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Julio B - Posted - 03/10/2010: 22:20:44
Not a pre-war Gibson; not a Gibson-style 5th string tuner, the tailpiece has been switched to a Kershner. Sounds pretty thin and un-Gibson-like to my ear.
~Julio
flange5st - Posted - 03/11/2010: 05:29:02
....L.W. Lambert is a local N.C. banjo hero.....ask any "mid-grasser" and they have heard of, listened to, and been influenced by L.W.
L. W. is from the Union Grove area of N.C. , played and headed up several high quality bluegrass bands, ( my favorite is the Border Mt. Boys), and used to trade old Gibson banjos.
I'll get in touch with him and ask him about the one he's playing in the video.
As an addend, the gentleman playing guitar with him is the late Ray Cline (Bowers).
IMHO, you'll be hard pressed to find as good of person and banjo player as L.W. Lambert......peace
Edited by - flange5st on 03/12/2010 04:40:43
banjobilly32 - Posted - 03/11/2010: 05:42:00
My kind of music for sure! I love those interviews of just regular guys, down home on the porch! Makes me want to pack my banjo and head for the hills! David Holt does a fine job. I miss his old TV show. We might criticize the set up of that banjo, but for sure L W can pick that thing!
jfb - Posted - 03/11/2010: 05:56:30
I believe he picked an old archtop Gibson pre war for many years..at least back in the old Union Grove and Fiddlers Grove days..so he may lean more to that type of sound..but I sure do agree, the man can flat out pick, and its pretty much his own style..
rexhunt - Posted - 03/11/2010: 06:27:57
That banjo sounded fine to me considering the way it was mic'd. Older higher end Gibsons usually did have a Kershner TP or the clamshell. The Presto was for the 3 and below. The 5th string tuner looked to me like the 5 Star planetary tuner, not an old friction peg.
Rex
Pepper Laing - Posted - 03/11/2010: 06:37:35
I for one think the banjo sounds awesome!
lazyarcher - Posted - 03/11/2010: 07:04:19
It also appears to be a tube&plate flange model.
BanjoLink - Posted - 03/11/2010: 07:58:44
I remember those guys from the old Fiddler's Grove days! David Holt also used to be a regular there. I also thought the banjo sounded good. Banjo could be a converted style 5 tenor. Looks like a tube and plate to me.
opotable - Posted - 03/11/2010: 08:47:47
great pickin'.
flange5st - Posted - 03/11/2010: 09:12:28
.....I just got off the phone with L.W. and this is the story behind the banjo that's in the video:
he found the banjo at the flea market in Lexington, NC around 1980.
He can not remember who the person was that sold the banjo. He had a Gibson guitar for sale with a case but the banjo was in a feed sack,( go figure ) The neck was one that the person selling the banjo claimed to have made, and the banjo had been refinished,( probably to get the woods to match in color).
The person who was with L. went there to sell some pistols that he had and they got the guy who was selling the banjo to trade it for 2 pistols.
L.W. said that he looked the banjo over for a s/n..FON ...etc. but there wasn't any on the banjo but he knew that the pot assy was , as he stated, " an old one".
The banjo is today as it was on the video as it was when he bought it 30 years ago at the flea market in Lexington, NC.
BTW, there's still a flea market in Lexington every Tuesday morning....I wonder if there's someone with an old Gibson wanting to do some trading?............peace
Mike Casey - Posted - 03/11/2010: 15:36:49
And L.W. does not play with both the right hand ring and pinky down on the head, just the pinky. His right hand also appears to be flatter over the strings and a bit of an angle rather that square over the strings. He has a very fluid left hand too. I like the way he plays and the sound he gets out of that banjo. The interview is very good and demonstrates some good points about the different styles of playing. I'm glad David Holt took the time to record the interview. You don't get that kind of documentation very often. Very nice and appreciated.
Edited by - Mike Casey on 03/11/2010 15:38:26
banjowannabe - Posted - 03/11/2010: 16:22:38
I found it interesting that when he played away from the bridge, the banjo still sounded crisp rather than mellow. In any case, it's clear we need more bands with 2 banjoes. One played 3 finger and another played clawhammer. Sounded mighty good.
