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Gibson Ballbearing Owners Group

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All those who own or would like to own one of these wonderful instruments are invited to join.

119 Members, Created 1/26/2011 -

Administrators: Couchie (owner)

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From Leslie R on 5/13/2015 7:33:08 PM

I have an early 1925 converted TB4. It is set up w/o the ball bearings. It has a plastic head. It is one of my favorite banjos for 3 finger style picking. In the past, I have used it with the ball bearings, with a calfskin head. It sounded great, but I learned that if any contact was made with the head while playing, it had a tendency to muffle the tone. Thing is, I started playing clawhammer style about 7 months ago. I tried it today on the ball bearing Gibson. With the current set up, it simply doesn't sound very good. I was thinking of trying to make a nice sounding clawhammer type banjo out of it. There are many ways a ball bearing banjo can be set up. I was thinking maybe I could go back to using the skin head, inserting the ball bearings, springs and washers. Maybe even remove the flange and go with an openback style. That is a lot of effort and time though. I thought I would see if anyone else has tried this.

So, I was wondering if any of you use your ball bearing Gibson for clawhammer style playing.

Thank You very much.

4 Comments
	Dave1climber says: 5/13/2015 9:53:35 PM Without the ball bearings and springs it is just a arch top. put the ball berings, etc. back in it and play it for a while. You may like it.
	Fathand says: 5/14/2015 2:03:50 PM I bought my 25 for the purpose of alternating clawhammer and bluegrass and it sounds great both styles. It came with a clear head, not so good. I put on a Fybreskyn not so good. A straight up Remo frosted does the job admirably. I do prefer a bright tone for clawhammer though so call me olde school. You have a 2 piece flange so you should be able to remove the plate by only removing half the nuts then lift the plate over the nuts in the large holes. Easy to put back too.
	revellfa says: 5/17/2015 2:18:58 PM For heaven's sake put those springs, washers, and ball bearings back in! A BB banjo with these things removed simply sucks--I've never heard one that sounded well with those things removed and I don't understand why anybody would remove them--you loose your "springie-ness" and much of the built in reverb that BB banjos are so well known for. I personally think it should be declared illegal to remove them :-) As far as the set up of your BB goes I'm a big fan of BB banjos and of hide heads but I have my doubts about how well they coexist. I've experimented with my BBs a fair amount. I've tried Ren heads, hide heads, top frosted heads, etc. I would love to try a five star head on one someday. My advice would be to try a Remo or a 5-Star/Ludwig head. I've heard both work well. I guess it depends on the type of sound you are trying to get. Check out my videos--I have a few of me playing clawhammer on my BBs with Remo top frosted heads. I also have a video of me playing three fingered style with a Ren. head. I think you will be very pleased with your BB for years to come if you experiment with the head--remember the key to setting these up is getting the head tension just right--they are VERY fickle on this front. And, for heaven's sake, get those springs, washers, and BBs back in there! (or did I mention that already??) Enjoy your BB.
picknman says: 11/3/2015 5:09:19 AM After a year since I took delivery on my 1925 BB conversion I enjoy it more all the time. Dog J.
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