Overall Comments

This little piece of brass put's out a lot of power and clear tone. I have a Bishline Banjo with a Fults tail piece and I thought nothing else could improve on the sound. The BanjoMate, clear up my overtones, also a little easier to play since I don't need a 11/16 bridge anymore. I just ordered the nickel planted one.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago and put it in my 5-String Goya. It's not a great banjo and could definitely use some enhancing. I experimented with placing the Tone Enhancer in various parts of the resonator using tape, but after about 10 minutes I just looked up the reviews by other people and put it where they said it worked (just less than two inches from the wall of the resonator pointing to the heel). I found that indeed it does enhance the sound and that the product is appropriately named. Although my Goya still sounds like a low end banjo the sound is definitely improved - warmer and richer. If I had to give the extent of improvement a number, I'd say that the sound has been enhanced by 10-15%. I'm pleased with the product and will keep it in the banjo. For the price it's well worth it. I personally wouldn't put it in a higher end banjo but definitely for anything low to mid range.

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

This was one of the Tone Enhancers that Doug Campbell provided to the BHO members gratis for evaluation. Rather than provide a written review, yesterday I submitted a video comparison so the members could listen and decide whether they like the Enhancer, don't like it, or don't hear a difference. The video can be reached through the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYQNe4KnWO4


In my comments under the video I mentioned that I wasn't immediately disclosing which versions had the Enhancer and which didn't. I'm adding that disclosure below. If you want to make up your mind without that knowledge beforehand go ahead and see the video, then read below.


The second version of Fireball Mail and the first version of Home Sweet Home are the ones where the Enhancer was installed. To my ear I didn't detect that much of a difference. For that reason I would give it a rating of 5, figuring that for me it was neutral but others might hear it differently.

Overall Rating

5

Overall Comments

I installed the recieved BanjoMate in my 2005 Gold Star GF-100. This banjo has a Huber compensated bridge, GHS PF140 strings and a Fults 1934 tailpiece on it. This has been my main banjo for the last 4 years. It has very good tone now (for what it is), but if I could improve anything would be the clarity of the notes up the neck.

I installed the BanjoMate at 1.25 inches as suggested by using rolled up masking tape. I really didn't hear much difference at that setting. I then moved it up to 1.75 inches and could immediately tell the difference with a strum. I was definately hearing a bit more of a ring to the sound. Played it a bit and really liked it. The mahogany banjo was sounding a little more metallic and brighter. Also a bit more volume. Not much. The clarity of the notes up the neck was slightly improved. Not as muddy.

I then moved the BanjoMate up to 2 inches. Everything I had was lost and it was even more muddied. Interesting. Went back down to 1.75 and velcroed it in. Off to band practice.

Our bass player (who has our best ear) said he could hear the difference and that the banjo was cutting thru the other instruments very well and he could hear every note I was playing. That is a pretty good endorsement right there. I'll be leaving the BanjoMate in my Gold Star. As others have stated, I don't think this product would make that much difference on a high end banjo, but on middle of the road models (Gold Star, RK, Goldtone) I think it would be $20 well spent.

Thank you very much for the opportunity Doug!

Overall Rating

8

Overall Comments

Review of the BanjoMate Tone Enhancer-brass version
Product was received from Little Mountain Music as a free trial offer through BHO.
Banjo used: Deering Goodtime II, DR light strings

The product arrived quickly. It was packaged in a standard bubble mailer envelope. Installation instructions and some extra velcro were also included. I installed the banjomate onto my resonator as instructed. In the suggested default installation location I noticed no change in tone. So, I began to try differently locations within my resonator to determine if there was any change in tone or volume. After about 60-90 minutes of positioning, testing, and reposition I found what I felt was the location that made the best difference in tone and volume. So I decided to give it a few days and continue to play and practice as I normally would.

After about a week of playing with the Banjomate installed I removed it. The tone with the Banjomate removed confirmed what I had previously determined. The Banjomate gave me a more clear tone. The tone without the Banjomate was definitely muddier. However, any gain in volume was nominal at best.

Would I recommend the Banjomate to others or write it off as a gimmick? I would absolutely recommend this to anyone wanting to more clarity in their tone. Although, I was hoping for an increase in volume, the betterment of tone makes the Banjomate well worth its asking price.

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

I got the Banjomate Tone Enhancer as a trial and I was pretty unsure about it off the bat. I have never been big on gimmicky products and when I received it I honestly did not think a bent up piece of tin would do much to change the sound or tone.

I installed it as instructed and played around with different positions for about 30 or 45 minutes, took it off and played without it, and then put it on and tried it in other positions again. I did this for 2 or 3 days and even asked my wifes opinion.

