Banjo uke questions

RafterGirl · Jun 25, 2018

I had the opportunity to play a Gold Tone banjo uke at a ukulele festival on Saturday. Wow, what a cool sound. What do I need to know about banjo ukes if I start looking to buy one. I know that they are heavy. Do they work with the same strings as a regular uke, or are there specific banjo uke strings. Do the heads have to be replaced very often? Do you tune them like a ukulele? What else should I know before buying one?

I've listened to a few sound samples, and the Gold Tones and Kalas sound good to me. I've not heard a Magic Fluke Firefly sound sample that I liked. Deering also sounds good, but they seem to be bigger, heavier & a little more money? I see that there are two models of Gold Tone concerts....BU-1 that has a pick-up & costs $200, and a BUC without a pick-up that costs $380. I found a used BUC in very good condition for $200 including a hardcase.

What other brands should I consider?

SteveZ · Jun 25, 2018

Banjo ukes are a blast. They are quite versatile, especiakky if you play rock or country at all.

Banjo-ukes are more "banjo" than "uke" in construction. If one considers them "compact banjos", then the instrument will be a joy. So, one should know a little how banjos work and why. That will help keep the instrument sounding the best. A good source for general banjo information are the Deering Banjo videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/DeeringBanjoCo

There are several excellent banjo-ukes out there in soprano, concert and tenor scale. Deering, The Duke and Lanikai are three other top brands, There are others which also put out a quality product. There are also a few cheapies out there, mainly at the auction sites, and like everything else - you get what you pay for.

Some string manufacturers package "banjolele strings," but any decent uke string set works fine. The key is keeping the head tension correct (there's a video on this). If that's done, just about any uke string set is okay.

Enjoy!

mineymole · Jun 25, 2018

I have both the Duke 10 and a soprano Firefly and I love them both. They are also quite different from each other. The Duke is more banjo than the Firefly which has a bit “softer” sound. The Firefly is probably the most “fun” instrument I have! I have Worth Browns on my Duke 10 and Living Water strings on my Firefly. I don’t see them wearing out in my lifetime!

Swamp Yankee · Jun 25, 2018

Addressing your question about banjo heads - I've got banjos with calfskin heads on them from the 1920s that are still going strong - and the modern, synthetic heads are even more durable if anything. So, you might have a banjo uke head outlive you if you don't drop a knife through it inadvertently.

Many of the modern synthetic heads are finished with a white paint-like material that you might wear through eventually (especially under your strumming finger) and expose the clear plastic head beneath - but others, like the head on the Firefly, are made so there's nothing applied to the head that you can wear through - and they have a translucent quality that I rather like.

Speaking of the Firefly, those, apparently, are built on hand drums instead of being built on banjo pots with tension hoops and adjustable hooks. Because of that, there's no way you can replace the head if you do happen to puncture it. There's also no way to adjust the head tension on the Firefly style uke...so if you're thinking long term, you might take that into consideration. I'd think it's pretty important to be able to tighten the head as needed to keep the tone nice and bright - though that head will not shrink and swell with changes in humidity, like the old calfskin heads will, they do stretch some over time - and if you can't tighten it up, your uke's tone may suffer.

captain-janeway · Jun 25, 2018

I just bought a Duke 10 tenor that I love the sound on, but it feels a bit big. Really light and banjo-y. If my hands were big enough to fret a banjo I would be playing one of those. Want to learn fingerpicking.

I may also get a Gold Tone concert Little Gem when they come out just because I like the blue and the concert size. I guess you have to be willing to try a plastic banjo uke. It's barely over 2 lbs and sounds good from the clips on the site. For $149 with a bag, why not?
https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/

I tried a couple of Fireflies, but they just had a weird buzzing I didn't care for. Maybe the shop hadn't set them up right. Most people who have them love them though

There are a lot of youtube vids on how to tune a banjo uke if you want to see what you're getting into.

Swamp Yankee · Jun 25, 2018

captain-janeway said:
If my hands were big enough to fret a banjo I would be playing one of those. Want to learn fingerpicking.

Really? Lots of full size 5 string banjos have nut widths no greater than 1.25" - and with most of the ones I've owned, the nut width was less than on a typical ukulele. Most of the chord work is done down below the 5th string pip - where the neck widens out and the 5th string is seldom fretted - acting mostly as a drone.

captain-janeway · Jun 26, 2018

Swamp Yankee said:
Really? Lots of full size 5 string banjos have nut widths no greater than 1.25" - and with most of the ones I've owned, the nut width was less than on a typical ukulele. Most of the chord work is done down below the 5th string pip - where the neck widens out and the 5th string is seldom fretted - acting mostly as a drone.

