I created this group for Wildwood enthusiasts and potential owners to share information and ask questions about Wildwood banjos. I got my custom Wildwood Exotic Heirloom from Mark Platin just over a year ago and am still loving it. Mark hand-builds each Wildwood banjo himself these days, and they are possibly the best kept secret in banjos when balancing quality, tone, styling and price.
If you are an enthusiast like me, please feel free to post anything Wildwood related that may be of interest to other Wildwood fans.
If you are thinking of buying a Wildwood and have a question, please feel free to ask it here and we will try to answer it for you. Of course contacting Mark at Wildwood Banjos is probably the best way to get your questions answered!
33 Comments |
 | Roosterick says:
8/13/2012 6:23:45 PM
I bought my Wildwood Troubadour open back banjo used about 15 years ago. It was my first real banjo, (I started with a garage sale aluminum rimmed piece of junk). It is still my favorite banjo. Glad I got it when I did cause I couldn't afford one now.
|
 | dogsplus2 says:
9/6/2012 12:19:18 PM
Got my Wildwood Paragon second hand (though hardly used) 3 years ago, it was my first 'proper' banjo, trading up from a generic korean (which was still pretty good).
I remember the first time I played it, it gave me chills - "so that's what a banjo is supposed to sound like".
I let a friend of mine play it a couple of months ago. It was the first time in 3 years I'd been on the other side of the banjo and I couldn't believe how sweet and toneful it sounded. Any thoughts of trading up to a better known make disappeared at that point.
Wildwood through and through!
|
 | roelfdutoit says:
9/17/2012 11:43:34 AM
Thank you for setting up this group! I've been researching openback banjos for a few months now, reading comments and reviews. My conclusion is that a Wildwood banjo will be a good investment, as well as a joy to play. I am very close to ordering one for the purpose of classic/concert style playing, but I wanted to ask two questions first:
[1] which nylon/gut strings would you recommend for the Troubador model? I currently use LaBella (No17). I know this question is a bit subjective :)
[2] do you know of anybody that plays classic-style banjo on a Wildwood?
|
 | Wrags says:
9/19/2012 10:02:58 PM
I've never used nylon strings or played classic style so I can not answer your question. You can email Mark at Wildwood from his web site to see what nylon strings he recommends.
You can also buy directly from Wildwood for around the same price as Wildwoods cost from dealers. Ordering directly from Wildwood allows you to easily customize options and I suspect Mark could probably set it up with nylon strings for you. Good luck.
|
 | piiman says:
10/19/2012 9:07:45 AM
Hey I just got my troubador a few days ago. I'm just trying to get the right hand claw working, arrrrg!!! I'm wandering about the tuners, anybody know what brand they are? Has anybody swaped them out?
|
| Wrags says:
10/19/2012 5:42:07 PM
The current Wildwood banjos have Gotoh tuners. Up until several years ago, Five Star tuners were generally used. Both are good quality tuners (though I personally prefer the Waverly 2-band tuning pegs) . I'm not sure if any other tuners have been used on Wildwood banjos?
|
| Roosterick says:
10/19/2012 6:13:31 PM
I bought my Wildwood Troubadour, used, about 15 years ago. The tuners are unmarked, but they seem a little beefier than the Five Star tuners on my Ramsey banjo. I'm sure whatever brand tuners Mark puts on his banjos, they will get the job done. My advice would be to not waste any time worrying about the tuners and focus your energy on that right hand claw hammer rhythm and technique, you've got yourself a real nice banjo.
|
| piiman says:
10/20/2012 7:51:44 AM
Thanks for the advice guys, I was told it was made in 1987 but how can a guy know that, I don't see any serial # or any identifing marks.
|
| Roosterick says:
10/20/2012 8:47:55 AM
I have no idea, mine doesn't have any #s or date either.
|
| piiman says:
10/29/2012 3:28:03 PM
Just thought I'd check with you guys so's I don't screw up. I need a new head for my Troubador. My figurin is its an 11" diameter and a 1/2" (tall).
Can anyone confirm that for me?
|
| piiman says:
10/30/2012 9:07:17 PM
Sorry, must be a dumb question
|
| Wrags says:
10/30/2012 10:52:59 PM
Not a dumb question. 11" diameter. A medium (7/16") or high (1/2") crown should work fine.
