Duke10 vs Little Gem-sound difference between resonator and no resonator?

captain-janeway

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Bought a Duke10 recently that I love the sound of, but the tenor neck is just too big. Had a Little Gem arrive a couple of days ago.

It has what seems to sound like an flat area near the A string. I don't want to pull it apart because I don't know if I'm keeping it, but has anyone played one without the resonator? I don't know if it's just my ears not being used to hearing the sound of the of the instrument with the resonator or just the instrument (probably the former).

Anyway, for those of you who have banjoukes with and without resonators, how much difference do you notice?

I want to love the Little Gem for the lower weight and concert size but...
I wish Duke had made one with concert neck or SOMEONE made one with concert neck that didn't weigh a ton. Yep I did try the firefly in a shop. Very strange buzzing in both that I tried. Like I said, may just be me.
 
Bought a Duke10 recently that I love the sound of, but the tenor neck is just too big. Had a Little Gem arrive a couple of days ago.

It has what seems to sound like an flat area near the A string. I don't want to pull it apart because I don't know if I'm keeping it, but has anyone played one without the resonator? I don't know if it's just my ears not being used to hearing the sound of the of the instrument with the resonator or just the instrument (probably the former).

Anyway, for those of you who have banjoukes with and without resonators, how much difference do you notice?

I want to love the Little Gem for the lower weight and concert size but...
I wish Duke had made one with concert neck or SOMEONE made one with concert neck that didn't weigh a ton. Yep I did try the firefly in a shop. Very strange buzzing in both that I tried. Like I said, may just be me.

Very difficult to build a quality banjo uke without weight. You can use lighter materials and hardware but that often equates to an inferior product. Just the way it is with these instruments. I have made a few firefly type instruments using the Remo drum head, they turned out ok, certainly no ". strange" buzzing.
 
Rather than add a resonator, as an experiment with my Duke 10 I took the Tone-Gard (www.tone-gard.com) off of my mandolin and placed it on the Duke 10. It fit perfectly.

Why did I do this? On an open-backed banjo, if held close/against one's body the result is a muffling of the sound. A resonator helps redirect the sound to reduce the body-muffling effect. The Tone-Gard provides a buffer zone between one's body and the instrument, thus reducing the body-muffling effect. Mandolinists have been using Tone-Gards for many years with great success to eliminate the dampening effect that close body contact with the instrument can cause.

The Duke 10 with the Tone-Gard (to me, anyway) sounds sharper, clearer and louder. As the mandolin gets very limited use these days and the Duke 10 is used quite often, the Tone-Gard now remains on the Duke 10. The additional weight of the Tone-Gard is minimal.
 
Rather than add a resonator, as an experiment with my Duke 10 I took the Tone-Gard (www.tone-gard.com) off of my mandolin and placed it on the Duke 10. It fit perfectly.

Why did I do this? On an open-backed banjo, if held close/against one's body the result is a muffling of the sound. A resonator helps redirect the sound to reduce the body-muffling effect. The Tone-Gard provides a buffer zone between one's body and the instrument, thus reducing the body-muffling effect. Mandolinists have been using Tone-Gards for many years with great success to eliminate the dampening effect that close body contact with the instrument can cause.

The Duke 10 with the Tone-Gard (to me, anyway) sounds sharper, clearer and louder. As the mandolin gets very limited use these days and the Duke 10 is used quite often, the Tone-Gard now remains on the Duke 10. The additional weight of the Tone-Gard is minimal.

What size did you use and can you post a picture? I just sent back the little gem I bought. For some reason I just didn't care for the sound and the action just felt high. I'm still trying to stretch my hands well enough to be really comfortable on the Duke10 I bought a few months back. Wish I could figure a way to put a concert neck on. Wish me luck. Don't want to sell the Duke because I really like the sound.
 
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