He was a member here. There are several MP3s still on his media page. Go here for his home page: banjohangout.org/myhangout/hom...?id=38246banjohangout.org/myhangout/hom...?id=38246

You could also search for threads by him. He was quite prolific in making threads and making forum posts, so there's a lot of information out there if you search for it.

His website is still up. There's probably a wealth of information there. Go here: theeddydavis.com/.

That should give you enough information to get started on researching him.

yes I play the finger style but Eddy still showed so much with a zillion chord voicings melody intact==I think he spoke of bridge and mute choices---he had some guys that followed him--they might chime in.

If you have trouble finding his posts here, he posted as "Greenmeat."

Thanks, everyone. I am super familiar with his vids, but I am having a hard time finding posts about his strings and picks. Mostly, the vids mention the banjo specifications.

I did a search and came up with several pages of his posts. Scan through it and see if any of them talk about strings and picks.

Go here: banjohangout.org/pages/search....ore:forum

I have a bunch of Eddy’s old strings. (I can’t bring myself to throw them away.) They are all ball end steel strings from GHS. After many years and many experiments, he settled on a custom set with a 10.5 on the A string. He wanted to use a commercial set with his gauges, but he could never find one.

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Originally posted by Compass56

I have a bunch of Eddy’s old strings. (I can’t bring myself to throw them away.) They are all ball end steel strings from GHS. After many years and many experiments, he settled on a custom set with a 10.5 on the A string. He wanted to use a commercial set with his gauges, but he could never find one.

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Thanks, Tony. When I reached out to Rob MacKillop, he mentioned that you might chime in or that I should reach out to you. In talking with Rob, he mentioned that Eddy spoke of using Silk And Steel strings. Does that ring any bells? Also, in one of the threads, Eddy wrote that he was using a 10-14-24-32 set. My guess is that he moved up to the 10.5 as the years rolled on. Currently, I am using 11s, and although I think I would notice the difference between that and a 10, I doubt I could tell the difference of a 10.5.

One last "down in the weeds" question - any ideas on his pick choice? I am still experimenting, so I am open to trying different sizes and thicknesses. I come for a guitar background and I am able to get my sound with most picks (within reason), but I notice that they really impact banjos with even subtle changes. 

Eddy had several banjos at the time of his death.  He may have used silk and steel strings on some of them, but he used the strings I described on his main banjo: the 17 fret open back Ome banjo with gold tuners. 

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Originally posted by SandChannel

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

I have a bunch of Eddy’s old strings. (I can’t bring myself to throw them away.) They are all ball end steel strings from GHS. After many years and many experiments, he settled on a custom set with a 10.5 on the A string. He wanted to use a commercial set with his gauges, but he could never find one.

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Thanks, Tony. When I reached out to Rob MacKillop, he mentioned that you might chime in or that I should reach out to you. In talking with Rob, he mentioned that Eddy spoke of using Silk And Steel strings. Does that ring any bells? Also, in one of the threads, Eddy wrote that he was using a 10-14-24-32 set. My guess is that he moved up to the 10.5 as the years rolled on. Currently, I am using 11s, and although I think I would notice the difference between that and a 10, I doubt I could tell the difference of a 10.5.

One last "down in the weeds" question - any ideas on his pick choice? I am still experimenting, so I am open to trying different sizes and thicknesses. I come for a guitar background and I am able to get my sound with most picks (within reason), but I notice that they really impact banjos with even subtle changes. 

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quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

Eddy had several banjos at the time of his death.  He may have used silk and steel strings on some of them, but he used the strings I described on his main banjo: the 17 fret open back Ome banjo with gold tuners. 

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Originally posted by SandChannel

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

I have a bunch of Eddy’s old strings. (I can’t bring myself to throw them away.) They are all ball end steel strings from GHS. After many years and many experiments, he settled on a custom set with a 10.5 on the A string. He wanted to use a commercial set with his gauges, but he could never find one.

---

Thanks, Tony. When I reached out to Rob MacKillop, he mentioned that you might chime in or that I should reach out to you. In talking with Rob, he mentioned that Eddy spoke of using Silk And Steel strings. Does that ring any bells? Also, in one of the threads, Eddy wrote that he was using a 10-14-24-32 set. My guess is that he moved up to the 10.5 as the years rolled on. Currently, I am using 11s, and although I think I would notice the difference between that and a 10, I doubt I could tell the difference of a 10.5.

One last "down in the weeds" question - any ideas on his pick choice? I am still experimenting, so I am open to trying different sizes and thicknesses. I come for a guitar background and I am able to get my sound with most picks (within reason), but I notice that they really impact banjos with even subtle changes. 

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Thanks again!

I just took this photo of some of Eddy’s strings. (If the photo doesn’t show up in this post, it’s because I don’t post on BHO enough to know how to properly attach pictures in a reply.)

It posted perfectly. Thanks again for all the info. It is hard to find a thread that focus on Eddy's "gear". This will surely help others along the way.

Well, if you want to know anything about Eddy’s famous Ome banjo, let me know. I have that banjo. It’s my only tenor. I use it on every gig.

You asked about Eddy’s picks. I don’t know what brand he used, but we were playing in his apartment one night, and I didn’t have a pick. He gave me a nondescript red plastic one with no writing on it. It terms of thickness, it was definitely on the heavy side. I don’t know if that pick was the one with which he normally played, but that’s what he gave me.

I do want to say this: Eddy was born with undeniable, off the charts musical gifts, and he developed those gifts to insane levels. He could play any banjo with any strings and any pick and sound incredible.

