Old British Banjo
July 17, 2008
I just had to share this with you all:
My names Dan, I’m 19, i live in Cornwall in the Uk. Ive been watching your videos for about a year now i guess, and i was wondering if i could get a bit of advice on a very old banjo i have.
i’ve played guitar for about 6/7 years and I don’t know that much about banjos, i’ve been playing on and off for a while with a different banjo, but i got this old one and its just been lying around getting dusty. I think its about 80 to 100 years old,maybe more, maybe less, I’m not really sure. its been in the family all that time and my granddad gave it to me a while ago. I finally got around to getting a new bridge for it and stringing it up (for the first time in about 20 years) and it sounds wonderful. the only problem is the action is way to high, almost unplayable. Ive taken down the bridge a little,but that didn’t do much. It doesn’t look like it has an adjustable rod or anything, (just a wooden bar where it should be) so I’m not sure how to adjust the neck. I’ve attached a few pictures just so you could have a look.
I have written Dan with my advice on what to do (get it to a good shop, replace the old pegs with new violin pegs and string it with gut because this banjo was never intended for steel strings) but feel free to post any tips you may have in the comments.
movie and a cheesesteak
July 17, 2008
Lots of stuff going on this wekend.
Tomorrow we are ditching work to see The Dark Knight. We already have tickets for the 9AM show. The movie should be a hoot, but it’s really all about the trip out of town. Dear Old Dad and I always seem to come up with our best creative and business ideas on the ride up to the big multiplex in Salisbury.
On Saturday Lowell is coming down to Crisfield to deliver the Somerset S-1 prototype and Pat from Maryland of Transcontinental Jam Session fame is going to stop by for a visit. This should be a blast. A visit with old friends, a chance to play a groundbreaking banjo and Dear Old Dad is going to make Philly cheesesteaks!
Today I have to work on the revamp of the Pik-Ware Publishing web site, set up some banjos, finish the ukulele handouts for the upcoming summer arts camp workshop and try to finish up the banjo gospel songbook . . .
In other news, I have ordered a new camera. I read all of your suggestions and checked out as many online reviews as I could and ended up ordering a Fujifilm Finepix S1000fd. I’ll send the Canon out for repair once the new camera gets here.
