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mwc9725e - Posted - 11/09/2009: 04:51:59
I'm finding myself gravitating more and more to playing the fretless banjo. When I first bought it, I played it for maybe a few minutes every week or two. Now I'm playing it almost as much as I do my other ones. I love those nice smooth slides. I try not to over-do them, but.... Now here's something that has me concerned: When I play a tune that needs lots of full chords, I tend to use the fretted banjo. It seems easier to get good-sounding chords with a fretted banjo than with a fretless one. That makes me wonder if I'm working myself into a corner. Any ideas on tha subject? I'd especially like to hear from fretless players.
One thing I'm finding that I get from the fretless is better left hand position. Especially if I make chords, I have to have my left hand on the strings in very good position, lest I play some notes a bit sharp or flat. With frets, it's easy to be somewhat lackadaisical in that regard, but I can't get away with that when I play the fretless.
R Buck - Posted - 11/09/2009: 05:52:15
There is something very satisfying about playing fretless banjo. Especially if you have a fiddle player to play with. I own four and they all have special uses. One is a 12" Ramsey that is 25 years old. Another is an 8" made up in Sugar Grove, NC. There is a 14 minstrel made out west and my current favorite is a 12" Buckeye. They all have different sounds and are truly satisfying to play.
RobBob
Music; the best way to count time. It is a journey not a destination.
blueridgerounders.com
John Gribble - Posted - 11/09/2009: 06:01:30
Ever since getting my Bowlin banjo 15 months ago, I've been a 90% fretless player. I haven't found chords to be too big an issue, but like you I've found my left hand has to be a lot more careful, a lot more honest. I play up the neck, up to where the 10th fret would be, without much problem. And with the nylgut strings, I don't notice much difference in tone between fretted (Oops! I meant fingered) strings and open strings. I had a steel-stringed fretless years ago which I didn't like, because of the muted tone of the fingered strings.
But the low-tuned banjo, with the third string regularly tuned to a low D, really is a different beast from the more modern instruments with a G or A on the third string. I'll be interested in reading what others have to say about their experiences. But I'm a definite convert. I love it.
John Gribble
Tokyo, Japan
Voyageur - Posted - 11/09/2009: 06:49:57
It's good to hear from people who play both kinds. My first banjo was fretted, but I got an Eric Prust tackhead a few months later. I put Minstrel-gauge Nylguts on and tune it down to low D, as John mentions. It is very satisfying to play. I'd like to try a fretless with steel strings, too. I think having played fiddle before starting banjo helped me with left hand positioning. The fiddle is very exacting in that regard!
The truth is, we all really do need several banjos to experiment with all the different possible sounds!
Mary
"Do not pray for an easy life. Pray to be stronger. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks."
- Fr. Solanus Casey
Tackhead - Posted - 11/09/2009: 06:58:33
I play very few full chords, mainly because the players I admire--R.D., the Round Peak players both past and living--didn't or don't play that way. I used to be a huge fan of Ken Perlman, but I now find myself in the Kyle Creed "less is more" camp, so the complex (3 and 4-finger chords) aren't an issue.
Like John G., my Bowlin and Tradesman fretless take up about 90% of my playing time. I do take a fretted instrument to a jam as my G/C banjo, but everything else is on the fretless.
~John
John Flynn
Tallahassee, Florida
USA
trapdoor2 - Posted - 11/09/2009: 07:23:23
I was thinking the other day (dangerous, I know) that perhaps the historical transition from fretless to fretted banjos drove Classic style players to use the barre form more than we tend to do today. On a fretless, unless you're a virtuoso-level player, the only really reliable chord form is the barre (and even that ain't easy).
Much of the really early stuff that goes up the neck (10th, 12th fret) is played out of a half-barre (only two or three strings). I think that only after frets became commonplace were the players more apt to use other positions for their chords. Still, much of the music written for the banjo up into the 20th cent. features extensive use of the barre.
Not "too" specialized...but just specialzed enough. Nothing wrong with having choices in banjos, we all need more than one. 
===Marc
"If banjos needed tone rings, S.S. Stewart would have made them that way."
pernicketylad - Posted - 11/09/2009: 08:53:01
Are low scale fretless banjos only suitable for solo playing?
My Tradesman will obviously tune to standard G or C tuning but what about a banjo like the Bowlin.........will it tune up to standard tunings for sessions?
