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fatbanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 05:44:52
This summer will see the arrival of something very special to the banjo world. A new design on a classic theme some might say. People get ready, for your eyes and ears will experience a look and sound to die for, 2008 will bring about the birth of a new kind of banjo. Arriving soon The Thunderhead Banjo!
paul bienek
TONUP - Posted - 02/06/2008: 06:08:35
Any chance of some pictures, prices, availability etc..
Regards
TONUP
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 07:36:08
I'm surprised no-one has posted complaining that this counts as advertsisng....
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 07:51:38
The Thunderhead Mk.1 is currently under construction, a few pre-lim models have allready been sold but not marketed under the Thunderhead name & spec. Availability at this stage will be limited to 10 to 12 instruments in the first 12months. However, having played the pre-Thunderheads that have been sold, the demand for these instruments will be nothing short of phenomenal. I play banjo with one of the uk premier nouveau bluegrass bands Rabbijohn and having played and owned Gibsons, one Stelling and several Deerings in the last 18 years, the Thunderhead really does take you to places you've never been before! photos will be available along with a detailed spec when the instrument is launched in spring 2008. As you can appreciate we have to keep a bit tight lipped until then, all you have to do is believe and register your interest You can email us at fatbanjo@googlemail.com or leave a message at www.rabbijohn.co.uk ....best regards Paul
paul bienek
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 07:57:29
Banjo hangout will have all exclusive initial launch and promotional material and advertising is spelt advertising not advertsing. Don't complain just love your banjo man!
paul bienek
kallekockum - Posted - 02/06/2008: 08:03:27
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
the Thunderhead really does take you to places you've never been before!
Does it take me to Doncaster? I've never been there.
Sorry, just joking. Good luck on your project, and don't worry: it sure ain't the first time a product has been promoted on the BHO!
Kalle Kockum, Sweden
I wish I was as cool as Levon Helm...
TONUP - Posted - 02/06/2008: 10:14:14
Thanks Paul,
Is that one of them in your avatar?
Regards
TONUP
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 10:55:20
personally I don't much care, but there is a whole thread on the subject quite recently. On the other hand I don't pay any heed to wild pre-production claims of any description, for any sort of product. I'll be interested to see whether BHO actually promotes this product or whether there is just another post claiming 'World Exclusive' ...
wfawley - Posted - 02/06/2008: 14:04:28
I like advertising.....especially banjo related advertising. The ones who do speak out against it....aren't that hard nosed about it either...unless it's related to a specific brand. Then all sense goes out the window and it's open season.
As a builder myself.....I am interested in what others are doing, and their thoughts behind what they think makes it "work".....so let 'er rip.
Wyatt
If your friends criticize the car you drive, or the banjo you play. Get new ones.
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 14:09:25
actually I would agree with that. I'd pay much more notice if it actually said anything informative, rather than simply shouting NEW!! BEST EVER!! which might be interesting and a good read. That post is just waffle
PS I've never been to Doncaster either, althoughI have been through it on the train - does that count?
Edited by - cockneybanjo on 02/06/2008 14:10:25
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 17:33:46
Now Now Cockneybanjo have a heart. Were we come from in the mild mild west life just kinda moves along a little slower. We don't put people down for being pasionate about their banjos. We takes our time see and gets it right. The uk finest come from our corner of the world, Leon Hunt Johnny Button & Paul Bienek to name but a few. And wonderful people like Tonup take us seriously and show a genuine interest when we pipes up. Anyone who's anyone will be queuing up to put there name on the Thunderhead banjo. And yes the avatar shows a tiny glimpse of the future. But the true messiah is yet to come.....
paul bienek
gottasmilealot - Posted - 02/06/2008: 17:55:53
Bring it on! Always good to hear what's going on across the big pond.
Keith
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/06/2008: 23:17:28
?? have a heart? on the whole I really don't care whether people post advertising on here or not, and my banjo budget is spent out for a long time to come. But the original post just says 'this is great' with no real information and continues like that.
