Banjolele Questions

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littlestbanjo

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Hi folks!

I recently purchased my first banjo uke (a Gretsch G9470 "Clarophone" Banjo-Ukulele) from our local music shop. It sounds amazing - I love it and can hardly put it down. I do use it with a strap, so at least I don't have to hold it up, but I've noticed that my life would be easier if I had an armrest on it. I also own a full-sized five string banjo, and I know how much of a difference a good armrest can make.

Gold Tone seems to make a mini banjo armrest for an 8 inch pot, 20 fret model, but I don't know if it would work on my 8 inch 21 fretted instrument.

Does anyone out there know if Gold Tone's armrest would work on my Clarophone, or have any recommendations for something else?

Also, does anyone know where I could find a hard case for a little banjo uke? All of the ones that I can find come with instruments and I can barely play one at a time, let alone two (although the cat doesn't run away anymore, so I think I'm getting better). I already have a gig bag that works for it.

Thanks, everyone!
 
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uF4301.jpg

Hi this is an armrest for an 11 inch pot, I modified it to fit my 8 inch pot....can supply more close up pix if required....It works great and is fairly close to the correct curve now.
 
Why not check with Goldtone? Good people. Number of "frets" irrelevant to topic of arm rest. It connects to the brackets. Nearly all, if not all of the Asian made banjo ukes are Goldtone clones.
 
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Thank you for the picture, fynger - it looks like it fits great. Was it just a matter of bending the armrest to get it to fit?

I'll definitely be ordering one of the hard cases, now I just need to measure my little banjo and find out which one will work best - thank you for the links, Jim Hanks!

And I just sent an e-mail to Goldtone, hopefully I hear back soon (good idea, PhilUSAFRet)
 
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DSCF4315.jpg

No ...you cant bend it as its 'L' shaped and wouldn't bend properly ...from this pic you can see that i've cut it down shorter and with the correct placement it will follow the 8 inch curve....mine didn't reach 2 brackets tho...only the 1
 
its not big....if you look at the first pic i put on its quite short
 
What is important is the diameter of the pot. If yours is 8" and the part is made for 8", then I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

~Danny
 
fynger said:
its not big....if you look at the first pic i put on its quite short
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant big as in chunky = compared to the overall size of the banjo uke. The Goldtone arm rest is more in "scale" to the instrument. It is, however, starting to "grow" on me and I can see some instruments where it would look very good. It looks like a heavy, quality arm rest that is the right diameter. I've never seen that one before and I've done a lot of searching. Where did you find it?
 
Thanks, I have seen that one, but it doesn't look like the one on that banjo in the picture which has the mounting bracket all the way to one side.
 
I cut it down.....it made it fit the curve, being only just over half of it left.
 
Ok, world. It's been a little while, but I figured I'd update you all and let you know what worked and what didn't.

The Gold Tone Mini Armrest (B1209) does not fit on my Gretsch Clarophone Banjo Uke. The spacing is off - the attachment points are too wide to fit on two brackets but too narrow to skip one. I don't feel strongly enough about this to modify my banjo uke itself, so I may look at modifying an armrest for a larger banjo pot. I appreciate the advice that I've received on that.

The Lanikai Concert Banjo Ukulele case fits wonderfully. If anything, it's a little bit big - nothing that a little extra padding can't fix. I ordered mine from Elderly Instruments and I'm pretty excited about it. The picture has a filter - in person, the case is black with a gray interior.

banjo uke case from elderly.jpg

http://elderly.com/accessories/items/LBCASE.htm

Finding tiny banjo parts isn't as easy as I'd hoped it would be, but every time I find something that works I'm super excited. Totally worth it - banjo ukes can improve even the roughest days.
 
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Does anyone else have a precision scroll saw? Making an arm rest to fit any body shape is easy to do. Length and width are just a matter of personal preference...so is the choice of whatever wood or even thickness and colour of plastic. Method of attachment depends upon the spacing of the J hooks. I have a Gretsch Clarophone which has had a very hard life. The peghead looks as if it had been used for target practice. they will all get pegged- a veneer over the mess (except for the logo and redrilled.)
 
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