JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques General Technical Forum So I electrified the banjo--now what?

Wasn't sure where to ask the question(s). If not here, could somebody direct me, please?

I had a luthier I know electrify my banjo over the weekend. I wanted to do that because the heavy-metal band that wants to record my Norwegian Black/Death Metal song, "Evil Dead Fairies in My Mobile Home," when it's finished, wanted me to play electric banjo on it.

I get the impression (which could be mistaken) theat they're thinking about wanting me to perform with them. (Wouldn't be the first time that sort of thing has happened. Last band I was in was a punk-rock band, and I was one of their two lead guitarists, and it did sound okay.) They have said they're interested because no other heavy-metal band has an electric banjo. I 'spect they're waiting to see how the recording goes.

The electrification is okay. He used a small pickup, adhesived to the backside of the tympan (where it'd pick up vibrations best), and it does produce a good bit of volume. Still sounds like a banjo, of course--though banjos as a species sound pretty awful (and especially awful when it's me playing).

I presume for heavy-metal work, I'd need some kind of effects pedal. Yes? What should I be looking for? Has to be cheap. (The banjo was cheap.) Do I dare look for something like this used? Or should I concentrate on getting something new? Abovementioned luthier (plus a local music store) will order for me whatever I ask for--but what should I be asking for?

Thanks in advance for y'all's help and advice.

Joe

Heavy Metal banjo...

You know, maybe effects would be counter-productive. A banjo cuts right through just about any mix of instruments. If you distort it, it will sound godawful. Maybe leave all the distortion and effects to the band...the addition of a banjo in a metal song might be novel enough as it is.

Mark, I wondered about that. Yes, effects will probably make the banjo sound Godawful. On the other hand, a *lack* of effects will make it sound Godawful, too.

Joe

Distortion will make it sound godawful...I've done it. Blech.

Ah, but who knows? Some Chorus might sound good.

Do you know the definition of "perfect pitch"?

It's when you throw a banjo into a dumpster and it never touches the sides.

Hello.... is this thing on?

(BTW, my banjo is about 5 feet away from me as I type this... which makes it sound lot better than when it is in my hands.)

I heard from a punk-rocker I know in england that over there, the term "banjoing" refers to hitting somebody hard enough with a heavy object to do serious damage. I guess in some cultures, the banjo is considered a weapon (which may indeed be a step above considering it a musical instrument).

Playing with bluegrass musicians a lot, I hear a lot of banjo player jokes. (They're usually told in front of the banjo player, with a reasonable expectation the banjo player will not understand them.) My favorite, until recently, was:

Q. What's the difference between a banjo player and a municipal bond?
A. The bond will evenutally mature and make money.

Joe

The banjo....AH...... one of the most maligned instruments ever.... like the bagpipes it can sound breathtaking if played properly...played badly it sounds like an "animal dying in pain" I could not think of a more polite way of putting the vernacular.

Q. How do you know when a banjo is in tune?
A. You don't

Big Jim, I have never heard a banjo referred to as "breathtaking" unless somebody'd got hit with one in the solar plexus. Our rhythm banjo player in the punk-rock band Screamin' Gulch was always trying to tune his banjo, and we always were reminding him there was no point.

Q. How many banjo players does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. Only two. The question is how'd they get into the light blub...

Joe

HOw good are you at working on the picking patterns? If you can get the basic Scruggs-style patterns for picking down, I wouldn't worry about effects - except maybe a plastic thumb pick and two metal finger picks.

If you're not that good at getting the scruggs style rolls down, maybe consider a simple delay pedal. That and the afformentioned chorus would be nice.

I electrified my banjo years ago. Never liked much between it other than a chord to the amp. But then I never played much Norwegian Death Metal either.

and as for cheap pedals, check out the danelectro cool cat line.

Tom, thanks for the danelectro tip. I will check them out.

I never learned the Scruggs picking. A few years ago (six, I think--last time I put new strings on the banjo), my guitar had to go into the guitar hospital for two weeks for new tuning pegs, and I had gigs. I had the banjo, but had never learned to play it well enougbh to perform with it.

What I discovered was if I tuned the high D string up one whole step--to an E--what I had was the top 4 strings of the guitar. (Ignoring, of course, that idiot 5th string nobody knows what to do with.) No learning curve. I've been playing the banjo that way ever since. I use a flat pick, just like with the guitar. Not very Scruggsy, but I can do lead guitar licks on the banjo that sound *really* strange.

Joe

You truly are The Devil's child

Being serious for a mo, the banjo has the sort of timbre that it doesn't matter too much what you do with it, it will still sound like a banjo.

Q. What's the definition of perfect pitch?
A. You get the banjo right in the middle of the lake

The baby ukelele said to his dad "Dad when I grow up I want to be a banjo" His dad said "OH come on son have you no ambition"

And you heard about the guy who made the mistake of leaving his banjo locked up in his car? He returned to find the car had been broken into--and there were *two* banjos.

joe

What's the definition of a gentleman?
Someone who can play the banjo but doesn't

KID: I wanna grow up and be a banjo player.
DAD: Son, you can't do both.

joe

Go ahead. Keep makin' fun of us. We're watching.
Go enjoy your canoe trip.

