Ukulele Banjo questions

Greetings.

I recently bought and started playing a Lanikai LB6-S soprano ukulele-banjo. Is there a following here for the ukulele banjo?

My instrument comes with no resonator, and has plastic looking strings (nylon?). Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone ever puts steel (banjo) strings on one? Another issue, it sounds much better if I hold it out so you can hear the sound from the back of the banjo head. I wonder what is a good way to install a pick-up?

I'll be attending the Indiana Ukulele Festival in Woodburn Indiana, 8/4/2012 - 8/5/2012.

Thanks everyone!

As for a BU following, yah, we got that...I am looking at five of them right now.
PU's- yes, they are mounted to the rod that goes from the neck to the outside of the rim (I forget what it is called)...but you will get used to modulating the sound with your body. You will also get used to buying another one with a resonator
Metal strings- no sir. Yes, it has been done and yes, it sounds like garbage. If you want brighter sound from your uke with nylon strings, tighten the head (not too tight- you can bust it- I tune to an A note).
Enjoy the little banjo- they are a blast

Banjo ukuleles are cooler than melting snow. Yessir. I enjoy mine, a vintage NMS Co from the 1920s. The old thing is so loud I can hardly believe it. Part of the charm is exactly the fact that strings are nylon, and not steel. That kind of banjo sound can't be beat.

I love my banjolele!

Steel strings...just say no, for a number of reasons:

The instrument isn't built for the tension of steel strings so you're liable to bend the neck, tweak the rim, and/or bust the tuners.

Fingers on steel can be harsh especially with the fast strumming that sounds so great on a banjolele...so you'd probably end up using picks...which there really isn't much room for so you'll probably end up chewing the neck up (on a sup you'll probably be most comfortable strumming over the fretboard rather then the head). Using picks will also drastically change the sound as well as make it jarringly louder. The combination of steel strings plus a pick will probably overload the tiny head, which won't harm anything but it'll sound distorted (bad).

Lastly, but most importantly, it'll sound like ass.

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The banjolele is a unique instrument with a unique sound and playing style. It isn't simply a short scale banjo. If what you want is a short scale banjo, I'd suggest a tenor banjo with "chicago tuning", DGBE. Either play it as-is (DGBE is the same as baritone uke, also top 4 strings of a standard guitar), or capo it at the 5th fret and it'll be GCEA like a uke. It'll mostly sound like a tenor banjo, it'll just use the fingerings of a uke.

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Loudness and pickups, etc.

TCK is right, a resonator model is by far the best way to add volume. The cost of resonator models however, tend to start about twice as much as open models.

If you're crafty you can make a resonator for your open back. Even just a round sheet of 1/4" plywood mounted with a 1/4" or so gap around the bottom of the rim will go a long way to projecting the sound forward. There's little magical tech to banjo resonators and a lot of vintage banjoleles used flat disk resonators. How good it looks depends on your craft skills.

Pickups... If you must, search for banjo specific pickups. Banjos are particularly difficult to electrify. There's a lot of issues with all pickup types on banjos and rarely if ever is it satisfying. A mic is the best bet IMHO and there are some great clip-on mics if you want to be portable.