I have had my Red Fox a couple of months now and it really is growing on me. What a thing of beauty. Though at my level I don't really do it justice. I have been teaching myself using Fred Sokolow's Bluegrass Banjo book.
Thank to the Fox I haven't touched my guitars much recently and have been thinking about another banjo (need to do some overtime) to compliment the Stelling.
I have been watching some vids on John Hartford and the Deeringand I have also been listening to Ron Block playing with Alison Krauss. Yep, I've been busy!
13 Comments |
 | Ybanjo says:
4/4/2015 9:33:07 AM
I have a Stelling Staghorn and also a converted Gibson TB3. The Staghorn is much more mellow and really likes the lower minor chords. It plays great up the neck, but boy does it shine in those lower minor chords. The Gibson is set up much brighter and is actually louder. So I use the Gibson for more bluegrass tunes where I want the loud and bright sound. The Staghorn really shines when it comes to more of the folk tunes and "girly tunes". :)
Seriously, I would suggest just about any of the Gibson pre-war styles. There are many, and price isn't too bad either.
|
redduke1199 says:
4/4/2015 10:30:26 AM
Thanks for the advice Ybanjo. The only problem is that I live in France, Europe and even the biggest banjo outlets rarely have a Gibson...I probably need to look stateside but then wouldn't be able to try them out. I wish I could be over there sometime. Maybe I need a banjo holiday trip :-)
|
| Ybanjo says:
4/4/2015 10:34:48 AM
Oh, there are tons of non-Gibsons that are very good! To tell you the truth, almost any banjo will have a different sound than your Stelling. Stellings have their own sound and I've never heard anyone else duplicate it, even close. If you want a bright, bluegrass banjo, just look at any of the ones that say they approach the pre-war sound. That, in my opinion, would be a good compliment to the Stelling.
|
 | banjoman56 says:
4/4/2015 11:22:08 AM
I have a Red Fox that I love, as well as a couple Gibson copies, but I won a V-35 Sullivan here on the hangout and it is just an amazing banjo. It's the banjo that I go to for 90% of my playing time. If you don't want to invest that much, they are building a Roasted Maple Festival that is just an outstanding banjo for around $2,200.00. There are beautiful as well as high quality and sound wonderful!
|
 | drewbarries says:
4/4/2015 12:14:34 PM
If your just beginning and own a Stelling then your good to go. Invest time in practicing using your ear and avoid too much tablature. I have recently gone back to starting from scratch and wish I could unlearn poor habits and poor muscle memory. Too much tab and left brain has really hindered my progress. If you like I can recommend a great teacher who I am working eith via audio files and have never felt better about what I am doing and how I am progressing. As far as banjos go I also own a great Givdon copy that you may be aware of because it is Czech built by Pavel Janiss called the Janish Picker. It recently got s Blaylock tone ring and is incredibly beautiful sounding and looking and very well made. I still gravitate to my Stellinv for mist bluegrass lately.
|
redduke1199 says:
4/4/2015 1:37:23 PM
Thanks for the advice Ybanjo. The only problem is that I live in France, Europe and even the biggest banjo outlets rarely have a Gibson...I probably need to look stateside but then wouldn't be able to try them out. I wish I could be over there sometime. Maybe I need a banjo holiday trip :-)
|
redduke1199 says:
4/4/2015 1:42:28 PM
Hey Drewbarries......that sounds like an interesting recommendation so, yep, I'm interested...thank-you. I'm using tab to start off because I have to begin somewhere. I have played guitar (electric, acoustic, National) for 30 + years now) but 5 string banjo is another dimension for me. Thank-you for the offer. Regards...Simon
|
| drewbarries says:
4/4/2015 2:02:38 PM
If you want to hear how great a Stelling is in the hands of a Master then do a Youtube search for Emerson and Goble and listen to the stuff bIll did on the Dixie in My Eye recordings and also check out his Gold Plated banjo recording where many of the tunes were using one of two Stellings. Also do a search on Kruass when Alison Brown was playing for her and you'll hear early Krauss stuff from Two Highways and Alison Brown is playing a Stelling which sounds really awesome. I know she is Alison Brown and many may comment that she could make any banjo sound great but still check those out.
|
redduke1199 says:
4/4/2015 2:23:21 PM
Hey Drewbarries......that sounds like an interesting recommendation so, yep, I'm interested...thank-you. I'm using tab to start off because I have to begin somewhere. I have played guitar (electric, acoustic, National) for 30 + years now) but 5 string banjo is another dimension for me. Thank-you for the offer. Regards...Simon
|
redduke1199 says:
4/4/2015 2:24:03 PM
Wow....that Ms Alison Brown is Good....
|
Ian Stuart says:
4/4/2015 2:36:19 PM
Not far from France, Tom Cussen of Clareen Banjos ...Galway Ireland ..
|
 | Hankster2 says:
4/4/2015 3:38:07 PM
I'd suggest a Nechville Phantom with a wood tone ring if you want a sound that really compliments your Stelling! Alternately, an Ome if you're looking for a mellow tone. (Got to see Alison Brown live at the Museum of Making Music last fall - that's "talent"!)
|
| drewbarries says:
4/4/2015 4:37:51 PM
Hey Simon unfortunately my banjo teacher is too busy to take on another student now however I would like to just pass along a thought on tab practice. I know it's tough when your just starting and tab may seem like your only option but if you do go down that road just be careful about how you use it. I also came from a finger style guitar background and it really didn't help but rather just the opposite because there were some things that worked well for finger style guitar that seemed appropriate for banjo at first but then later proved to be big problems. Consider getting a teacher and having some real teaching from an accomplished banjo player for at least your early formative time. I am in no way a teacher or someone that should be explaining banjo to anyone but I no know that using my ear and concentrating on phrasing is much more important than playing anything technical that I had done for years off of the tabs.
|
Post a Comment
|
You must be logged in and a member of this group to post a comment.
|