Not only does it amplify your banjo but surprisingly, the tone and sound did change. Its a much clearer tone and brighter tone than without. As my wife put it, the banjo almost sounds muted now when I play without the Banjomate. I even put it on an old cheap junk banjo and it improved it greatly. I would recommend this especially for those who cant move into a high end banjo but are looking to enhance their lower grade instrument.

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

Review of the BanjoMate Tone Enhancer-brass version
Product was received from Little Mountain Music as a free trial offer through BHO.
Banjo used: 2002 Gibson RB250 w/Remo top frosted head; 5/8” Hatfield compensated bridge; and GHS PF150 med-light strings.

This product comes with specific easy-to-follow instructions on how to find the optimal placement of this accessory. Once ideal placement is located, the product is mounted inside the resonator with the provided Velcro fastener for easy application, adjustment, or removal. No screws, drilling, or gluing are needed.

The BanjoMate was initially installed on the resonator per directions with a corner edge ~1/4” from resonator edge at the heel of the neck. However, because the rim of the pot rests just above the resonator and is approximately 2-3cm inside the circumference of the resonator, the initial placement of the BanjoMate needed to be adjusted to a minimum of 4.0cm from the resonator’s inside edge in order to keep from touching the inside pot rim.

For reference purposes, the corner pointing toward the neck will be the “N” corner with other corners respectively as W, E, and S (toward the tailpiece). Care was taken to center the BanjoMate along the diameter of the resonator (between neck and tailpiece) keeping the side corners (W & E) equal distance from the side wall. Per instructions, the BanjoMate “N” corner was placed with point centered between the sides of the resonator’s heel notch. This corner was moved toward the bridge along the center diameter in 1 to 1.5 cm increments testing for changes in volume, tone, and resonance. Distances (in cm.) tested were 4.0 4.25, 4.5, 4.75, 5, 5.25, and 6.25cm. Most noticeable & favorable change in volume, tone, and resonance occurred at 4.75cm. Tone & resonance was a bit muffled at 4.0 and ‘tinny’ at 5.25 but was particularly tinny at 6.25cm when it had a very distinct ‘metalic’ overtone. Of note, the 6.25cm placement put the “S” point of the BanjoMate very near the location of the bridge. At 4.75cm, the tone was distinctly clearer, had more volume, and the resonance was enhanced without any of the overtones heard at the 6.25cm placement. Placement beyond the 6.25cm distance or placement closer to or under the bridge was not tested.

Because I was also interested in the BanjoMate’s tone ‘mellowing’ ability, I also tried 5 position changes turning it clockwise from the optimal 4.75cm position (noted above) to a full 90 degree rotation with a side centered and facing the heel slot with the two corners of that side each at 4.75cm from the resonator’s edge. The rotation did seem to produce a somewhat more mellow sound w/o muffling or dulling the tone. My preference for mellow tone quality with this accessory was at the full 90 degree turn as described above. That position gave about the best and most noticeable ‘mellow’ tonal change to my ear. No other rotational positions were tested.

Impressions: The BanjoMate does effect changes in the tone, volume, and resonance of this banjo. My banjo, being mahogany, is already somewhat on the ‘mellow’ side and definitely does not have the brighter tone more common to some maple banjos I’ve heard. At the 4.75cm placement, there was an immediate noticeable change in the tone and volume of the banjo in a ‘brighter’ positive sense. It definitely gave it more ‘pop’. Additional placement changes which rotated the alignment of the BanjoMate did effect some ‘mellowing’, however, not to the same noticeable degree as it did to the change in ‘brightness’. I am not sure if in development of this product, a different degree of effect was noted specifically between maple and mahogany banjos. Perhaps someone evaluating this accessory on a maple banjo could comment on this in their review.

As a further experiment in search of the ideal ‘mellow sound’, I will be installing a Renaissance head on my RB250 in the near future and will, after the head settles in, do more experimentation with the BanjoMate to see what effect it has with that type of head. It may not be forthcoming for a month or two…but… stay tuned!

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

I installed the banjomate on my Gold Tone CC 100R last week. I like this banjo and think it is particularly good for the price range, as others have noted. While mine had a pretty good sound to begin with, it was a little "tubby" sounding. The Banjomate tone enhancer got rid of 90% of the tubby beginner banjo sound. The tone enhancer added sustain and brightness as well. I experimented with placement of the device, as the directions suggest, but did not find a radical difference in sound. It improved the banjo's sound no matter where I placed it (all placements were relatively close to the neck, though). I would certainly recommend the Tone Enhancer.