My Wildwood Exotic came with an Elite Amber high crown. I play both claw hammer and 3-finger styles on it and really like that head - so much that I put the low crown version of same head on my resonator banjo with no regrets.
|
| piiman says:
10/31/2012 9:51:47 PM
thanks for your help. much appreciated
|
 | JoeH says:
1/27/2013 11:19:33 AM
Hi, I'm happy to be a new member here. I just ordered a Wildwood EWS which should come in about a month. Can't wait.
|
 | appleman11 says:
2/8/2013 9:15:54 AM
I started out with bluegrass in the 1990's but never got any traction. I switched to clawhammer around 2003 and took to it like sour cream to blintzes. So I sold my slightly beat up 1969 RB 250 and got a Troubador with a bracket band. Monetarily I broke even but I think I came out way ahead.
|
| JoeH says:
2/8/2013 4:28:31 PM
Hey appleman11 - "sour cream to blintzes"? This NYC transplant to NC was about to say you remind me of a mensch or two I used to know. I then saw Brooklyn in your profile & it made sense. I haven't gotten my Wildwood yet but I hope I enjoy it half as much as you do yours.
|
 | Judd Covington says:
4/10/2013 8:26:36 PM
Just purchased a 1988 Wildwood "White Lady" but have very little info about it. How long did they make this model. It has a griphon inlay on headstock, round dots on fingerboard and is natural color tiger maple. Any info will be very appreciated. Thanks
|
| Wrags says:
4/10/2013 8:33:19 PM
Hi Judd. Welcome to the Wildwood group. I've never seen a Wildwood White Lady. Sounds cool! Can you post a picture when you get a chance? If no one here knows about that model, you should email Mark at Wildwood to find out more about it.
|
| Judd Covington says:
4/11/2013 7:54:26 PM
thanks for the reply, My Wildwood is in transit so Ill get pix asap.
|
| Judd Covington says:
4/12/2013 6:34:34 AM
Wrags, Took your advice and contacted Mark @Wildwood and he made my day. He said they were a special edition and only 25 were made. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time !!!!
|
| Wrags says:
4/12/2013 7:33:17 AM
Very cool!
|
 | Ragtimejoe says:
7/27/2013 5:24:39 PM
I've decided I want a Troubador with a scoop or a Exoctica. Any recommendations on the best place to look for one?
Thanks
Joe
|
| Wrags says:
7/28/2013 10:42:44 AM
Joe, If you do not have any Wildwood dealers near you, I would recommend just talking to Mark at Wildwood directly. He can answer all your questions and you can buy directly from him. You could even get a custom Troubador Exotic if you wanted! If you want to buy on-line through a dealer, Banjo.com carries Wildwood and they usually have good prices and customer service. Elderly would be another good on-line dealer.
|
kstreger says:
8/18/2013 1:09:26 PM
I live in Connecticut, not far from NYC. Anyone know where I can try out a Wildwood?
|
 | Svenn says:
8/26/2013 1:58:24 PM
Picked up a 70's Troubador (tubaphone w/resonator) a couple weeks ago and can't put it down. Gutsy, loud, and a neck a little bit wider then my others - which fits my hands well. Can honestly say the volume rivals my Gibson ESS. Thank you Mark for making such great banjos.
|
 | devellis says:
10/4/2013 1:30:15 PM
New guy here, and first post to Banjo Hangout.
I lived in Nashville in the mid-late '70s and thought that, since I was there, I should learn some banjo. I bought an aluminum-rim cheapie ($50, as I recall) from a pawn shop on Broadway. A year later, I sold it for what I paid and scrounged up the money for a nice Gold Star maple archtop, Wreath inlay. I struggled with learning bluegrass/Scruggs style for a few years but never had the speed or facility that is needed to play bluegrass with others. As time passed, I drifted away from banjo.
I moved to North Carolina in 1978 and started playing Irish music on mandolin and some other instruments (like concertina). As a variant on playing Irish music on mandolin, I bought a very nice 1922 Style X Tu-ba-phone tenor in the late 1990s. But shortly thereafter, the folks I was playing Irish stuff with all scattered to different corners of the world, work got really hectic, and I pretty much stopped playing anything.
Then, about 5 or 6 years ago, I was trying to learn an Irish tune on mandolin from a guitar recording. In frustration, I dug out my wife's old guitar and found that the melody fell much more naturally on guitar. So, I started playing guitar more earnestly, eventually drifting into fingerpicking country/Piedmont blues and rags.