There are three types of people in the world.....those who can count and those who can't!
Tackhead - Posted - 11/09/2009: 09:11:13
quote:
Originally posted by pernicketylad
Are low scale fretless banjos only suitable for solo playing?
My Tradesman will obviously tune to standard G or C tuning but what about a banjo like the Bowlin.........will it tune up to standard tunings for sessions?
There are three types of people in the world.....those who can count and those who can't!
The Bowlin is designed for the lower tunings. I haven't tried to tune it otherwise. You *might* be able to tune up if you went to lighter strings. John specifies a special set of heavy-gauge Nylgut strings on the 1865 fretless. RD can answer this one for sure. ~John John Flynn Tallahassee, Florida USA
chaosfrailer - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:17:55
I have one semi-fretless, and it's really fun to play, but I've never liked tuning up to 'D' in the double-C tuning or tuning up to A in standard. A fretless just aint gonna capo right, and tuning the strings so tight is bad for the neck. Even though I love the sound of fretless, I play a fretted banjo more often simply out of convienience.
Take care, but take it!-Harold Hausenfluck
Paul Roberts - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:34:55
In reference to playing fretless and fretted, mwc9725e writes, "That makes me wonder if I'm working myself into a corner [on a fretless]."
Since you play on both fretless and fretted banjos, can you expand a little more on your concern with working yourself into a corner. I would think, using both, you're availing yourself to an expanded palette. Obviously, they're different types of instruments with they're own special capabilities. I'd love to have a good fretless, myself.
Paul
banjocrazy.com/ Gold Tone Banjos - Lowest Prices
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maxmax - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:37:20
I've found that my favorite tunes to play on the fretless, are tunes I originally worked out on the fretless, rather than try to adapt my fretted banjo arrangements, that are already in my muscle memory.
quote:
Originally posted by chaosfrailer
I have one semi-fretless, and it's really fun to play, but I've never liked tuning up to 'D' in the double-C tuning or tuning up to A in standard. A fretless just aint gonna capo right, and tuning the strings so tight is bad for the neck.
Try lighter strings. Tuning up to A and D should not be an issue. Best, Max
Tackhead - Posted - 11/09/2009: 10:53:30
quote:
Originally posted by chaosfrailer
A fretless just aint gonna capo right, and tuning the strings so tight is bad for the neck. Even though I love the sound of fretless, I play a fretted banjo more often simply out of convienience.
With all due respect, I don't think a fretless *should* accommodate a capo. It is what it is, historically and practically. As an observation, all those OT tunings are a way to address musical needs. The capo is a workaround--IMHO. As for tuning up hurting the necks, I believe that depends entirely on the construction of the neck. For example Reiter, Ramsey, Enoch, Lee and many others build necks that are well capable of tuning directly to A and D. Of course, if you have a nice old Steward or Fairbanks, you'd probably want to consider the consequences of using steel strings at all  ~John John Flynn Tallahassee, Florida USA
Edited by - Tackhead on 11/09/2009 10:56:20
John Gribble - Posted - 11/10/2009: 05:03:53
quote:
Originally posted by pernicketylad
Are low scale fretless banjos only suitable for solo playing?
My Tradesman will obviously tune to standard G or C tuning but what about a banjo like the Bowlin.........will it tune up to standard tunings for sessions?
I know this might be some sort of banjo heresy, but I don't believe there's anything wrong with working a tune up in a different tuning. On the Bowlin, a C tuning comes out sounding G, D tuning sounds in A and G tuning plays in D. I don't see a problem. John Bowlin makes it clear that his 1865 Model banjos will play in standard pitch. But to do so, one must change to lighter gauge strings. I find it more satisfying to dig in and explore the tunes on a different landscape, so to speak. John Gribble Tokyo, Japan
Don Borchelt - Posted - 11/10/2009: 05:34:15
Max wrote: "I've found that my favorite tunes to play on the fretless, are tunes I originally worked out on the fretless, rather than try to adapt my fretted banjo arrangements, that are already in my muscle memory."
I think that is a very important point. The fretless brings its own strengths and drawbacks, everything in life is a trade-off. The fretless releases you from the chains of the tempered, chromatic scale, a very important benefit if you are trying to play those ancient tones. It is especially useful to be able to obtain the neutral note between the major and minor third, and the natural and major seventh degrees of the scale. And the dynamics that can be emplyed in executing slides is far more varied and flexible.
