Jon Borcherding - Posted - 04/21/2026:  11:29:13

Inspired by another thread regarding "Drum Honey" self adhesive drumhead dampeners, I was musing over some of the odd things I've seen stuffed into banjos to dampen/alter/enhance the tone.
My question is 3 part:
1.) What is the weirdest/oddest/most unexpected thing you've seen stuffed or otherwise attached to a banjo pot or head to alter/enhance tone.
2.) What is the most common thing you've seen stuffed or otherwise attached to a banjo pot or head to alter/enhance tone.
3.) What (if anything) do you currently have stuffed or otherwise attached to the pot or head of your favorite banjo to alter/enhance tone.

I'll go first.

1.) A very lifelike stuffed gerbil. At least, I'm pretty sure it was a stuffed toy. I was afraid to ask.
2.) Socks. Lots of different socks. Mostly wool (I think)
3.) My favorite banjo (which is always the one most recently purchased) has no foreign objects stuffed in the pot.

I apologize in advance if this topic has been beaten to death in some earlier thread. My search for gerbil dampening turned up nothing.

trapdoor2 - Posted - 04/21/2026:  12:02:03

I have only a couple of banjos that require stuffing. I buy car-washing sponges and cut them to suit. My first clawhammer banjo used an argyle sock...replaced by a cube of seat-foam

Beanie babies and Pokémon were popular. I've seen various pet toys, socks, towels and custom sewn heart-shaped pillows.

reubenstump - Posted - 04/21/2026:  12:13:27

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon Borcherding

I apologize in advance if this topic has been beaten to death in some earlier thread. My search for gerbil dampening turned up nothing.

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I wouldn't be surprised if a search for "gerbil stuffing" returned a result or two from the What's for dinner thread.  Groundhog, woodchuck, beaver... all large, soft, and flexible enough to dampen overtones after deboning.

Gerbils are small by comparison, but could be stuffed between a co rod or dowel stick and the head.

Edited by - reubenstump on 04/21/2026 12:17:58

lapsteel - Posted - 04/21/2026:  12:23:54

BOb dylan songs…..?

banjered - Posted - 04/21/2026:  13:24:06

Rubber chicken.

tonygo - Posted - 04/21/2026:  13:39:04

I have found small bubble wrap rolled up like a burrito and run along the inside of the rim on the bottom works remarkably well. I also have a gel drum pad wedged in between the dowel and head that makes playing late at night work a bit better on one banjo. But all of my banjos have bubble wrap rolls been doing it that way for a few years now.

Edited by - tonygo on 04/21/2026 13:40:00

Jon Borcherding - Posted - 04/21/2026:  13:39:47

quote:

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Originally posted by banjered

Rubber chicken.

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Tom, you forgot to mention if you were answering question 1, 2, or 3.   Now we just HAVE to know.

Owen - Posted - 04/21/2026:  13:43:49

My entries in the sweepstakes:

1) I don't check / take notice.

2) I don't check / take notice.

3) factory original(s) .... nothing added/taken away.

Where? ... did? ...  I?  ...  go? ...  wrong?    

TheLastWord - Posted - 04/21/2026:  13:58:42

1. Stuffed animals
2.
3. My go to is wash cloth (either folder or stuffed in place). Also currently using a banjo bolster and sheep skin with fur. In the past, I've also used socks.

banjo roo - Posted - 04/21/2026:  14:03:07

A beer cooler owned by someone i had just met. Stuffed into my banjo without their consent, or knowledge. They later looked around confused saying "has anyone seen my beer cooler!?" at which point I had to sheepishly pull it out from behind my banjo and apologise.

For those in countries that dont have them, a beer cooler (or stubby holder) is a rubber sleeve you put on a beer bottle to insulate it and keep it cool.

banjo roo - Posted - 04/21/2026:  14:05:27

... and my daughters stuffed toy. Also without their consent. Again having to sheepishly return it and apologise.

The Old Timer - Posted - 04/21/2026:  16:31:04

I bought a Vega Scruggs model years ago from northern California, and it was "stuffed" (lined) with a perfectly circular resonator-size 1" thick fine foam rubber disc. Thank god it wasn't glued it.

I popped it out and threw it in the trash.

kayakeradam - Posted - 04/21/2026:  16:58:07

quote:

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Originally posted by banjo roo

A beer cooler owned by someone i had just met. Stuffed into my banjo without their consent, or knowledge. They later looked around confused saying "has anyone seen my beer cooler!?" at which point I had to sheepishly pull it out from behind my banjo and apologise.



For those in countries that dont have them, a beer cooler (or stubby holder) is a rubber sleeve you put on a beer bottle to insulate it and keep it cool.

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In the US, we call those "koozies," which is odd as that sounds like what you'd expect an Aussie to call it. Here, a "beer cooler" is a huge, insulated box into which you stuff bags of ice and cases of beer. So that would be a really odd thing to try to cram into a banjo pot. 

BanjoBowers - Posted - 04/21/2026:  17:38:09

L W lambert attached a circular saw blade to the single rod in the shell of his RB 100...he said it really made the banjo ring!!!!

EEB - Posted - 04/22/2026:  01:05:34

It’s not the random items that I particularly remember, it’s being silent witness at sessions and festivals to the serious, straight-faced conversations of active stuffers comparing the sonic merits of this laundry basket detritus, that stick in my mind.