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/07/2008: 04:48:09
When people say they don't care it usually means they do and why else would cockneybanjo highlight thr issue of advertising in the first place if it did not bother him or her. Cockneybanjo should be patriotic and supportive of exciting things that are happening on his doorstep. Man if God or Allah played the banjo it would be a Thunderhead...enough said
paul bienek
TONUP - Posted - 02/07/2008: 05:43:34
Paul,
Another look at your home page shows a rear shot of the banjo, and it looks like its got a tunneled fifth string. Something that I would really like to try on a banjo.
You may not want to say yet, but is there any chance you could indicate what price it might be?
Regards
TONUP
As for the issue of advertising the product I don't see any problem. It's not like your a big corporation like Gibson or Gold Tone and I doubt that this will make you a millionaire. Just a chap with a love a banjos trying to make a few extra quid from his pursuit - Do I get one cheap now for being nice :-) ...thought not!
Edited by - TONUP on 02/07/2008 05:49:14
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/07/2008: 10:12:24
I really, really don't care either way about advertising on the forum. Anyone wants to try his hand at making an instrument and making a profit, good luck. We don't have enough of that sort of thing these days.
I DO think it's bad manners to post advertising with no information content on a members' forum, though. I'd be interested to know more and I'm sure plenty more people would, too. If there's something genuinely new and special about it, so much the better.
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/08/2008: 06:02:47
Look guys I am sorry if I offended anyone with my post . That was never my intention and maybe it was a little naive of me with respect to the protocol of this Forum. If cockney banjo wants to shake hands email syle he can have a complimentary copy of my critically acclaimed c.d Skin & Bone to soften his or her ears ...can't say fairer than that!
paul bienek
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/08/2008: 10:20:12
oh, you have to get up a lot earlier than that to offend me. There ARE people that post complaining about ANY kind of advertising, but I'm not one of them. In a forum like this serving an interest group where small-scale, cottage-industry manufacturers are all part of the scene, I think it's probably desirable that they can get exposure without the costs of full-scale commercial advertising.
But, I do also think that they should in return, be reasonably forthcoming about what they are actually offering. I could have written the first post myself, with no knowledge of the product at all. The second one is not much better, on the horse-apples scale. If you were posting "we are making a limited run of banjos based closely on the instrument played by XXXXX at YYYYY on ZZZZ", fine. If there was a link to a sound file saying "what do you think of this? Good, isn't it?", fine. If you were posting a more-or-less description of what the instrument is, fine. If the first post appeared in a box as an advert pure and simple, fine.
I've seen a lot of good forums ( fora? ) spoilt by unrestricted advertising material posted by a small number of members. I do think that members should observe a reasonable ettiquette , if only to shut the people up who would otherwise post endlessly about all sorts of advertising, and keep it as a credible venue for serious information, which it certainly is right now
look forward to seeing a bit more ....
maxmax - Posted - 02/08/2008: 10:23:42
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
People get ready, for your eyes and ears will experience a look and sound to die for
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
the demand for these instruments will be nothing short of phenomenal.
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
[I play banjo with one of the uk premier nouveau bluegrass bands
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
the Thunderhead really does take you to places you've never been before!
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
Anyone who's anyone will be queuing up to put there name on the Thunderhead banjo.
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
if God or Allah played the banjo it would be a Thunderhead.
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
he can have a complimentary copy of my critically acclaimed c.d Skin & Bone to soften his or her ears
quote:
Originally posted by fatbanjo
advertising is spelt advertising not advertsing.
Cockneybanjo... I'd be pretty careful about what you say to this guy. You are OBVIOUSLY dealing with the best builder, best player and the best speller the banjo hangout has ever seen
!
All kidding aside, I too look forword towards seeing these new banjos of yours fatbanjo!
Best,
Max
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/08/2008: 13:01:59
watch your step, Max... 'forword' is spelt F-O-R-W-A-R-D, you'll be next in line
and I STILL haven't been to Doncaster
Tyri - Posted - 02/09/2008: 04:26:27
"If ah ain't seen it, it ain't real" -G. Bush
Doncaster. Yeah, right. Probably just making it up.
Like Iowa- that's probably just made up too.
Show me. 