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

New trick for an old Dog

I tried one of Doug Campbell's brass tone enhancers in my old Archtop Weymann Megaphonic Conversion. Year unknown.

This banjo gives me a pretty decent sound, but no matter how I set it up I always have 2 complaints. Not enough clarity on the bottom end, and a little too much reverberation. I like a sustained sound but not to the point where the notes run together. I am chasing a classic bluegrass tone. Currently the Weymann is setup with a 5 star head , a very old Waverly tailpiece, and medium strings. The pot and neck are mahogany.

I placed the enhancer in the resonator as per the instruction's set up suggestion. Instantly the sustain dropped and all notes including the top and bottom end were much clearer. I had to keep trying different positions because the initial setup killed the sustain a little too much. Take Doug's suggestion and use masking initially until you find the sweet spot. The sweet spot for my banjo was just above dead center with the points rotated to about 1 O clock. The Velcro landed about an inch above the Weymann label inside the resonator.

Conclusion:
The Tone Enhancer far exceeded my expectations. I did loose a little overall volume but it was worth the trade off. Anyone who plays a Megaphonic knows they are very loud by nature anyway. Most importantly Tone Enhancer stays in the banjo and does not compromise the integrity of the Banjo. One heck of a bang for the buck. Next up I will try it in my tenor Weymann.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

This device is not a gimmick. I recommend it without reservation. For the small cost, it improved the tone a noticeable amount.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

My latest banjo - see my homepage for pictures and a sound clip - had a lot of overtones and sustain. I thought the BanjoMate Tone Enhancer
might help. A friend and I installed it yesterday, and it cleaned up the overtones and sustain nicely. This is not a low or medium grade banjo - all top notch parts - but I added two extra frets at the high end of the neck, which moved the bridge closer to the center of the head, and seems to have created more overtones and sustain. I like the change, although I haven't played with the positioning yet. For the price I think it's hard to beat. When I initially saw them advertised I passed it off as a gimmick, but it's not. Amazing what bluegrass musicians come up with!

Overall Rating

8

Overall Comments

Great product for a low-mid level instrument.

The Banjo Mate Tone Enhancer really does help lower to mid level instruments find a couple of things that they generally lack. I noticed two changes in my Japanese made Alvarez Silver Belle. First of all, this banjo was already a good solid instrument. I doubt seriously that this or any other product will made a Lotus banjo sound like a Stelling (I'm sure the folks at Little Mountain music would tell you the same).

The first thing I noticed was a little more sustain. Sometimes, upper level instruments have too much. But, more than often, lower grade instruments have no sustain at all. The tone enhancer helped with this.

The second thing I noticed was just a fuller sound. Oftentimes, a lower grade instrument sounds like all the sound comes from the strings. With the tone enhancer, you can hear the sound coming from the resonator.

Honestly, this is a cheap fix to a couple of less expensive banjo problems. Give it a try.

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

After I was told that I would recieve this " tone enhancer" it was in my mail box four days later. It was shipped and packaged in a professional manner. I believe these folks have good business savvy and sense. I would imagine that any thing you would buy would be expidited in the same fashion.

The "enhancer" is made from a small sheet of light gauge brass. It is bent to make it stiff and so it will not touch the resonator except where the velcro@ is attached. There is a set of directions to follow, explaining that the best place to attach the " enhancer" near the neck notch . That's where I placed it giving room for it to sit parallel or diagonal with the strings.

The banjo I used it on is an old " bits and pieces" banjo ( masterclone) that I assembled and it is the one that I tinker with. Which is a good thing for my other banjos, all Gibsons, 1926, 1957, 1993. Each of these have a particular sound that I love and so they stay , after they were set up, the way thay are. I use which one I'm in the mood for. Enough about these.

The " clone" banjo is a mahogony neck, maple rim, and a flat back maple resonator. The banjo on it's own is not a bad sounding banjo, IMHO, but it lacked a good strong low "D" string. So with the head tuned to a G# , ( which gives me the maximum overall sound for the banjo), I installed the " enhancer" parallel with the strings.

The improvement that I heard and in what others heard was, a more mellow " B " string and a fatter lower"D" string, with out making the banjo change dramatically in any other area.

I use the term "others" due to playing the banjo at three different picking jobs with different acoustics and p.a. equipment. The banjo before installing the " enhancer" has good volume, intonation, and balance up and down the neck. Thses are the areas that didn't change. I also had other pickers listen to the banjo and play it for me so I could be in front of it and could decide for my self if there was any unwanted noise or overtones. None of these were present, either.

