|
Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link.
Page: 1 2
beezaboy - Posted - 11/20/2009: 03:20:16
Polle: Yes, even with my tin ear and discount store frame of reference
I can discern an enormous quality differential between a Bacon Silver Bell
and a Gretsch. I was just pulling your leg. "Tongue in cheek" is the idiom.
However, some may take the road less traveled and enjoy a different
kind of scenery. The popularity of Silver Bell banjos among tenor players renders
them almost trite. The same can be said of the Gibson Mastertone for
5-string players. Good for Diarmaid and his quest for the Epiphone B and
for those that tout their Majestic as the finest constructed and sounding
banjo ever made. What's nice with banjos is that there is no right or wrong.
paragonjohn - Posted - 01/11/2010: 09:04:46
Hello Diarmaid (and all the other banjo hangout members) happy new year. I aquired a 1925 EPIPHONE A recording tenor banjo before Christmas, it is one of the early ones made of maple with a one piece cast flange, with 20 frets, I have played 3 walnut A's and they dont have the power that this beast has! I own a mint Paragon tenor banjo that belonged to Ray Bernard and I thought that was as near as possible to the Holy Grail, but the 20 fret A is almost an OM version (comparing 000 to OM guitars) of a 19 fret instrument! I play regularly in sessions in ENNIS, CO. CLARE, IRELAND (where I live) and the EPI A has been admired, I wonder where the sound comes from!!
, it is still possible to download the 1928 EPIPHONE BANJO catalogue,I will give the site in another reply. I would love to get a Silver Bell, and a Paramount- they are all GREAT BANJOS especially if they have been looked after by previous owners, each one has a history and possibly years of playing! we are minding them for the next generation, my sons and daughter play, and when they were in the womb my wife (Geraldine Cotter-a great musician) played in many sessions!! talk of brainwashing!!, your baby can't avoid being a musician Diarmaid!. Larry McGuinness is selling a nice Silver Bell on guenter amend's website; banjoworld.de John
paragonjohn - Posted - 01/13/2010: 02:53:32
The web site to look at/download the 1928 EPIPHONE recording banjos catalogue is : acousticmusic.org, here is a paragraph fron it; in the Epiphone Recording Banjo, a combination bracket flange, made of one piece of 1/8th inch thickness brass-bent and machined to minute proportions-is continuous around the banjo body. it gives added strength and rigidity. The tension of the bracket hooks is entirely absorbed by the bracket flange and tightens the contact of the metal parts. the underlying wooden body is left free for unaffected tone vibration. on page 4 of the catalogue; ABILITY to stand USE and ABUSE : Most good banjos will stand up well with careful use, but Epiphone recording banjos go a step further. They are designed to give steady, unfailing performance that will permit a little more than the ordinary abuse as well, six veneers of specially selected wood are used in the banjo body. the resonator is similarly constructed of multi-ply veneers and cannot warp. Necks of ordinary veneers do not withstand the terrific tension exerted by the strings and some manufacturers use regulating devices to tilt the neck backwards. This however, leaves an open space between the body of the banjo and the heel of the neck. There is a serious question as to the practicability of such devices as it is extremely hard to provide suitable resistance to the string pressure with an open space in such a vital spot. A different theory is used with the Epiphone. We don't wait for a neck to warp and then try to counteract it-we PREVENT warpinr right from the start. EPIPHONE NECKS are made with a number of thoroughly seasoned laminations. A specially designed bar of surgical steel is embedded in the neck through its entire length- another in the heel of the neck with two connections to the banjo body. one connection is securely fastened to the inside of the body. The other is attached to a special bronze dowel rod down through the body of the banjo. This eliminates the wooden type of dowel stick which cannot supply the necessary reinforcement and interferes with the tone passage to the resonator. It is practically impossible for an Epiphone recording banjo neck to warp or buckle, as it is attested by the fact that we have yet to receive a complaint on thes score. best wishes, John Page: 1 2
|
|
|
|
Feeds