But everything comes with a cost. There is a sacrifice in clarity. Accuracy is paradoxically far more important, and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to play more than two note closed chords with correct intonation. But if you are reaching for the sound of that archaic, monophonic, modal tradition that is the heart and soul of Appalachian music, this weakness is not an issue. As you play more on the fretless, you will find yourself coming up with settings that utilize its strengths, and avoid its disadvantages, playing it very differently than you would play a fretted banjo. So it is with any tool.
I don't play a completely fretless banjo; I use a semi-fretless neck, which works best for the way I want to play. I have three, two that I play daily. One is generally tuned to open D, and the other to open A. I only play my fretted banjos when I go off to a bluegrass jam. Once you go fretless, you'll never go back.
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Loo P. - Posted - 11/10/2009: 09:54:10
quote:
Originally posted by John Gribble
I know this might be some sort of banjo heresy, but I don't believe there's anything wrong with working a tune up in a different tuning. On the Bowlin, a C tuning comes out sounding G, D tuning sounds in A and G tuning plays in D. I don't see a problem.
John Bowlin makes it clear that his 1865 Model banjos will play in standard pitch. But to do so, one must change to lighter gauge strings. I find it more satisfying to dig in and explore the tunes on a different landscape, so to speak.
John Gribble
Tokyo, Japan
I keep waiting for someone to put lighter strings on their Bowlin and tune it way up. I thought about it (briefly) but have grown to fond of the lower tunings. Now if we could just convince those fiddlers to tune down....:) "once you go fretless, you'll never go back."...... I hear that. I have two nice fretted banjos but my fretless is the one that gets played 99.9% of the time.
davr - Posted - 11/10/2009: 11:01:16
My fretless is tuned to 'low' pitch (and I love it!). I had the chance to play a fretless in 'A' tuning recently and was suprised at how ineffective my slides were with steel strings at that pitch level (vs nylon and low pitch) .
For me, good ('fiddly') slides are what make playing a fretless banjo fun! Ya have to have a 'swoop' in there...
dave
majikgator - Posted - 11/12/2009: 09:58:33
i am curious if anyone has any experience with Eric Prust's A scale banjos and also if these banjos can hold a high tension nylon guitar strings as i find the nylguts far too mushy for my taste
jk
plunknplinkntwang - Posted - 11/12/2009: 10:59:32
quote:
Originally posted by majikgator
i am curious if anyone has any experience with Eric Prust's A scale banjos and also if these banjos can hold a high tension nylon guitar strings as i find the nylguts far too mushy for my taste
jk
JK No experience of prust fretless but I'm with you on the Nylguts. Try some of Chris Sands Nylons [elderly], they're firmer thannylgut & less shiny/slippy than most nylon guitar strings. Used them on my chinese W/L and they were very nice, just had to be careful on 1st string pull offs I've no interests financial or otherwise - we just share the same forename rgds Chris Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm - Winnie the Churchill
srselby - Posted - 11/13/2009: 01:51:25
Quote: "My fretless is tuned to 'low' pitch (and I love it!). I had the chance to play a fretless in 'A' tuning recently and was suprised at how ineffective my slides were with steel strings at that pitch level (vs nylon and low pitch)"
Just so I get that right, what exactly is the 'low pitch' tuning? I'm playing an A Weaver fretless c. 1910 with steel strings. I'm a bit worried about my tone quality and I'm interested to work our what makes it play best.
Stephen
FretlessFury - Posted - 11/13/2009: 15:14:29
quote:
Originally posted by mwc9725e
I try not to over-do them, but.... Now here's something that has me concerned: When I play a tune that needs lots of full chords, I tend to use the fretted banjo. It seems easier to get good-sounding chords with a fretted banjo than with a fretless one. That makes me wonder if I'm working myself into a corner. Any ideas on tha subject? I'd especially like to hear from fretless players.
