rhnewsome - Posted - 08/13/2015:  12:25:21

I was on vacation in New Hampshire last week and discovered a small music store near Bristol that is an RK and a Gold Tone dealer.  I was talking with Mark, the owner, and mentioned that I play the 5 string banjo, and he said "try this", and handed me a DoJo that is made by Gold Tone.  Now, I am not a real  big fan of Gold Tone, but I sat down and played it.  "It" is a cut-away resonator guitar body with a 5 string  banjo neck.  Well, I immediately fell in love with it.  The tone is much softer than a banjo, and has a lot of sustain.  It sounds like a finger picked guitar, but has the added resonance from the resonator plate, along with the rhythm of the banjo. It is truly a unique instrument.  One thing for sure, you could use it as a practice instrument in place of a standard banjo and not drive everyone within a mile radius nuts.  I think it will be a real hit at my local, non-bluegrass,  jams.  I think I may even be able to use it as a backup for singing. 

As an aside, my wife found a 4 string guitar that she liked, so we dropped a wad of cash on Mark before we left.

Anyway, I just thought I would mention this in case you get the chance to play one.  I highly recommend you give it a try if you get the chance.

If I can figure out how to create a sound demo I will add it later.

Culloden - Posted - 08/13/2015:  14:35:23

Congratulations on your purchase, Richard. I have been thinking about one of these for several years now but have never seen one in person to try out. I always liked the sound Sonny Osborne got from his five string guitar and wondered how this would compare.

If you can figure out how to do a sound demo I would like to hear it. The demo video on Gold Tone's website is not very informative. Scott Cockerham sounds like he's playing a cross between the Psychadelic Shuffle and the Funky Monkey. It's hard to get a clear idea of what the instrument sounds like.

Cheers, from a fellow Virginian.

Mark

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 08/13/2015:  15:02:12

I have a friend who owned and operated a Dojo in Albany NY for a few years. He did Okinawan Karate. Good luck and, keep on choppin'.

hicotton - Posted - 08/13/2015:  15:24:43

I bought a Goldtone Dojo a couple of years ago from a friend who is a guitar player and I love it!

 Admittedly, the construction quality is average, but this thing has a really sweet, melodic tone that fits in nicely with certain fiddle tunes - "St Anne's Reel" and "Devil's Dream" are good examples.  It's lightweight,  has good action, and is perfect to practice after the family has gone to bed. Every time I bring it to a jam or gig there's always questions and compliments.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine!

clay

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 08/13/2015:  15:53:00

After many years of thinking "who needs it" I am once again thinking about a completely different instrument that I would be more likely to call a Dojo than that 5 string baritone uke that Gold Tone sells - more like a DuJo - but I'm actually pretty anti-cutsipie names like Dojo (unless you are talking about a martial arts studio) anyway. I want to make a dulcimer banjo - dulcimer fretted neck, banjo pot. It would be played by sliding and otherwise fretting the "noter" string while using the remaining 2 or 3 strings open.

The difference between this and having a chromatic fretted neck would be a lot less on an instrument played by fretting from guitar/banjo position,  than it would on a lap dulcimer played with a noter stick, but there would indeed be a difference.

I was thinking also of having the noter string somewhat more distant from the edge of the board and keeping that string relatively slack. I wouldn't expect to get the stretching ability of a Sitar, but I think it would be cool to have a minor 3rd to a 4th of really easy string stretch.

Many years ago I was pulling frets on a banjo for a refret. Just for fun I pulled them ileaving dulcimer fretting, then fooled around on the results for a half hour or so. It was a repair so I had to finish the job - that night in fact. I found it much easier on my wrist in banjo position, than dealing with the wrist position for a lap dulcimer (I usually played lap dulcimers with a noter stick for that very reason) and the tunes were interesting in that form.

I also thought about having a second noter string an octave or a fifth below the standard noter. I used to play a lot of octaves and 5ths on guitar and loved the harmonies. It would be easy enough to make it a 5 string instrument, using the deeper noter as a drone when it isn't wanted to parallel the noter.

I never got around to doing it again, and now that I have the time - I can't really play for long enough at any one time to get good on a new instrument. Sausage Life!

If you are thinking about doing something in music - do it now. You might not be up to it, later.

Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 08/13/2015 15:58:14

Banjowen - Posted - 08/14/2015:  02:29:58

I have a Goldtone dojo which gives me loads of pleasure especially playing slow stuff, as I have the model with a pickup I can put it through my small Vox amp which has a load of sound effects...i.e anything from country guitar to heavy metal,but I mostly use it acoustically,There are quite a few videos of dojo players on YouTube, check out Tony McNally playing "Sometimes Blue" on Goldtone Dojo. I don't know if this link will work but here goes. m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=uoElN0FScwQ

RedStar - Posted - 08/14/2015:  04:28:48

I had a GT Dojo DLX with the twin pickups a couple years back. It was a cool instrument. I bought it brand new from my local shop, and really enjoyed it. 

As these things go, I ended up selling it and once in a while - I sure would like to have it back.

Enjoy

Mark

raharris - Posted - 08/14/2015:  04:50:36

Congrats!  I'm curious about the fifth string tuner -- how is it designed to keep out of the way of the tone bar?  Thanks -- 

Banjowen - Posted - 08/14/2015:  06:10:35

quote:

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Originally posted by raharris

 

Congrats!  I'm curious about the fifth string tuner -- how is it designed to keep out of the way of the tone bar?  Thanks -- 

---

 Hi Robert, I think you may be getting mixed up with a Dobro,... to play slide stuff on the Dojo you'd just use a tube usally on your little finger.

reyn3545 - Posted - 09/16/2015:  13:17:10

Not sure if anyone is interested.... I have a Dobro Dojo that I got from my father's estate. I'd like to sell it and give the funds to my mom... Serial number is 8 84 6D, and I'd say it's in "good condition"... typical dings from use, and on the 5th string tuner, he apparently replaced the original tension screw with a screw from the hardware store.



Is something like this worth selling, and about what would they bring? I played music for years when I was younger, but never touched a banjo.

Edited by - reyn3545 on 09/16/2015 13:21:30