He might be ugly due to inbreeding but the kid can play............. does he use all twelve fingers?

I do think "Deliverance" did a disservice. Banjo players are not evil, and a canoe ride is not the fastest way to Hell (used to be the best way to get a girl to Gitchee-goomee). You may still want to run when you hear a banjo playing, but not for *that* reason.

War story of sorts. I got to go to a barbecue last weekend, with the music supplied by a couple of bluegrass bands, and I bet the guy I was sitting with I could spot the banjo player before the band ever got on stage. How? The deer-in-the-headlights look. I was right...

Joe

So, now that you have electrified your banjo, do you have a spotlight attached so that you can use it to light up your garage, or what?

Nah. The lights are a good idea, though. I think I'll do that with the Strat I want to build out of a toilet seat. I can put one of those li'l things that lights up and says "Occupied."

Joe

Yeah, there is nothing like a toilet seat guitar to say to the world "rock & roll can never die, it just needs a good flushing from time to time."

I would get one of those clear plastic ones with sea horses or something like that embedded in it. Pure class, you know what I mean?

don't forget to use the pink flamingo mike stand with it. It's sort of a "matching set."

What are words you will never hear?

"Somebody ran into the banjo player's BMW."

Thank you. I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitresses.

Ooo, a pink flamingo mike stand would be *perfect*! I ought to have a matching Pottycaster, though. I bet they got pink toilet seats at the Wal-Mart.

Old one:

Q.: What do you call a banjo player who's broken up with his girlfriend?
A.: Homeless.

Joe

I think Alan Munde used effects with the banjo in the 80's. Don't know if the banjo was electric or miked. Sounded good to me. Ben

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

I remember now. It was "Elinore Rigby" by "Country Gazette". Sort of a bluegrass version and the banjo effect was great. Ben

I don't know much about electric instruments. But can you still "Mike" a banjo with a pedal hooked up to the Mike for effects?

I don't think so. Or maybe you can and it just doesn't work as well as when you have a direct line in.

Joe

Munde did it in the studio, so there must be a way.

I was looking for distorted banjo sols on YouTube and I ran into this -- sorry not really distorted, but it is an electric banjo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXHOyqHzupk And it does have the incomparable Victor Wooten on bass.

Kevin

There's always this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N8GEZFZfPw&feature=related

Tom: I saw that video -- it just scared me too much!

Kevin

I think it's the same dude as in the photo above. He just wears makeup now to look less scary and more like a clown.

I played banjo back in the seventies in a country rock band. Try a Wah pedal through a 60 watt Ampeg head into 4 12" speakers cab.

It was a lot of fun but way to much stuff to move. You got to wear funny hats though.

Thanks, Rick. I'll try that (the Wah pedal, that is--I am too old and decrepit to be hauling heavy amps and speakers around).

Joe

Oh, and:

Q.: What do you say to a banjo player in a 3-piece suit?
A.: Will the defendant please rise...

Joe

Just a thought but would a normal guitar fx unit not provide the fx you want. You just plug the output from your banjo in.

Best advice I've received on the subject came from a professional lead guitarist who plays with our Friday Night Group. He told me to go to the local music store with the banjo, ask what FX pedals they had on sale (they apparently always have some), and try 'em out.

He's with most of you guys in maintaining banjos sound pretty awful to begin with, so it may not take much.

Joe

This just in...

Q.: What's the difference between a banjo player and a 15-inch pizza?
A.: The pizza can feed a family of four.

Joe

Q.: How can you tell if the stage is level?
A.: The banjo player is drooling out of both sides of his mouth.

Joe

Q.: How do you tune a banjo?
A.: Bang it over the bassist's head a couple of times

Derek, now you are being bassist-ist!! – I just hope for your sake Mr Dunbar doesn’t get to see this or you will be in big T. Now where did I put his number?

Hey Nigel

I apologize.. it's only because Banjo players and Bass players both get joked about so much... I figured I'd try and combine the two,,, to ill effect apperently... oh please don't tell Mike D :O he might put a hit out on me
Derek

Those were jokes? I just thought we had drifted into banjo trivia.

That's not fair Joe... in certain parts of the country a banjo player could feed a family of four! though he might be a little stringy
Derek

Today on Banjo trivia

q. what was the name of the little boy in movie "deliverance"?
Derek

Seems like the appropriate place to post this. This is the head of my banjo. I drew it freehand with magic markers back around 1976 (based on an image in a bluegrass songbook). A lot of the colors have faded. I used the markers since the ink wouldn't have any affect on the tone.
I put my name on it too, I guess so it would be easier to tell the difference between my banjo and everyone elses.