Full chords are overrated!! Kidding of course, but I did stop the 4 fingered chord madness when I learned fretless banjo. Double-stops follow me everywhere now, and my music is leaner because of them. When all those brushy, mushy chords are filling the space of the music there isn't a lot of space left over for melody. Double-stops allow you to hint at a chord without crowding the music. Maybe I just have fiddle-envy, but I've taken to playing double stops instead of chords on my fretted banjo too. Why put down 4 fingers when I can be lazy and put down 2? The lack of clarity of a fretless board can be mitigated a little bit by riding the strings with your left hand nails thereby creating an artificial 'fret'. It takes a little bit of practice, but if you let your nails grow just a bit longer than optimal fretting length you can get some fairly clear tones. Just don't let them get too long or you'll gouge the board (unless you've done something smart like Don and slapped a piece of metal down). I'm a semi-fretless addict. I do hate to lose my favorite part of the banjo fretboard (the 8th to 12th frets), so the semi-fretless made sense for me. Still, a stripped-down jalopy of a fretless banjo can keep you honest. Sometimes the best variations and licks happen when your playing is constrained to a specific region of the fretboard. I've found that the Bill Keith med./light string set gives me the best combination of punch and sustain on a fretless (or any other) banjo. You might try em! Tom Collins --------------- newhottimes.comElements of Round Peak Banjo videos: youtube.com/profile?user=FretlessFury
FretlessinTexas - Posted - 11/13/2009: 20:23:03
Sometimes I sit and fret and sometimes I don't. I like to carry two banjos to a jam or gig -- a fretted Jason Burns banjo tuned to A or D (only two strings tuning difference) and a fretless Tradesman tuned in G. I press down harder with my nails on my left hand when I play the fretless, but other than that, I'm taking pretty much the same approach in my playing. I don't think in terms of chords and rarely try to make them.
Dean
"Each one's got to have his own style. It's all creamed potatoes, just fixed a little different." -- Benton Flippen
Edited by - FretlessinTexas on 11/13/2009 20:24:38
R.D. Lunceford - Posted - 11/13/2009: 22:04:17
quote:
Originally posted by mwc9725e
I'm finding myself gravitating more and more to playing the fretless banjo. When I first bought it, I played it for maybe a few minutes every week or two. Now I'm playing it almost as much as I do my other ones. I love those nice smooth slides. I try not to over-do them, but.... Now here's something that has me concerned: When I play a tune that needs lots of full chords, I tend to use the fretted banjo. It seems easier to get good-sounding chords with a fretted banjo than with a fretless one. That makes me wonder if I'm working myself into a corner. Any ideas on tha subject? I'd especially like to hear from fretless players.
In the greater scheme of things, clawhammer banjo is specialized !!! I think it all depends on your style and what you're trying to do with the banjo. For things like Roundpeak and traditional CH the fretless is just the ticket. Most trad CH seems to me to be melody played over a drone. Chords are not a big part of it. If your style incorporates lots of full chords (which is OK), the fretless does of course present some challenges but none that can't be overcome. I went 97.779% fretless about 6 years ago and have never looked back. My fretted CH style had developed so that 90% of it happened to be readily transferable to the fretless, so no problem. I will say that I have been playing mainly solo for a long time so that further frees me to do what I want. If you're loving the fretless, I say follow your muse. 99% of us aren't making our living with our banjos, so that frees us up to do whatever we want with it. An enviable position to be in. R.D. Lunceford- "Missourian in Exile" Model 1865 Bowlin Fretless Banjo **************************************************** "Drink from the Musselfork once, and you'll always come back." -Dr. Bondurant Hughes, 1917
majikgator - Posted - 11/14/2009: 13:32:44
"Still, a stripped-down jalopy of a fretless banjo can keep you honest. Sometimes the best variations and licks happen when your playing is constrained to a specific region of the fretboard."
I like that Tom (and your playing) i only have a fretted banjo, i asked about the Prust A scale because it would kill three birds with one stone for me at a budjet( A scale banjo no dreaded overtightening or capoing, nylon strung sound and having a fretless, i've been working out of Brad Letwich's book (largely by your recomendation) and loving that sound not so much for the slides really as the lack of those those fat chords and the more rhythmic sound while still having enough melody to stand alone and still be listenable without the fiddle
jk
srselby - Posted - 11/30/2009: 22:49:45
I've been working through the Round Peak Style book with my fretless Weaver banjo. Recognizing that a lot of this music is best played along with a fiddle, I changed the strings to light gauge steel (0.09) and tuned it up to AEAC#E. It sounds much better.
But my son (who knows a lot of music) feels that every tune 'sounds the same' now. I must say that on listening to recordings, I tend to agree.
What is your advice on getting a greater variety into the fretless repertory?