Hello. Eddy and I were friends for over 50 years. I'm a banjo player also but played drums with the Woody Allen Jazz Band. Eddy always used pretty heavy strings and heavy picks. For the the longest time and until his passing he played Dunlop Tortex purple picks, the regular guitar pick size, I think the pick thickness was 1.5 mm. Eddy also had a surprisingly low action, and was using grovers with inserts, and he kept the head looser than most do and liked Fiberskyn heads.He preferred a tubby dark tone like the sound that Johnny St. Cyr got on the records with The Hot Five and the Red Hot Peppers. He loved the sound of a six string banjo and believed it to be the true jazz banjo. He loved the sound of Clancy Hayes' six string banjo and admired the way he sang and accompanied himself. Eddy was a true one of a kind and an amazing banjo player. He knew a million songs in many styles and loved samba music and ragtime, and 1950's pop songs. He loved the playing of Howard Alden and Frank Vignola.
Well that's all I can think of at the moment. My memory of Eddy will always be of him singing and playing the tenor banjo, he loved to play and sing.
John Gill

P.S. Oh yeah, he liked to play with his bare fingers too.

Hello. I thought of a few more things about Eddy's banjo set up. When I first met Eddy in NYC around 1970 he was playing an Epiphone Concert Special if I remember correctly. He liked that Epiphone but did not like the weight. So he began a quest for something lighter and that search ended up leading him to OME banjos. Eddy had a lot of ideas that may seem drastic to many but they worked for him. For example, he came to believe that the resonator, flanges, tone rings and coordinator rods and heavy tailpieces robbed the banjo of it's purest tone and added excess weight. So he began removing all of these items. And in the end settled on the simple brass hoop in place of the tone ring, a no-knot tailpiece that eliminated string angle and down pressure on the bridge, and he just bolted the neck to the rim and ditched the resonator. He also chose a 17 fret neck shaved down pretty small. He kept the truss rod. He had a friend, Lew Micaliff, who was an inventor who helped him design his folding neck banjo that he often used for travel. He also preferred guitar tuners. He often used a piece of plexiglass as a resonator that was screwed on to the back of the body with about a quarter inch space between the plexi and the body, later on he used a piece of vinyl that was attached across the bottom half of the rim. He used a 12 inch long playing record for awhile too. That was lighter than the plexiglass, I think Cynthia Sayer uses plexiglass on her open back plectrum. And I think that the 12 inch pot really was important to get that tone he got.

These things may sound bizarre to most banjo players but I saw it happen and Eddy ended up very pleased with the results. I also remember that the people at OME were not always happy with Eddy's innovations but somehow he was able to convince them that it worked best for him.
John Gill

Thanks John. ‘Great stuff. Thank you. On another note, I’ll never forget that night I saw you singing and playing guitar at The National Underground—I think was the name of it—before Eddy’s set. Eddy’s band sounded great, but then you came up and joined them onstage on plectrum banjo, and the whole thing went an even higher level. ‘Great memories. Thanks again.

John Gill

Thanks for dropping in with the info. I hope this thread can act like a little repository about Eddie, his playing, his tone, and his technique - especially from those that knew him. His vids are amazing and they are the best resource for tenor banjo anywhere. That said, it is also great to have some access to those that he played with as well.

Here’s a photo of the back of Eddy’s Ome custom banjo. That white thing is a piece of Formica he apparently cut out of a kitchen trash can and attached on the back to make the instrument louder without adding unwanted weight.

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

Here’s a photo of the back of Eddy’s Ome custom banjo. That white thing is a piece of Formica he apparently cut out of a kitchen trash can and attached on the back to make the instrument louder without adding unwanted weight.

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Great picture. Did Eddy just screw that down into the wood? Man, he has more guts than I do. LOL. I know at some point that he had a Gibson trapdoor banjo. I wonder if that instrument is why he opted to experiment with a half back resonator.

Yes, he screwed right into the wood. I love that piece of whatever it is. I wouldn’t remove it if you paid me. Here’s Eddy playing that banjo and me with the Trapdoor you mentioned

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

Here’s a photo of the back of Eddy’s Ome custom banjo. That white thing is a piece of Formica he apparently cut out of a kitchen trash can and attached on the back to make the instrument louder without adding unwanted weight.

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My lord, did he screw that plastic into the rim of the banjo?

Yes, he screwed the Formica into the wood with metal screws.  By the way, that white thing really works.  When I saw Eddy playing at the Cafe Carlyle (large room), he sounded great with no PA or amp, and the band had seven pieces including a drummer. (John, were you on drums that night?) The volume was excellent, and the tone was clear.  quote:

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Originally posted by NePlusUltraNo6

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

Here’s a photo of the back of Eddy’s Ome custom banjo. That white thing is a piece of Formica he apparently cut out of a kitchen trash can and attached on the back to make the instrument louder without adding unwanted weight.

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My lord, did he screw that plastic into the rim of the banjo?

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I guess that would explain the lifeless tone he was known for. Dang.

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Originally posted by NePlusUltraNo6

I guess that would explain the lifeless tone he was known for. Dang.

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I love the tone that Eddy got.  It is perfect for the swingy jazz that he played so beautifully.  I'm not at all a fan of the trebly Dixieland tone so many tenor and plectrum players go for.  To me, that Dixieland tone is corny.  The sound Eddy got is, for me, banjo perfection.

quote:

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Originally posted by Compass56

quote:

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Originally posted by NePlusUltraNo6

I guess that would explain the lifeless tone he was known for. Dang.

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I love the tone that Eddy got.  It is perfect for the swingy jazz that he played so beautifully.  I'm not at all a fan of the trebly Dixieland tone so many tenor and plectrum players go for.  To me, that Dixieland tone is corny.  The sound Eddy got is, for me, banjo perfection.

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I don't know of any plectrum banjo players that have trebley tone. What we do have are beautiful close harmonies, thick strings, and a broader range, including a substantial amount of more bass and presence which equates to a beautiful, clear, concise, and intentional tone.