Someone should publish a book of these overheard comic gems.

Edited by - EEB on 04/22/2026 01:15:23

EEB - Posted - 04/22/2026:  01:17:09

…the one consistent but invisible presence accompanying the stuffed item is the low wail of the tormented soul of the skilled banjo maker. Often mistaken for string buzz.

Edited by - EEB on 04/22/2026 01:21:41

NNYJoe - Posted - 04/22/2026:  01:31:12

The only thing I ever found in my banjo was
1) Air

2) I heard about folks using socks

3) I now have a Banjo Bolster in mine. I love it!!

Zut - Posted - 04/22/2026:  04:36:14

Before purchasing a Banjo Bolster I used a folded cloth diaper left over from when my son was a baby. That diaper was 51 years old!

banjered - Posted - 04/22/2026:  06:18:14

A certain son/father team whose names are not to mention had a on stage skit. The son would be behind the microphone going on an extended rant against people stuffing their banjos while the father sitting quietly behind him was pulling out a huge assortment of "stuff; out of his pot, one of which was a rubber chicken. banjered

Joel Hooks - Posted - 04/22/2026:  08:24:43

I would not call any of the objects I have used "weird". At various and current times I have/had used paint stirring sticks (or pine slats I have cut to fit) via Fred Van Eps' idea, wine corks and A. D. Grover gizmos.

Then there are the various patterns of mutes, the one I designed and offer, the H. E. LeValley patent wedge mute, &c, but these are all for practice.

Also the Louis L. Kenyon "Thump Eradicator". I had only the patent to copy.

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 04/23/2026:  02:56:29

I never found it, or even saw it, but 50 years ago a fellow banjo player told me that he put one of his wife's feminine napkins inside the resonator and bragged on how much better it sounded. I remember him wondering if that was one of Earl's secrets for his banjo sound.

Dean T - Posted - 04/23/2026:  05:55:34

How about fresh vegetables? Well, ok, maybe not for sound qualities, but we practice at a band members house, and they have a small farm and garden, and alway send me home with fresh veggies. When I bring my open back banjo, I often put the baggies in the pot, in the case. Even eggs and fresh tomatoes. It’s easier than juggling them with music books and other music stuff. So far… no messes upon returning home.

steve davis - Posted - 04/23/2026:  08:48:52

One time I put an orange light inside my banjo after I had scratched away the head frosting as the face of a jack o'lantern for a couple Halloween gigs.
The scratched away frosting might have brightened the tone,slightly.
I put a boat inside the pot,too.
Dad made the boat as a skiff for the model lobster boat he built.
My version of the Virzi.

 

m_watson - Posted - 04/23/2026:  22:51:58

Bladder control pad. Worked pretty well actually.

EEB - Posted - 04/24/2026:  02:18:36

quote:

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Originally posted by BNJOMAKR

I never found it, or even saw it, but 50 years ago a fellow banjo player told me that he put one of his wife's feminine napkins inside the resonator and bragged on how much better it sounded. I remember him wondering if that was one of Earl's secrets for his banjo sound.

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That would make the editor's cut for the book, right there.

EEB - Posted - 04/24/2026:  02:26:44

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

Then there are the various patterns of mutes, the one I designed and offer, the H. E. LeValley patent wedge mute, &c, but these are all for practice.

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Standard 1900's long-leg undergarments would probably require a pretty immense tug. But no doubt H.E Valley's patented wedgie idea would've had an immediate effect on volume.

Edited by - EEB on 04/24/2026 02:30:00

TimFoster - Posted - 04/24/2026:  06:33:52

This thread is timed perfectly for me, as I just started down the openback path with a semi-fretless Dobson and have been experimenting with damping… was wondering what folks use.

So far almost everything I try seems like too much. At this point I’ve landed on a small 2x2” pyramid of aurelex foam (the egg-crate sort of stuff used for sound treatment).

But I’m definitely heading out to the pet store today for a tone gerbil !!!

photohobo - Posted - 04/24/2026:  12:37:24

The last sentence is such a relief.   Before getting there, I thought you meant the hard rectangular coolers that are used to transport a couple of six packs.  quote:

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Originally posted by banjo roo

A beer cooler owned by someone i had just met. Stuffed into my banjo without their consent, or knowledge. They later looked around confused saying "has anyone seen my beer cooler!?" at which point I had to sheepishly pull it out from behind my banjo and apologise.



For those in countries that dont have them, a beer cooler (or stubby holder) is a rubber sleeve you put on a beer bottle to insulate it and keep it cool.

---

Mudrock - Posted - 04/24/2026:  13:45:51

I personally use a pair of interfolded synthetic wool socks - they fit just right.

A friend using foldbed underpants with ducks on them - made ME laugh - then more when he insisted "they were babe-magnets".

Well Youl Asked.

banjofann - Posted - 04/24/2026:  17:05:46

I used one of my kids diapers, cloth and also clean. lol
Sometime when I pickin’ around the house, my wife will holler,
“Where’s your diaper?”

mikehalloran - Posted - 04/24/2026:  22:25:41

Really? Two pages of this thread and no one has mentioned that Pete Seeger recommended stuffing with a diaper to quiet a banjo for indoor practicing in his book.