WGE - Posted - 12/01/2009: 03:36:42
I'm still adapting to the Ramsey fretless I got about six months ago. It came with Nylgut strings that I replaced with steel strings and tuned up to standard pitches. I also put a skin head on it. I've discovered that about 10-15% of what I play fretted translates over to the fretless with good success; stuff without chords and tunes never venturing beyond the 7th fret position or so. I've also discovered that I much prefer the Nylgut strings tuned down to "low bass" and "high bass" ranges. I recently heard Dan Gellert's "Waitin' on the Break of Day" CD and really admired his fretless playing. That along, with RD's "Cotton Blossom" material, has been my fretless inspiration and I find myself playing my fretless banjo much more often. It still won't be my main banjo but it certainly won't collect dust.
Tackhead - Posted - 12/01/2009: 06:35:04
quote:
Originally posted by srselby
I've been working through the Round Peak Style book with my fretless Weaver banjo. Recognizing that a lot of this music is best played along with a fiddle, I changed the strings to light gauge steel (0.09) and tuned it up to AEAC#E. It sounds much better.
But my son (who knows a lot of music) feels that every tune 'sounds the same' now. I must say that on listening to recordings, I tend to agree.
What is your advice on getting a greater variety into the fretless repertory?
Focus on the nuances, especially the various licks, and how they relate to the melody notes. I know that playing primarily out of the first position may seem reptetitive, but the more I listen to the OT players, fretted and fretless, the more I'm amazed at where they find the music in such "simple" arrangements. For me, less is definitely more. To paraphrase RD, "...melody over drone." I think that captures the essence of OT playing. ~John
stigandr5 - Posted - 04/25/2010: 18:37:31
I've been curious lately how a shorter scale length could make tuning to "standard" tunings easier. Has anyone tried this?
mojo_monk - Posted - 04/25/2010: 19:23:33
quote:
Originally posted by stigandr5
I've been curious lately how a shorter scale length could make tuning to "standard" tunings easier. Has anyone tried this?
I made a 19" scale gourd banjo in Haiti and keep it tuned (w/nylon) around aEAC#E or aDADE no problem. - Sean 2ftlbanjer.wordpress.com/
Edited by - mojo_monk on 04/25/2010 19:24:52
tomberghan - Posted - 04/25/2010: 20:23:19
I aquired my Romero fretless last November. I play with steel strings. I like gut and nylon very much, but I simply prefer steel right now at this point in my musical life.
At first all I could do was play in first position, but I figured that since lots of small children learn to play the cello well (which is about the same vibrating string length), then I should (in time) be able to play the full neck of the fretless banjo.
Well, I think my theory is true . . . you just have to hang in there . . . and that day has pretty much finally come for me (fairly recently however). I can now play pretty much anything I play on the fretted banjo on the fretless . . . except the big chords up the neck . . . (first position chords are OK), and like Tom Collins wrote . . . I just trim them down to double stops or just imply the chords with the musical line. (Pretty much what violin, viola and cello players do)
Before I aquired the ability to play fretless, I figured I needed to learn more specialized tunings that would allow me to stay in 1st and 2nd position (or stay there most of time).
But now I have changed my mind . . . in the end, it all seemed like too much work and I have gone back to just a few tunings since I can now play up the neck. I play the lion's share of my music in good old gDGBD and gCGCD and then sometimes gDGCD and less in gDGDE. Don't get me wrong . . . I love the sound of all of the different tunings . . . I am just too lazy and impatient right now.
Bill wrote: "I have to have my left hand on the strings in very good position, lest I play some notes a bit sharp or flat. With frets, it's easy to be somewhat lackadaisical in that regard, but I can't get away with that when I play the fretless."
I agree Bill . . . playing fretless has made me a better musician. I will probably never go 100% fretless, but fretless banjo is a great instrument.
Here is a photo of my fretless.
maryzcox - Posted - 04/26/2010: 06:39:36
quote:
Originally posted by pernicketylad
Are low scale fretless banjos only suitable for solo playing?
My Tradesman will obviously tune to standard G or C tuning but what about a banjo like the Bowlin.........will it tune up to standard tunings for sessions?
There are three types of people in the world.....those who can count and those who can't!
