After World War II, some banjos used all metal pots that had flanges built into them to which the resonator bolts. During the high point of banjo popularity, some manufacturers reduced the cost by using all-metal pots. Still, you need to evaluate it the same way as you would evaluate a cheapy - it may have spent the last century in a hot attic and have a neck like a ski slope.Ībout Metal Pots - Here's an interesting twist. If you're thinking about checking out the used banjo market, check out the article on Evaluating and Buying Used Guitars - everything we say about guitar necks applies to banjo necks, too.Īlthough most of the professional Four-Strings from the 1890s to 1920s have long since been lost or fallen apart, you may stumble across a vintage professional model - we'll describe some of the differences further down. It needs to be straight, or have an adjustment mechanism that you can use to make it straight. The critical part of any banjo is the neck. Ironically, many of those survivors - ugly as they can be - play better than most under-$400 student models today. Most were barely played, since owners soon realized that they had bought the wrong instrument for the kind of music they wanted to play, so that could benefit you. So a good number of Four-Strings hit the market as well. The Five-String banjo was far more popular in those days, but a number of companies still had parts and factory lines that dated back to the Jazz age. Most used Four-Strings that have survived in the American Heartland (where I live) were student models made in the 1950s and 1960s during the height of the Folk Revival. The used Four-String banjo market is a little spotty in many areas. Note: For more information about the history of the 4-string banjo and how some versions became more popular for certain kinds of music than others, please check out the Creek Don't Rise article "About 4-String Banjos." About Used Four-Strings Yes, Dixieland and Celtic players tune their banjos differently, but that only affects the kind of strings you put on it, not the construction of the thing. It might help you to know that you can play almost any of those kinds of music on almost any Four-String banjo, so if you've picked one up at a flea market or got one out of your uncle's attic and it's playable, you've got what you need to get started. That's beyond the scope of this article, though.) (Note: Some Celtic-influenced bands also use Five-String banjos, though the players may play them like they would an "Irish" four-string. Forms related to Celtic music, from the music of Irish bands like the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem to modern British roots-inspired bands like Mumford and Sons and many great artists between.Forms related to early Jazz, including late 19th-century dance hall music, Ragtime, Dixieland, and Tin Pan Alley songs that imitate early Jazz, like "Alexander's Ragtime Band.".If you landed on this page because you believe you need a Four-String banjo, then the question is "what kind of Four-String banjo do you want?"įour string banjo is most often used for: If you landed on this page because you don't know what kind of banjo you want, check out 's article What Kind of Banjo Do I Want?. 4-String Banjo Buyers' Guide - from Riverboat Music(tm)
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