Posted by Lookin_for_Earl on Monday, October 16, 2023
So, I decided to make myself at home on Banjo Hangout. I have probably wanted to play banjo since I heard Earl Scruggs play on the Beverly Hillbillies. The instrument just had a great sound that the guitar couldn't match. Unfortunately, a banjo was hard to find, and my parents didn't have the means to buy a good banjo in 1969-70. We did have a Sears guitar that my older sister got for Christmas and I would mess with that from time to time. I got a cheap ukulele that I plunked on, Later I actually took lessons for a while with a smaller Sears guitar I got for Christmas, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I vaguely remember seeing a banjo in a local swap shop, but we couldn't afford it. I don't know what make or model, but it was over $400.00 I think. That was a fortune for my parents at the time.
In school I tried trumpet, (another family hand-me-down) trombone, and clarinet for a couple of lessons. I'm not saying that I had forgotten the banjo, it was just out of reach. The years rolled buy and I bought a mandolin but didn't find a teacher. Its a real pain to learn from Mel Bay's books on your own, and this was before the Internet was even a good idea.
Then came the kids. My daughter, the eldest, wanted to take violin lessons, so we bought her a nice Korean made violin, and I decided to join her. Taking lessons was a strain on our budget and she didn't keep up with practice so we stopped taking lessons and the violins got put away. Sitting in a closet this very minute. She also played flute, clarinet, and saxophone in school, at 14 y.o. she was finally too old for instruments in her eyes. Years rolled by and no other instruments came into the house.
A year ago, 2022, I decided if I was going to cash it in someday (soon?), I wanted to do something musical. I remembered how much I had wanted a banjo those many decades ago. I listen to country and western, so it wasn't a great leap. I wish country music didn't sound like everything else these days. Moving on, I checked out Amazon. Everyone goes to Amazon right? I was expecting to see banjos in the thousands, not in the hundreds, and I was surprised at all the banjos under $500.00.
I decided I wasn't going to wait any longer. I did some research, found some lessons on YouTube and took a leap using some recommendations from online magazines. That was a mistake. The beginner banjos they listed were not just inexpensive, but, as I found out, just what you should expect from a sub $300.00 banjo. Who knew right? LOL I found JIm Pankey's lessons quite by accident, and I also found a used Gold Tone AC-1 that I bought for a "bargain". Turns out it was better money than the Vangoa that arrived a few days later.
It was late in April 2023 that I started to learn banjo. It's nice to be able to take all the time you need, or go as fast as you want. Do you get perfect music? No, but you have a place to start. There goes a gaggle of mostly male turkeys in my front yard and I'm not prepared to get one. Back to the story. I got sick of the Vangoa because it really is a mess of a banjo so using the AC-1 I learned as much as I could and then bought the Recording King RK-R20 that I'm using today. The Mulucky is a test as a travel banjo and so far it's suitable, much better in some ways than the Vangoa. Nice wood and a U.S. based company doesn't always equate to a good instrument. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.
If you live in Vermont let me know and maybe we can get together and make a lot of noise. I'll certainly learn something new. Later.
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