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Surfbanjosurf - Posted - 04/25/2026: 09:52:00
Hey,
Hope everyone is doing ok out there.
This could be daft but bare with me please -
I have a deering goodtime I am going to change the head, tail piece and bridge and strings to nylgut to seek the sound I am after (for now!), I really love mountain banjos and early internal resonator style. I can buy the deering goodtime resonator kit used for not too much money.
If I installed the resonator but cut a few holes in it similar to the bacon internal resonators or a big hole so it's like the back of a mountain banjo, will this act in a friendly way with the sounds of the banjo?
Or is it fully futile?
Would love to get an echoey and haunting sound , especially combined with a fiberskyn or Ren head and nylguts.
Cheers in advance ,
Love this site!
pinenut - Posted - 04/25/2026: 10:30:05
quote:
Originally posted by Surfbanjosurf
This could be daft but bare with me please - superior linguistics 
I have a Deering Goodtime I am going use a renaissance head, well burnished tail piece, simple two-leg bridge with nylgut/nylon strings and maybe a 5th string pip or carefully smoothed spike to seek the sound I am after (for now!), I really love mountain banjos and early internal resonator style. I can buy the Deering Goodtime resonator kit used for not too much money. The resonator adds volume and a light hollow/echo tone; it's a good thing.
If I installed the resonator but cut a few holes in it similar to the bacon internal resonators or a big hole so it's like the back of a mountain banjo, will this act in a friendly way with the sounds of the banjo? Or is it fully futile? Yes.
Would love to get an echoey and haunting sound , especially combined with a renaissance head and nylon/nylguts. The ren head (0.008") is the least attenuating of the available mylar and simple ply type woodie banjos don't need any volume reduction.
note: haunting is often play style and tuning (ex: sawmill tuning and the associated songs)
Cheers in advance ,
I think the Goodtime banjo was designed to support this configuration and it should be a factory option. My Goodtime is permanently settled into this role.
Edited by - pinenut on 04/25/2026 10:40:24
SatCotM - Posted - 04/25/2026: 12:02:18
IMO modifying an added resonator by cutting holes wouldn't be necessary to get the sound you're seeking. A resonator will increase brightness somewhat, but a loose ren/fiberskyn head with synthetic strings and limited bridge down pressure, on a woodie, is already going to be real warm. You can soften resonator tone by sticking cloth, foam, or something soft in there if that's the goal.
But I also haven't gone cutting big holes in a lot of resonators. Maybe this is the tone secret we've all been looking for! The sacrifice that banjo science demands.
kaydee - Posted - 04/26/2026: 02:38:08
Hello Surf’,I completely agree,I bought a Countyman california,not a bad banjo but nothing special.
I have for a total cost of £55-00 transformed it.
I fitted a Renaissance head ,Nylon strings,No-knot tailpiece,a full set of new Brass shoes and hooks which came off an old broken banjo,I made a deer antler nut with raised 5th string,I cut down the peghead,fitted new tuners,dyed the pot,Made an Oak armrest,and the banjo now looks totally different and sounds just perfect (to me) and for very little outlay.
Joel Hooks - Posted - 04/26/2026: 05:54:34
I think Derring should offer a goodtime with a zero degree neck, small frets, friction pegs and no cheesy inlay. It would be cheaper to produce and is the way a nylon strung banjo should be.
At the very least, they could offer a special shim that could be installed to put the neck at zero.
FWIW “mountain banjo”, those offered by Hicks, Glenn and Proffitt in the 1940s-1970s were steel strung.
EEB - Posted - 04/26/2026: 09:05:30
‘Haunting sound’ in ‘old-time’ banjo, which uses a limited sound palette of keys, is really more attributable to tuning.
All the banjo mods you’ve made to suit your tone preference, essentially affect resonance and sustain. Melancholy is as, or more, affecting and impactful on a bright-toned banjo than on a plunker. The arguable practical usefulness of 'plunk' is how that sound sits with the higher pitched fiddle compared to banjos with a brighter set-up.
If you really want to become adept at a harmonic approach that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, and have the sensitive among us crying into their beer, learn to play in keys such as Bb, Eb and Ab. I suggest also learning the music theory relating to relative minor and maybe also modulation (changing key within a tune). Emotion is more powerfully linked to unexpected relative change in sound. Just as colours differently interract with one another.
We can be misled to seek a what we desire via shopping, when in reality the facility comes simply from expanding our musical horizon.
Edited by - EEB on 04/26/2026 09:22:58
