Looking for a Banjo Uke!

BigD

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Hey folks! Just here to kinda stir the waters and see if anyone has a banjo uke they are looking to let go of for a decent price. I recently had my hands on a Gold Tone BUB and absolutely fell in love. I've come to realize of late that my musical tastes are falling more and more in to the bluegrass variety as well as string bands and country. Any offers considered, extra points if its baritone or tenor sized. Thanks for your time guys!
 
I've got a firefly I'd be willing to part with for $200
 
We bought a banjolele from http://www.wsukes.com/forsale.html
And really love it. Dave the builder is not planning to build any more banjoleles and had posted on another thread about that.
 
Not an offer, but I’ve had a tenor built by Tommy George of George banjos that I have really enjoyed. Mine is not on the inexpensive end, but he is a builder that I’d encourage you to check out.
 
I gotta say that I had the chance to try one out (the firefly) and this was probably my least favorite of the group! Little too small for me as well, thanks though i appreciate it!
 
Can you coax a decent George Formby tone out of one of it?
I would say you could definitely get a George Formby out of it. I've never specifically done a George Formby" but we'll try. Give me some time as I've never posted a video. So I'm not making promises :)

This is a video we enjoyed using one of Dave's banjolele
https://youtu.be/ncJY-RBLyD0
Another example although ours sounds way louder and ours has a great twang. The player is strumming a softer song -
https://youtu.be/paQIevn-95k

The first video is a better example of the sound we have. It's my grandson's banjolele. He loves it. I also thought it was very reasonably priced for a hand built instrument. Dave ships it in a wooden crate that we had to remove the screws to get to the instrument. It made getting the banjolele just that much more fun. This is the thread where Dave said he's hanging up his hat. https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...ly-the-last-four-banjo-ukes-I-m-going-to-make
 
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Vintage tenor banjos can be amazing when strung in nylon as a baritone. I've been running a 1920s Lyon & Healy 17 fret tenor with an 11" head strung with Nylguts as a ukulele for going on 15 years now. Very loud but it has an excellent tone you don't usually get from banjos with the smaller 8" heads found on most banjo ukes. The only drawback is that those tenor banjos often have pretty narrow nut widths.

Deering's banjo ukes use the full size rims, but I'm not sure they make a tenor or bari. The old 17 fret tenor banjos usually run about 20" scale so they're right in line with baritone ukes.

Lord knows there are lots and lots of old tenor banjos kicking around that can be had pretty cheaply on Ebay etc. I've got several "basket case" tenor banjos in my basement.
 
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Vintage tenor banjos can be amazing when strung in nylon as a baritone. I've been running a 1920s Lyon & Healy 17 fret tenor with an 11" head strung with Nylguts as a ukulele for going on 15 years now. Very loud but it has an excellent tone you don't usually get from banjos with the smaller 8" heads found on most banjo ukes. The only drawback is that those tenor banjos often have pretty narrow nut widths.

Deering's banjo ukes use the full size rims, but I'm not sure they make a tenor or bari. The old 17 fret tenor banjos usually run about 20" scale so they're right in line with baritone ukes.

Lord knows there are lots and lots of old tenor banjos kicking around that can be had pretty cheaply on Ebay etc. I've got several "basket case" tenor banjos in my basement.

Deering makes a tenor Goodtime Banjo Uke. It sounds great. I almost bought one, but, I saw Dennis' Southern Cross tenor. I've admired the concert-sized ones for some time. He finally listed a tenor, and I was hooked. :drool:

By-the-way, Dennis told me that he will make a banjo on order. But he is no longer going to make them on spec, hoping someone will buy them. I received my spec tenor from him in 5 days. It's wonderful. Beautifully made too.
 
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I would agree about the Tommy George banjo/uke...very loud and high quality. I sold mine because it was a tenor and I wanted a baritone 19" scale. I cannot recommend Hoyt Banjos highly enough. Zachory will build you a baritone scale 10" banjo. He also has some 5 string , 10" pot with a 19" scale neck banjos in stock.
This is what I play with our ukulele group on a lot of tunes. It is tuned G, D, G, B, E...a baritone with a G drone(5th) string. It blows the Goldtone BUB's away in the group. He will make you a 4 string too. pm me if you have any questions...I love mine. I own his #107.
john
 
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I have a tenor firefly I just listed. Pretty reasonable.

Earlier in this thread the OP stated "I gotta say that I had the chance to try one out (the firefly) and this was probably my least favorite of the group! Little too small for me as well, thanks though i appreciate it!"
 
Actually I’m sure they probably were. Mine is a tenor and not very small.. It’s much different than the standard firefly.
 
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