Experience has taught me you don't need the top of the line, most expensive or most collectible banjo to make you happy. Even a valuable old prewar does not guarantee bliss. The best banjos are the ones you discover by culling through them and finding the tone and playability you are looking for. Don't fall for all the hype or the herd mentality. I've owned expensive, highly promoted and highly collectible banjos that really didn't sound that much different or better than some affordable everyday banjos (some worse). Any banjo regardless of price or pedigree can potentially be a hoss and every banjo is different even within the same batch. You just never know. Look for the banjo that speaks to you. Don't worry about the name on the peghead or how much you paid. It's your own personal satisfaction that really matters. And remember, in many ways the banjo itself is not the most important part of the equation. It's simply an extension of your own skill and playing style. Much of the tone (or lack of) comes from you.
3 comments on “Banjo Contentment”
Boadicea Says:
Friday, October 13, 2017 @1:10:56 PM
Those are profound words banjoez Food for thought for today. It is like being grateful for what you have, and not what you don't have. The monkey mind will always want more.
Interestingly, on Thursday, my banjo teacher told me yesterday that all of his guitars have very different types of personalities, and he didn't want to sell them, though he has too many, because of those different personalities.
WayneConrad Says:
Friday, October 13, 2017 @11:22:10 PM
There's a saying in riflery that I like: Beware the man with one rifle. It refers to the man who owns only an old '06 that he takes to the range twice a month. It's not fancy, and it's his only one, but he shoots it a lot. He's better with that rifle than someone with a dozen expensive rifles that only goes to the range twice a year, because they focus on the gear but he focuses on the practice of shooting.
I think the same goes for banjos. Whatever banjo you have, if you play it a lot, you'll make music on it, and better music than someone with an objectively better banjo who doesn't play it much.
Chuck Yeager used to say about fighter planes, "It's the man, not the machine." And with banjos, it's the player, not the banjo.
AndyW Says:
Saturday, October 14, 2017 @4:14:45 AM
We have a saying in the UK.
"All the gear, no idea".
Generally applied to anglers, but could easily apply to banjo players.
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