Long Neck Banjo
... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!
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vega long neck
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Pete Seeger on Colbert Report
From Dan Pennington on 8/6/2012 10:23:54 PM
I watched Pete on Colbert tonite. A lot of nice close up shots of his crusty old long neck. The pot could have been anything, but looked like either a tubaphone or a white lady ring on a plain rim - no bracket band. The neck was no Vega. Kind of an Ode-ish peg head with an unadorned fingerboard. Big bolt in the side of the neck for the strap. Very funky.
93 years old! Keep on keepin' on, Pete!
6 Comments |
 | phdm says:
8/7/2012 12:52:38 AM
Yes, I just watched it by chance here on the West coast. The long neck banjo he was playing is not his legendary work horse, with the neck he made out of lignum vitea, with his one-of-a-kind bridge. It is a banjo I have noticed he has been playing when I have see videos of him in the last couple of years. My theory is that it is a lighter banjo, constructed for him to mimic his iconic banjo, but far easier to carry at 93. And, I would not doubt the family is protective of Pete and his iconic banjo, as several years ago, he did leave it on top of his truck and drove away. Fortunately it was found on the side of the road and returned a week later. Pete had thought it had been stolen. The lighter banjo he played on Colbert sounded pretty close to his main banjo. Does anyone know anything more about this banjo?
Colbert was quiet solicitous, and Pete seemed to be enjoying the banter. Good to see Pete taking to the airwaves.
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 | vega long neck says:
8/7/2012 5:04:27 AM
Sorry I missed that. Anyone found it on a web site?
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 | coalandice says:
8/7/2012 6:47:02 AM
Tarnation!
Missed it entirely!
huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreie...0509.html
Have to see if it's online.
Here it is!
colbertnation.com/the-colbert-...te-seeger
Meanwhile, on Flickr
at a book signing in the city
flickr.com/photos/asterix611/7603446646/
If you click on the + sign at the
upper right corner you can see the
image much bigger and take a good look
flickr.com/photos/asterix611/7.../sizes/o/
Couple good closeups in that set
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 | BobLusk says:
8/15/2012 5:59:11 PM
I actually had the opportunity to tune that banjo for him at a concert a month ago. I was dealing with a million things so didn't take any special notice. I believe he had changed from the bridge he used to use across the board when he changed the head on his banjo last year. Notice that had the old head on the background picture on the Colbert show. I remember a friend who has studied Pete's playing extensively telling me that he thought Pete's sound cam much more from his style than from the instrument.
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| BobLusk says:
8/15/2012 6:01:04 PM
Also notice that Pete was playing without a capo!
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 | Seansvoice says:
8/15/2012 7:17:52 PM
I looked closely at that banjo too...it appears to be a Wonder pot with one of those thin 1960s Vega co-rods. I seem him playing it more and more and I agree with phdm...it's gotta be easier to haul around than the LV necked 1960 tbph pot. As for Bob Lusk's comment about Pete's sound originating more from style than instrumentation I believe that to be true of almost any iconic musician. I was in a Houston guitar shop one time and watch Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top pick up an old Gretsch single pickup Anniversary (that he later bought). He plugged it in, twisted a few knobs and within seconds had the trademark ZZ Top sound on a completely anachronistic instrument. Segovia's sound didn't change when he switched from the 1937 Hauser to the new-every-year Jose Ramirez. Same thing when Chet Atkins went from Gretsch to Gibson and when Charlie Parker always sounded the same whether he played his Buescher Aristocrat or that crazy plastic Grafton.
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