The consensus is , with the tone enhancer, it made this banjo sound more like a good 'Ball bearing" and not so much like a clanky flat head or a pingy arch-top, ( byw, the banjo has a flat head tone ring of an unknown origen , more that likely from an Asian built). The banjo is a bit drier sounding .

I'll leave it in the banjo but I might try it on a round back resonator soon.

These are not very expensive and it might be worth a try on any banjo but as with mine, any changes , I believe, will be incremental and specific for each banjo.

I tried using it diagonally but in that position, it didn't make any difference to the sound of the banjo, so parallel works the best.

As of 04-10-09 I decided to put a standard mahogany veneer resonator on my parts banjo and take the flat back one off. As a result, I also reused the Banjo Mate in the new resonator, ( thank goodness for velcro). The sound with the standard resonator is heavier now and with the Banjo Mate at the same position as on the flat resonator,( parrallel nearer the neck heel), the sound is hard and ringy. The is very balanced and has a strong "D" even more so with the Banjo Mate. I believe this will be a good product for any one who wants a heavier, hard, ringy sound. The resonator has alot to do with this change but , now, I can't discount the Banjo Mate Tone Enhancer. Highly recommended.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

I am very cynical about most gimmick-y things. I have tried my share of gimmicks and devices over the past 44 years of banjo playing. I've tried all the latest fads and tricks and I've usually been pretty disappointed. I've never been a "me-too" guy unless I have satisfied myself that things I endorse are valid and have been proven through my own experience.

Three days ago, I ordered a Banjo Mate Banjo Tone Enhancer. $19.95. I figured why not? If it's a rip-off, I'll write a scathing disclaimer. If it works, I'll write a fair review. If nothing happens, so what...? It sounds enough like snake-oil to be, well, snake-oil.

So the thing came USPS today, so I stuck it in my Scout. It's a square sheet of thin brass with a dish-shape, sorta pyramidal in shape. Now, years ago, a bunch of were trying saw-blades mounted to the coordinator rods, mirrors in the resonator, reflective hard-gloss paint and whatever else we thought might help the sound. I pretty much gave up on such stuff, because :
1. I don't like gimmicks
2. I figure a banjo either has it or not
3. I'm pretty good at setting up banjos and coaxing maximum sound(tone & volume) from one.

Anyway, here I was thinking, "Yeh, yeh...whatever..." I was fully expecting my cynicism to be vindicated, knowing this was just another dust-catcher for the junk-box. I thought I may make a clock out of it. The Scout is one good-sounding banjo and I thought it was as good as it was gonna get. I played the Scout for a few minutes just registering the sound in my head.

So, I stuck this puppy in there with it's little velcro fastener and played the same licks I had been playing for several minutes. Then I took the gizmo out and played the same stuff again. I repeated this process for 30-40 minutes, confident that I was going to be able to pooh-pooh the device.

My final analysis in the Scout is this: It made a marked improvement in the sound. Not a vast improvement, but a marked one. The sound was fuller, rounder, if you will, and had more sustain. It was slightly louder and I noticed for the first time that the Scout had an ear-crunching quality when I really bear down on it. I don't know how or why it works, but I was impressed enough to call Doug. I tried turning it to different orientations as he suggested and found out that it does make a difference. When I turned it with the points toward the heel and tailpiece, I got the best sound. When I turned it 90 degrees, it seemed slightly more "treble-y." I have yet to try varying degrees between 0 and 90, but I will. I also intend to try it in my Aria alumi-tone, my 28 Granada AT, my Lane and my Sullivan Festival Deluxe. I'm going to stick it in my friend's Asian mongrel-tone I put together for him. I'm trying to buy a USB studio mike, so maybe I'll do some sound files for each banjo. I have a blind friend who plays dobro, and who has a really sensitive set of ears, so I plan to use him as a guinea-pig, for a true "blind" sound-test. .

I don't know Doug, and I have no financial interest in his company or product.

I give it a thumbs-up. I think it's a winner.

ADDENDUM: Mar 6, 09

I just tried the Tone Enhancer in my Aria Alumi-tone. It was even more remarkable than in the Scout. I played the Scout and the Alumi-tone with and without the TE for my wife and she said,"What IS that thing!!?" High praise from her.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

easy installation.
Imediately noticed an increse in volume.
Initially I thought the sound was tinny, but then I removed it and it sounded muddy compared to the previous tone.
I rotated the tone enhancer and didn't notice much difference.
I have an Alvarez banjo and the tone enhancer definately increased the volume and crispness of the tone.
An excellent investment of $20.

Overall Rating

8