It's the spread distance between like the nut and first or second fret. It's a lot wider than the spacing on a uke between the nut, one and two. Actually a couple of the necks felt thinner than the ukes I have.

Swamp Yankee · Jun 26, 2018

Understood. I went from guitar to 5 string banjo and I found the ease of fretting the banjo to be several orders of magnitude greater than with a guitar.

My problem with some ukes is not having enough room between the frets... even with some of the open chords in the first position.... like a three finger D... I can barely do it on my concert - fuggedaboutit on my soprano :/

RafterGirl · Jun 26, 2018

captain-janeway said:
I just bought a Duke 10 tenor that I love the sound on, but it feels a bit big. Really light and banjo-y. If my hands were big enough to fret a banjo I would be playing one of those. Want to learn fingerpicking.

I may also get a Gold Tone concert Little Gem when they come out just because I like the blue and the concert size. I guess you have to be willing to try a plastic banjo uke. It's barely over 2 lbs and sounds good from the clips on the site. For $149 with a bag, why not?
https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/

I tried a couple of Fireflies, but they just had a weird buzzing I didn't care for. Maybe the shop hadn't set them up right. Most people who have them love them though

There are a lot of youtube vids on how to tune a banjo uke if you want to see what you're getting into.

Thanks for the link to the Gold Tone Little Gem. I entered their contest.....maybe I'll win one???

captain-janeway · Jun 27, 2018

Swamp Yankee said:
Understood. I went from guitar to 5 string banjo and I found the ease of fretting the banjo to be several orders of magnitude greater than with a guitar.

My problem with some ukes is not having enough room between the frets... even with some of the open chords in the first position.... like a three finger D... I can barely do it on my concert - fuggedaboutit on my soprano :/

Three finger D is easy because of my finger size. What I'd like to do is get one finger to cover 2 strings on an E. Haven't quite been able to line up 3 and hit that second fret cleanly, so saw this version of E and thought I'd try. Don't have a prayer of hitting three strings with one finger. My finger would need to be able to bend a the first joint closest to palm.

Nice to know the chords are below the first few frets on banjo. Maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for that info.

Someone already told me a way to retune and capo my tenor Duke that would in effect give it a concert scale. Will pick up some concert strings, set it up and see what happens.

maki66 · Jun 27, 2018

I've got a Gold Tone tenor banjolele that I just adore.

Its very much a small banjo, but with the ukulele ease of playing.

Part of the great sound comes at the price of weight, which some folks don't like..
I don't mind, as I also have full size banjos.

My Firefly concert banjolele is super light, but doesn't have the same banjo punch as the Gold Tone.

Preferences very quite a bit person to person, I'm usually a huge fan of Magic Fluke Company products, but this one hasn't grown on me.

frianm · Jun 27, 2018

I have been playing an old (1920s) Maybell/Slingerland for a few years and love its sound. It is soprano scale and does have a narrower neck at the nut. I had a bridge made with regular soprano spacing and it is a versatile little instrument. The instrument has a screwed on back which contains its sound. I think the head is original - I changed out the tuners for Gotoh upt which are a huge improvement. The strings on it are Aquila Reds, sold for the banjo ukulele. I have it listed on the Ukulele Marketplace.
I also have at my home an Oscar Schmidt concert scale. This feels so much bigger and has a real presence. I am selling it for a friend - ad is on the Marketplace forum.

There are some ukulele groups that forbid the playing of the ukulele banjo. Certainly they can be overpowering. However the sound is fun and for me appealing.
I should note that I play regular 5 string banjo too so YES, I love banjos and being a ukulele it is so so portable.

RafterGirl · Jun 28, 2018

I have the opportunity to buy a Deering at a good price. It seems to have a wonderful sound in the samples I've heard. My only hesitation is that it's the biggest & heaviest of the concert scale banjo ukes. 11 inch head & weighs about 4 pounds.

Mivo · Jun 28, 2018

RafterGirl said:
I have the opportunity to buy a Deering at a good price. It seems to have a wonderful sound in the samples I've heard. My only hesitation is that it's the biggest & heaviest of the concert scale banjo ukes. 11 inch head & weighs about 4 pounds.

I have one of those. Yes, they are heavy, but that also makes them very stable when playing seated. The sound is unique. It doesn't sound like a banjo and it doesn't sound like a uke. You can easily hear every mistake, nails and skin scratching on the strings, etc. A lot also depends on the strings, I feel, maybe more so than with normal ukuleles. The sound is different from banjoukes with resonators. Very well manufactured, great craftsmanship, just like Deering's banjos. Not at all flimsy like some of the Chinese variants.

I don't feel that they are suitable substitutes for regular banjos. Sound and feel are very different. If someone wants to play a banjo, there are short neck models out there.

