p.p.s.: i’ve got a 1980’s Japanese Washburn F that sounds great but looks a little beat, i’d be willin to part with it reasonable-like if’n you might be innerested… :sunglasses:

3

You’d be surprised what a brass bridge will do for sustain…

p.s.: Folk of the Wood is a nice site to look at, but caveat emptor, read up around the web (mandolincafe.com, banjohangout.org) before you do business with them… in any case, it looks like they might be riding off into the sunset if recent scuttlebutt proves true.

Thanks for the info.

p.p.s.: i’ve got a 1980’s Japanese Washburn F that sounds great but looks a little beat, i’d be willin to part with it reasonable-like if’n you might be innerested… > :sunglasses:

Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. How’s the action?

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Pretty good, plenty of room to come down on the bridge if you like it lower – i’ve got it cranked up a bit. It could use a fret dress (or refret the first 5), but it has a good BG sound and good volume – it’s the Jethro Burns model with the rope binding.

I’ve got a couple of other mandolins i’m playing regularly so the Washburn doesn’t get played much these days.

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Hey, my first mandolin was one of those Washburn Jethro models. It was a great instrument, I don’t know what I was thinking when I sold it.

Re the banjo-mandolin, someone (possibly on Irtrad?) once referred to it as the “tuned spoons.”