-Brywn
Gran Tyhris' favorite Scot
ban-joe - Posted - 02/09/2008: 09:06:09
And while we're at it, isn't 'spelt' a cereal grain? 'Spelled' is perhaps what you meant, or is that the British form? I notice both cockney and fatbanjo use 'spelt'.
joe
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/09/2008: 17:04:30
both forms appear in the OED but 'spelt' is usual. American spelling over here, has the sort of reputation associated with British dentistry in the US. Whether spelt is an American name for a sort of cereal, being a cockney, I neither know nor care.
I do know that 'kinda' is probably not to be found in anything printed by the BBC..
I've been to Iowa and didn't believe it either. However Doncaster is clearly signposted from the A1 and it's difficult to keep secrets like that, in a country this size. Even NASA could probably say they'd been and people would believe them.
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/09/2008: 18:45:19
Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a hexaploid species of wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times; it now survives as a relict crop in Central Europe and has found a new market as a health food. Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the closely related species common wheat (T. aestivum), in which case its botanical name is considered to be Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta. ..............( Wikipedia )
spelt
past and past participle of SPELL
( OED )
so now we all know!
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/09/2008: 18:54:48
aren't words versatile?
from various sources it would appear that 'Kinda' can mean a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an alien in an episode of Doctor Who, a Swedish municipality or a 'school' of film directors... although from context, it probably doesn't mean any of those things
no joy yet on finding a website claiming that NASA have never been to Doncaster, although considering some of the things to be found on the internet, I'm still hopeful
Edited by - cockneybanjo on 02/09/2008 18:55:51
Old Man - Posted - 02/09/2008: 19:13:50
Thunderhead, big black dark clouds that roll in from the west over the hills and moutains of southwest Viriginia. Lets you know you better get started for the house, a storm is coming.
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/11/2008: 04:18:10
As promised full spec. and price will be available as soon as Thunderhead strike one comes off the bench. You can expect top quality hardware along with arguably the best tone ring commercially available. Thank you all for your interest & with regard to an open back we are planning to create a Thunderhead tubaphone with a bluegrass rim and tube, no bracket shoes so nice and comfy on your thighs girls and guys! checkout myspace/rabbijohn tell us what you think of our new tracks
paul bienek
cockneybanjo - Posted - 02/12/2008: 00:54:44
sounds good to me, waiting to see the openback variant particularly
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/19/2008: 05:24:36
I went to the workshop yesterday, where a wonderful piece of birds eye maple once sat, handsome carving has taken place, like a child in the womb waiting for birth people!
fatbanjo
fatbanjo - Posted - 02/24/2008: 17:06:36
Back to the workshop tomorrow see whats new in the Thunderhead stable
fatbanjo
Tyri - Posted - 02/24/2008: 17:44:44
Beautiful work- from what I've seen so far. The burl resonator is simply gorgeous.
I don't suppose we could see some in-progress photos? Carving?
***(post pics)***
***(post pics)***
***(post pics)***
(small subliminal suggestion)
Have fun!
-Brywn
Gran Tyhris' favorite Scot
***(post pics)***
Edited by - Tyri on 02/24/2008 17:46:51
fatbanjo - Posted - 03/04/2008: 04:49:27
The neck is carved the inlays are in, we wait in anticipation for the tone ring the bids eye maple is so lush and the website is under construction Happy days Happy days
fatbanjo
fatbanjo - Posted - 03/14/2008: 05:51:58
Oh Abraham the neck is finished, please don't let me croak before it is finshed, and for those of you who are genuinly interested go to www.davidsoninstruments.co.uk click on the gallery and you will find some nice photos of the pre-thunderhead.....fatbanjo
fatbanjo
fnw - Posted - 03/14/2008: 07:05:00
I don't think the Iowans believe it either. I lived in Iowa once for about 8 months at one time and I was never sure whether or not it was really there.
budbennett - Posted - 03/14/2008: 10:16:46
those are fantastic looking instruments!
fatbanjo - Posted - 03/14/2008: 10:19:15
they sure are and as he's not here thankyou for that my friend....fatbanjo
fatbanjo
budbennett - Posted - 03/14/2008: 10:58:57
i currently own a stealth, so it was nice to see his current work. i love the tunneled fifth string and find it a little hard to play a standard banjo now.