SteveZ · Jun 28, 2018

Mivo said:
I have one of those. Yes, they are heavy, but that also makes them very stable when playing seated. The sound is unique. It doesn't sound like a banjo and it doesn't sound like a uke. You can easily hear every mistake, nails and skin scratching on the strings, etc. A lot also depends on the strings, I feel, maybe more so than with normal ukuleles. The sound is different from banjoukes with resonators. Very well manufactured, great craftsmanship, just like Deering's banjos. Not at all flimsy like some of the Chinese variants.

I don't feel that they are suitable substitutes for regular banjos. Sound and feel are very different. If someone wants to play a banjo, there are short neck models out there.

Have to agree. I had a Deering Concert banjo-uke and a Deering 17-fret tenor banjo (which I still have) at the same time. Did a lot of comparing the two.

The build quality was equal. Almost all of the parts between the two were the same. The only real difference was neck length.

Sound-wise, the difference between the two was mainly due to the stribgs - nylon on the banjo-uke and steel on the tenor banjo. Had once strung the tenor banjo with nylon and the sound was quite similar then. As with all banjo-like instruments, head tension is critical for best/decent sound, and the Deerings were no different.

Eventually the Deering banjo-uke went away, mainly due to weight. It weighed almost as much as the tenor banjo. I found myself going more to the tenor banjo when the choice became which Deering to play and instead picking up my Duke as my primary banjo-uke. The Duke weighed about half of the Deering's weight.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big Deering fan. Had I not possessed a Deering tenor banjo I probably would have kept that banjo-uke. They were just too similar and I really use my banjo-ukes as light-weight convenience instruments (especislky when travelling) when I don't want to haul out the much-heavier banjo

Grizzly Adams · Jun 28, 2018

In my view, the Deering Banjouke is a short-cut attempt by Deering Banjo Co. to cash in on "the Ukulele Thing." All they have done is put a ukulele scale neck on the Good Time banjo pot, instead of tooling up and making a proper sized banjo ukulele pot and associated parts. The result is a oversized and heavier than normal kinda sorta banjouke that has a unique sound, but IMHO, does not sound have the sound I like in a banjouke. Some folks love them, however, and that's cool. I view it as a hybrid.

By the by, I am a fan of Deering Banjo Co. They make great banjos that are true value on the dollar. I just think they missed the mark on this one!

frianm · Jun 28, 2018

IMHO the Deering is a splendid instrument BUT just too big, a sort of cut down tenor banjo.

Go used however as it is your best chance to get into something at a modest price.

RafterGirl · Jun 28, 2018

Thanks everyone. I have no previous banjo experience. Heck, I’ve only been playing uke for a little over a year. I did like the sound of the Gold Tone banjolele I briefly played last weekend. Fun & different. Banjoleles & banjos seem a tad more complex in set up. I think the Deering would be too big & heavy at this point in the game. I’m not in a big hurry, so I’ll just keep my eyes open & see what comes my way.

Mivo · Jun 29, 2018

RafterGirl said:
Banjoleles & banjos seem a tad more complex in set up.

In some ways they are easier to set up. Unlike with ukuleles, you can move the bridge around, so if it's too sharp or too flat, you can easily fix it without any modifications of the saddle or nut. The head (the skin) tension is the more challenging part that I struggled a bit with when I had a banjo. Eventually, I bought a DrumDial, just to find that the tension had been great already. I returned the wonderful, beautiful banjo (a Deering Eagle II) because it was too large/heavy and I was a little uncomfortable with how much I had spent on an instrument type that I had little experience with. In retrospect, I should have gone for a tenor banjo. Still have the DrumDial, and it works with the banjouke also.

Dionysis · Jul 14, 2018

captain-janeway said:
Three finger D is easy because of my finger size. What I'd like to do is get one finger to cover 2 strings on an E. Haven't quite been able to line up 3 and hit that second fret cleanly, so saw this version of E and thought I'd try. Don't have a prayer of hitting three strings with one finger. My finger would need to be able to bend a the first joint closest to palm.

Nice to know the chords are below the first few frets on banjo. Maybe I'll give it a try. Thanks for that info.

Someone already told me a way to retune and capo my tenor Duke that would in effect give it a concert scale. Will pick up some concert strings, set it up and see what happens.

I’ve been playing for a little while, and have started teaching beginners and leading sing alongs. I’m 6’3”. I first bought a soprano and couldn’t do the D chord, so move to concert, then tenor, the bari. Then my fingers got stronger at moving strange directions, my knuckles more flexible. I learned a few tricks. Now I can play a three finger D on a sopranino. I can bend my fingers to cover the G and C string with one finger while also playing the E and A strings.

I’m no great shakes, but there are some tricks to playing a smaller fretted instrument, and the hand adapts. I say if you think you can’t do something, ask others who can how they do it and you will often find the way.

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