My Bowlin works great in low D playing with other instruments. It sounds wonderful playing with a single fiddle. One night at a festival--Katy Bailey and I played fiddle and the Bowlin and there were a couple guitars too--out in the campground (all acoustic) and the next morning--folks showed up at the campsites looking for that "big banjo they heard in the night. " I've also played it in a duet with Afro/Caribbean drums and vocals and it carries wonderful. It also works great played in a duet with a banjo turned in double D. I played mine once with the Adobe brothers and you could hear it just fine even with a 6 piece band. The Bowlin is wonderfully versatile. Best wishes, Mary Z. Cox maryzcox.com
Dock Jekel - Posted - 04/26/2010: 12:16:42
For me, it mostly depends on the tune. I prefer playing some tunes on my fretless banjo because they lend themselves naturally to it. Conversely, some tunes don't fit the fretless so well.... like Spanish Fandango, or_______________ you fill in the blank!
brokenstrings - Posted - 04/26/2010: 21:04:11
My first banjo was a fretless, so the adjusting I had to do was to steel strings and frets. I still can't do a slide as well on steel strings/frets. As for chords, as someone said, you just don't use them that much in CH/OT.
stigandr5 - Posted - 04/27/2010: 14:39:16
While not exactly a banjo, I see Mike Penny as proof that just about anything can be done with a fretless instrument if you put enough practice into it. Mike plays the shamisen, a 3-stringed fretless lute from Japan that's sounded with the aid of a plectrum that looks like an ice scraper. See the video below to watch Mike play a classical piece by F. Schubert:
youtube.com/watch?v=KAH_VMbIh-g
The fretless banjo is no more limited than any other musical instrument, in my opinion.
Edited by - stigandr5 on 04/27/2010 14:40:42
HolyGrass - Posted - 04/27/2010: 17:50:31
I just got a fretless gourd banjo made by Terry Bell; actually took it to work and played at lunch for everyone.
I definitely seem to have a different approach on the fretless opposed to my Charles Gilbert fretted banjo. Different tunes suit the fretless better than the fretted, and vice versa.
I have found myself playing the fretless a little bit more, however.
One thing I admire about the fretless is that it's tuned to E, and I LOVE that loooow, earthy tone.
=)
farmer bob - Posted - 04/27/2010: 19:13:53
I have a neck blank in pieces sitting on the kitchen table waiting for me to find time to put her together. After reading all your good comments it looks like she will be fretless. Only compromise I will make is to install flush frets, hopefully that will solve the accuracy and chording problems... Bob
rudy - Posted - 04/28/2010: 07:39:07
Too specialized? In general, no.
I think the answer to playing the fretless efficiently is to have flush frets. I've got a 24" scale 12" Renaissance-headed fretless as my latest banjo that I'm really liking. My good friend is a great clawhammer player and said this is the only fretless he's ever played that he would consider as a performance instrument. He's making me copy it to have one of his own.
There are a few melodic pieces that require intonated chords up the neck that I would only play on a fretted instrument, other than those few I can pretty much play any of the tunes I know on the fretless. The flush frets make it much easier to play with good intonation up the neck. This encourages playing in a more melodic style as to avoid the "everything sounds the same on fretless" complaint heard when a player sticks to all first position playing.
(In case anyone wants to know) Yes, I did position the fifth string tuner is at the sixth fret on purpose. It facilitates easy slides on the fourth string up to the fifth fret unencumbered by the tuner position.
Edited by - rudy on 04/28/2010 07:47:56
jkonopinski - Posted - 10/19/2010: 11:23:00
As a relative newcomer to BHO and still very much wet behind the ears in terms of any measurable playing skill regarding the banjo, I'll comment briefly. I've been away from banjo for about five years now as my interests took me in different directions and I sold off the cheap knockabout resonator banjo I had. I chanced across some videos of fretless mountain banjo playing on YouTube recently and it rekindled my interest in the instrument all over again, this time whole hog into fretless. Everything I knew about banjo was a distant memory - chords, rolls, all that rot. I only have one banjo and it's fretless - a decision I made to learn Round Peak and similar styles that really come alive in this fashion. In that respect, perhaps I have become 'specialized' but it's a place that I want to be. Playing (or learning, more accurately, in my case) tunes on a fretless banjo is challenging and frustrating at times, but I'm learning to listen more closely for the proper note, rather than memorize chord shapes, etc. I appreciate the sound more.
Just my tuppence.
Jason
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