Paul Roberts - Posted - 08/03/2015:  14:22:26

Thanks to Donald Nitchie for granting free access to last month's BNL cover story, that I wrote on the Missing Link - a baritone banjo designed by Béla Fleck and Wayne Rogers, and currently played extensively by Béla in his duets with his wife, Abigail Washburn. A very small shipment of these is on the water, now, arriving in September, with a large shipment following a few weeks after that. 

Here's the BNL article. Hope you enjoy. banjonews.com/2015-07/the_miss...link.html

Edited by - Paul Roberts on 08/03/2015 20:01:18

Paul Roberts - Posted - 08/04/2015:  08:35:51

Typo alert: in the article the tuning is misstated as cGCGE. I should be cGCEG like G tuning 5 notes lower.

budbennett - Posted - 08/04/2015:  08:39:07

I am really interested in one of those and am saving my pennies now.  I kind of love that intermediate low sound.

Paul Roberts - Posted - 08/04/2015:  16:34:00

It's a new playing field. I'm eager to hear what sorts of things people come up with on this baritone space mobile.

jonc - Posted - 08/07/2015:  02:21:29

great article Paul

7 notes lower

Edited by - jonc on 08/07/2015 02:31:22

jonc - Posted - 08/07/2015:  03:39:48

I thought it was good how you two went in-depth about how to use it. The thing I like is it has the range where high notes still sound melodic (unlike the cello banjo) and you can put low notes underneath them. So it can work for stand-alone arrangements was well as backing up.

jimh269b - Posted - 08/07/2015:  08:14:51

paul im still planning getting me on of them,when I order I will order it from you

Paul Roberts - Posted - 08/08/2015:  07:44:12

I feel that one of my very favorite bluegrass pickers Jim Reed - playing a Missing Link - will shed a new light on Jim's first-rate playing. This will certainly be an important step in the evolution of this new configuration. I played Béla's for a couple hours, and the tone coming from the 12" pot, the wider radiused fingerboard, wound strings and low tuning make for a fresh and imaginative playground. 

Jon ~ Thanks! I look forward to hearing more of your excursions on the Missing Link.

Lew H - Posted - 08/09/2015:  08:13:55

The Missing Link is a really cool banjo!  The GoldTone folks had one in their exhibit at the Suwannee Banjo Camp last spring, and I got to pick on it a bit.  It has a low growl-ly tone that complements some songs quite well. My one quibble with it is the extreme radius fretboard. This seemed weird to me but didn't create major problems in playing it.  Maybe with the thicker wound strings, more radius is needed to keep the neck from becoming too wide.  I don't understand that aspect.

In case some folks want to hear the sound of this banjo, I'm posting an mp3, but not of my playing.  While I had fun clawing on the Missing Link, James McKinney--a truly excellent bluegrass banjo player--did wonders with it when he played and sang "Workin' on a Building".  I think his wife Nikki played a GoldTone microbass and I sang some bad harmony on this impromptu jam.  I recorded this song in a large room with lots of echoes and background noise, but the unique tone of the Missing Link banjo comes through.  Thanks, James!

Edited by - Lew H on 08/09/2015 08:18:12

Working on a Building-- Missing Link Banjo

guitarman8491 - Posted - 08/09/2015:  09:18:20

Definitely got a lot of low end. Overall very nice sounding banjo.

Lew H - Posted - 08/09/2015:  11:45:11

Paul,  I rudely forgot to say that's a nice piece in BNL.  Since I don't subscribe, tI appreciate your mentioning and linking it here.