longer than a long necker

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Long Neck Banjo

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... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!

273 Members, Created 1/30/2011 -

Administrators: TonyS (owner) , Gary Blanchard , pastorharry , vega long neck

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From herrcespedes on 4/22/2015 7:30:01 PM

hello all. A long while ago, I remeber I was reading about a lady folksinger back in the fifties or sixties that had an extremely long longneck banjo. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 29 frets I seem to remember. This is an obviously unplayable instrument while open, but I did see a picture of her and her banjo and it looked fantastic. does anybody remember her name? I want to find more info on her and her banjo. I imagine you'd have to have custom made strings for it.

greetings from Miami.

8 Comments
	wesrichards says: 4/22/2015 8:54:01 PM Hedy West played a long neck that was a few frets longer than long... an ancient Whyte Laydie pot with a later Vega neck, the one with the fifth string peg positioned so she could capo to C or C# in open tunings.
	mainejohn says: 4/23/2015 4:34:29 AM You may be thinking of Karen Dalton. I have a photo of her longneck...I'll try and post a photo.
	wesrichards says: 4/23/2015 6:42:03 AM Mainejohn's pic of Karen Dalton's long neck. banjohangout.org/photo/194849
	R.D. Eno says: 4/23/2015 6:51:58 AM Were these extra-extra-long necks, or were the fifth string pegs simply located a couple of frets further south? I think Eric Darling had a long neck with 25 frets and the fifth string at the eighth or ninth fret.
	wesrichards says: 4/23/2015 7:18:54 AM Hard to tell from that picture, but I think there are more than 25 frets. Yes Eric Darling had one of those. It was a short run fancy Vega Pete Seeger variation.
	mainejohn says: 4/23/2015 8:12:57 AM Eric D played a Vega x-cel (or excel) for extra long, but it was still 25 frets with the 5th tuner moved one fret closer to the rim.
	coalandice says: 4/23/2015 9:32:59 AM Post about Karen Dalton's ODE custom long neck banjohangout.org/archive/170933 The late Karen Dalton with her 27-fret banjo -- made by ODE employee, Ray Chatfield, in the early-'60s
	herrcespedes says: 4/26/2015 9:36:02 PM thank you all for your comments. It was definitely Karen Dalton. That's an impressive banjo. it seems to me, the longer a banjo gets, the more elegant it becomes. form over function, I know. but I could only compare it to the elegance of a longbow vs a regular bow. beautiful banjo. thank you..
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