Ben, I have run into one (easy to count to one--even a banjo player can do it) banjo player who had amplified his banjo, and he complained it didn't work very well. He had a little piezo mike attached to his bridge, but the glue kept coming loose under hot stage lights.

I wanted a more permanent solution, and didn't really care if it meant cutting into the wood, because my banjo, albeit well-made, is cheap. As it was, it didn't: the wood sounding board attached with screws, and it was easy to mount the pickup on the underside of the tympan, and room to run the wire out without drilling any holes, which was real nice.

I don't think it *deliberately* distorts--banjos just sound distorted anyway. At high volume, it is impressive. I don't know if I'll need an effects pedal, though I did try some effects on it when I recorded Beth Williams' song, "Cast Away." A lot of the "metal" effects on the Tascam didn't add much, though--it still sounded pretty much like a loud banjo--which it is.

Q.: How do you get a banjo player off your porch?
A.: Pay him for the pizza.

Joe

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