Someone please talk me out of buying a banjolele

Sheesh Dennis, get a sense of humor! The tone was set when the original poster asked to be talked out of something he obviously didn't want to be talked out of.

Y'all do realize that until recently, Dennis was the builder of some of the finest banjo ukes on the planet. I guess he's entitled to a little defensiveness. :rofl:
 
Well, to pull this conversation together and try to appeal to everyone and no one simultaneously:

You really shouldn't buy an Ohana Banjo ukulele.

You really should buy a Southern Cross.

(kidding, buy whatever you want)

Edit, I just read that Dennis isn't making them anymore, so a used Southern Cross then.
 
Last edited:
You should buy an actual 5-string banjo and be done with it. I'm in a uke group and when I bring in my banjo all the banjolele guys puts their's away and play their uke instead. Go big or go home!
 
Y'all do realize that until recently, Dennis was the builder of some of the finest banjo ukes on the planet. I guess he's entitled to a little defensiveness. :rofl:

Well to me, that's all the more reason to have a sense of humor about it. It's not like the banjo ukulele is some kind of sacred cow. I know a bass player who has a great sense of humor about his instrument. If you tell him a bass player joke he'll probably come back at you with one that's even funnier. We all know that it's just camaraderie and having some fun.
 
Well to me, that's all the more reason to have a sense of humor about it. It's not like the banjo ukulele is some kind of sacred cow. I know a bass player who has a great sense of humor about his instrument. If you tell him a bass player joke he'll probably come back at you with one that's even funnier. We all know that it's just camaraderie and having some fun.

Let's face it, if we didn't want to be mocked, we'd all play guitar. :music::rock::rofl:
 
And remember that the only way to get a guitarist to be silent is to put a sheet of standard notation in front of him.

The difference between a viola and a violin? You can tune a violin.

What do you call a guy who likes to hangout with musicians?

A drummer.

What do you call a bass player without a girlfriend?

Homeless. (I’m currently really enjoying studying bass and walking bass in particular. I want to add bass parts to my ukulele recordings. And God forbid that in addition to loving classical music and jazz I also enjoy Country and Western! Give me some ribbing about that!)

A rock guitarist plays three chords in front of 10,000 people. A jazz guitarist plays 10,000 chords in front of 3 people.

Etc.
 
Last edited:
Many of us who play banjo ukes proudly claim a place in the grand historical tradition of bluegrass banjo jokes: http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banjokes.html Maybe this is a USA thing and folks across the pond (or that other pond) don't get it.

What do you call 25 banjo ukes buried up to their necks in sand?

Not enough sand.

I've memorized a few of these to tell when I'm tuning my Firefly :cool: Not everybody can be trusted to drive a Maserati and not everybody can be trusted to play a banjo uke. Be brave and get one.
 
I love all these answers. You guys a cracking me up.
If you play tenor and like light get a Duke 10.
I agree that a lot of them could be used as anchors--especially a Deering. Then again, the Deering just seems to be a sawed off banjo.

Yeah, banjoleles don't sound totally like a banjo but since I can't fret a banjo I just have fun with it anyway. I think part of it's because a banjo is using steel strings vs the uke's nylon.

Go look at a GoldTone Little Gem if you like color. Kind of mid range on the weight, but it's plenty loud. A little less than that Ohana if you're just wanting to try out the sound

Have fun. I'll never talk you out of it. I built one with a 10" pot to fit my tiny hands. Perfect, heck no (then I'd be a luthier), but it's kinda fun.
If I could play a tenor I would have kept the Duke10. I loved its sound
 
Let's face it, if we didn't want to be mocked, we'd all play guitar. :music::rock::rofl:

If I wanted to be mocked, I'd try playing guitar again.

I sat in with a group of Old Time Players a few years back, and after about an hour and a half, one of them looked over at me and said, "Wait a minute - that ain't a banjo, it's a ukulele!" Nobody objected to what they were hearing, only to what they perceived when they saw it.

Of course, I was the only one who noticed the banjo player was playing a fretless banjo...
 
And God forbid that in addition to loving classical music and jazz I also enjoy Country and Western! Give me some ribbing about that!

Ummm...Didja ever hear of Bob Wills, and the Texas Playboys? They played Jazz and Big Band music... but did it with guitars, fiddles, and steel guitar, and called it Western Swing.

Ah, hah!
 
Ummm...Didja ever hear of Bob Wills, and the Texas Playboys? They played Jazz and Big Band music... but did it with guitars, fiddles, and steel guitar, and called it Western Swing.

Ah, hah!

Yes, western swing! I'm a big jazz fan and there was a time that I needed to give jazz a rest so I started listening to a lot of western swing because I was in a country mood. As I was listening I was shocked to hear how jazzy a lot of it was. It was country jazz!

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were a top-notch group of musicians. Wills' sing-songy asides drove me nuts! You've got stellar talent in your band, quit interrupting with your nonsense! Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys was another good group.
 
The other difference between a violin and a viola is that the viola burns just that little bit longer.

How can you tell if the stage is level? The banjo player dribbles out of both sides of their mouth.

What do you call a musician in a suit? The defendant.
 
Hey! I like my Deering tenor banjo uke! :D

We have 12 banjo uke players in my ukulele club. At many open mike nights about eight of us play a song or two together!

Strangely, the other club members really enjoy it. They think it's fun to hear something different.

Even the other banjo uke players think that the Deering tenor is too loud. But they like my Southern Cross tenor a lot.

Enjoyed the jokes.
 
Asleep at the Wheel

Ummm...Didja ever hear of Bob Wills, and the Texas Playboys? They played Jazz and Big Band music... but did it with guitars, fiddles, and steel guitar, and called it Western Swing.

Ah, hah!

And Asleep at the Wheel followed in Bob Wills’ footsteps. I saw them often when they were just beginning. Ray is quite a guitarist.
 
I was told not to bring any banjos inside the house, I don't always do what I'm told, but I've pretty much held to this one, a little marital bliss goes a long way.....now if someone gifted me a banjo uke I would be remiss not to accept such a gift graciously. :)
 
If I wanted to be mocked, I'd try playing guitar again.

I sat in with a group of Old Time Players a few years back, and after about an hour and a half, one of them looked over at me and said, "Wait a minute - that ain't a banjo, it's a ukulele!"

That's another reason I like the ukulele - nicer people.
 
Top Bottom