New source of shame: Christy longneck

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Aluminum Rim Outcasts

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So you can come out of the closet and admit that you own and pick one of these indestructable banjos!

100 Members, Created 1/30/2011 -

Administrators: vintagewells (owner)

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From tucsonsean on 12/25/2017 8:02:53 PM

As if I didn't get enough hard looks from purists when i uncase my Gariepy, I can now double my shame when I uncase the 60's Christy longneck. The purplish faux-wood cladding on the aluminum rim (purportedly Ode stock) enhances the first impression. Nonetheless, it sounds great, not unlike, well, an old Ode. For those unfamiliar, Christy was a banjo made in Colorado in the 60's by a guy named, I believe, Art Christiansen. I'll try to get some pics on my home site. It really is a great banjo.

2 Comments
	darwinyarwin says: 12/26/2017 1:29:51 PM Long Neck competition: Christys really are great banjos. Back in the day, right after I bought my Ode long neck and started playing it in the different clubs and hootnannies, a friend decided to "one up me" by purchasing a Christy. They were slightly more expensive and the wood cladding made it prettier than a plain Ode like mine. He got more respect and a bit more attention from the girls at beach parties where we sang knock-off arrangements of Kingston Trio classics. He was riding high until another member of our circle finally saved up the nearly $400 for a Vega long neck. We all took a back seat for awhile after that. Thing is, Odes had the most volume and great tone, Christys had a sweeter tone and a surprising mellowness. The Vegas had depth, but blindfolded, you could barely distinguish any difference in all those pro-level banjos. All our snobbiness came to an abrupt halt long about 1966 when we gathered at a concert in Santa Monica. Some girl we never even heard of walked on stage with a borrowed Gibson RB175 (the tail end of any quality LN list at the time). She blew us all away making our Vegas , Gariepys, Odes and Christys sound like Harmony long necks in comparison. Purists be damned. They listen with their eyes, not their ears. I suspect they weren't around when the LN battles began. (But we were) :D
	tucsonsean says: 12/26/2017 6:35:37 PM I have a confession to make: My first banjo was a mid-60's Vega PS-5. I was married to a fiddler from Kentucky at the time and getting deep into the old-time scene. Well, I took that beautiful Vega and PAID HOMER LEDFORD TO REMOVE THE NECK AND REPLACE IT WITH A STANDARD ONE. The good news is that I paid $200 dollars for that Vega from Bill's Pickin' Parlor, a bluegrass center in Columbia, SC (Bill thought he'd never get rid of it); I sold it with the new neck to another old-time musician for double what I paid for it. The bad news? I couldn't afford to buy that banjo in its original configuration today. Who knew?
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