So, I'm getting together with some other players and one guy in particular wants to play a lot of country (modern and traditional) stuff, including chestnuts like Old Joe Clark, Cripple Creek, and other tunes I'd played on banjo some thirty years ago. So, I dug out the Gold Star banjo and within a week, I could get through a few of those tunes fairly fluidly and at an acceptable, if not fully-bluegrass-certified speed. It was great fun but the Gold Star archtop is very bright, very lound, and very ringy -- great for a bluegrass banjo but overwhelming for playing with one or two guitars in my living room. So, over the past few weeks, I've been trying to learn the rudiments of clawhammer. I'd heard plenty of it over the years and probably messed with it a bit back when I was in Nashville but was essentially starting from scratch. But my progress over the past few weeks has been sufficient that I decided to spend a little money I had accumulated on an open-back banjo. I looked around and found a good price on a very-lightly used Wildwood Troubadour with the bracket shoe band. So I dove in, and I'll be taking delivery on Tuesday. I did a fair amount of research and decided that the Troubadour was a good fit with my price range and interests and then, lo and behold, I stumbled onto an opportunity to buy one for a fair bit less than a brand new one would have cost. In terms of my skills (hah! that's a good one), my purchase was undoubtedly premature but the banjo wasn't going to stay available for long if I didn't move on it.
I'm really looking forward to this new musical chapter of my life. I'm recently retired, so it'll be easier to find time to play than it was when I was just getting my career started 35 or so years ago. It'll take a while for the right hand to feel natural in that claw position, although I'll be able to play it Scruggs style from the get-go. But ultimately, I think frailing/clawhammer will give me a more rhythmic, less ear-splitting sound that will work well for accompanying singers and one or two acoustic players.
I look forward to learning a lot (as I have already) from you guys and stopping by this group to chat from time to time. I live in Chapel Hill, NC and it might even be fun to get together with some folks, although you'd have to have a high tolerance for a struggling beginner. Also, I've been an active member of the Acoustic Guitar Forum for several years and some of you might recognize my name from there.
So that's who I am and what I'm up to.
_________________________________________________
Bob DeVellis
|
| devellis says:
10/4/2013 1:49:26 PM
Apologies for double post. Still groping about here.
|
| Wrags says:
10/4/2013 2:45:43 PM
Bob,
No problem. I've deleted the duplicate post. Welcome to the Hangout and to the Wildwood group! I think you will be impressed with the Troubador - they are nice banjos!
Charley
|
 | gzerninplatz says:
11/26/2013 11:07:48 AM
New guy here...I'm a pedal steel/dobro/slide guitar player in an alt-country band...we just recorded an album this week, and one of the tracks just cried out for a little banjo backup...I bought a crappy Fender off Craigslist a week ago and fooled with it before the studio session (open-G is pretty natural for me, from dobro and slide guitar)...but I borrowed the recording engineer's banjo and recorded with it.. It was a Wildwood...I just fell in love with the tone. I'm now obsessed with Wildwood and am looking for a Minstrel or Troubadour, and will start getting serious about it. I live in Oregon, so a visit to the "factory" might be in order...
|
| Wrags says:
11/26/2013 9:04:56 PM
Welcome Steve!
You should definitely stop by and see Mark at Wildwood the next time you get out near Sun River (call first to make sure he is going to be around). He is always very welcoming and seems to really enjoy showing folks around his shop and talking banjo. The last time I visited he told me that he sometimes has banjos with slight cosmetic imperfections that he offers at good discounts, so that is something to keep in mind if that appeals to you. Happy pickin'!
|
 | FreeRangeFolk says:
3/16/2014 1:23:14 PM
Hi,
I just picked up a Wildwood Openback with Tree of Life inlay from a coal miner in Carbon County Pennsylvania. He said he bought it decades ago, but didn't learn to play it. I fell in love with the tone and look immediately. I play in a roots rock folk band. Thinking about getting a kavanjo head for it. Anybody in the group have experience with the Kavanjo?
|
 | rickpatt says:
4/10/2014 8:47:17 AM
Can someone tell me the weight of a troubadour without the bracket band.
Thanks Rick
|
penltnpicker says:
6/18/2014 5:00:13 PM
Just purchased a very old Wildwood. Rolled brass tone ring. Mark thinks it is a mid 70's open back with a resonator added later. Can't tell the resonator didn't come with it though. Very good player with carbon fiber truss rod. Wondering what one of these vintage picks is worth?
|
Post a Comment
|
You must be logged in and a member of this group to post a comment.
|