RB100 - Posted - 03/11/2010: 17:01:42
Wonderful pickin' How many of us can identify with L.W. and his description of the early days of bluegrass! And David knows how to put clawhammer with 3 finger picking!
Bill
f5loar - Posted - 03/11/2010: 19:59:58
LW taught me how to put my picks on. When I was 12 years old I would tell my parents I was going over to my friends house. Then my friend and me would buy a $2 Trailways bus ticket from Salisbury to Statesville (about 30 miles) and walk from the Statesville bus station around the corner to LW's Pawn/Music shop and take informal lessons from him. I say informal because he had to stop teaching to wait on customers and we didn't pay him a dime. To this day LW and me are still the best of friends and he still remembers how desparate I was to learn bluegrass music.
TB-4 Guy - Posted - 03/11/2010: 21:08:48
Both banjos sounded good to me. There may be a problem with the sound on that video. It's very hard to judge overall sound quality outside with an open mike on all three instruments sitting in a back yard.
By the way, Mr. Cline's Martin D-28 is a beauty. They are my favorite quitar. You either own one or you don't. I've got mine. LOL.
f5loar - Posted - 03/11/2010: 21:58:12
While the late Ray Cline owned several vintage D28s the one in the video was his newer D28 GE model. And if you have ever picked along side LW you would not think it was a bad sounding banjo.
TB-4 Guy - Posted - 03/11/2010: 22:26:23
quote:
Originally posted by f5loar
While the late Ray Cline owned several vintage D28s the one in the video was his newer D28 GE model. And if you have ever picked along side LW you would not think it was a bad sounding banjo.
I though it was either a very nice old D-28 or a GE model. It has the long, glued-in saddle like my 1962 model. C.F. Martin duplicated the earlier style in the GE models. As I mentioned, you can't judge sound on this type of recording method. I wouldn't mind having either one of those banjos.
RB100 - Posted - 03/12/2010: 02:02:49
quote:
Originally posted by f5loar
LW taught me how to put my picks on. When I was 12 years old I would tell my parents I was going over to my friends house. Then my friend and me would buy a $2 Trailways bus ticket from Salisbury to Statesville (about 30 miles) and walk from the Statesville bus station around the corner to LW's Pawn/Music shop and take informal lessons from him. I say informal because he had to stop teaching to wait on customers and we didn't pay him a dime. To this day LW and me are still the best of friends and he still remembers how desparate I was to learn bluegrass music.
Tom, I love this story. I would bet there are many of us here who have similar stories of when we were learning and as the sayin' goes, "just eat up with it." When all is said and done, the friendships forged by this music is the thread holding the quilted experience together - the quilt pieces are the 'discussions' as to sound, old instruments, who this lick 'come from', "I remember hearing ol' ________ at the Martinsville Drive In when I was __years old...etc., etc... Of course, each of these ("quilts") then becomes wonderfully unique to each of us. Thanks again for sharing. Bill
Edited by - RB100 on 03/12/2010 02:15:19
SeldomRight - Posted - 03/12/2010: 15:37:26
Thanks for sharing this video with us. It is absolutely wonderful.....bluegrass at it's best!!!
jfb - Posted - 03/12/2010: 16:39:18
I used to stop in a music store in Statesville, called Jason's House of Music I believe it was..and it seems the last name was Lambert..but I didn't connect it as maybe being a store that L. W. was associated with, and I don't recall hearing any banjo in there..was that the same store you spoke of Tom?..Thanks
f5loar - Posted - 03/12/2010: 22:22:59
Jason Lambert did have his little store a few blocks from the Pawn Shop LW worked at. The Pawn Shop was around the corner from the bus stop and was two store fronts with one side having the regular pawn stuff and the other side having only musical instruments. Jason was a Chet Atkins/Merle Travis thumbpicker and is still living but closed the store many years ago. I don't know if they are related but they do know each other.
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