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Sep 23, 2024 - 7:21:05 PM
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223 posts since 6/16/2009

Tonight’s ponder…

Gibson made more Earl Scruggs Standard model banjos than any other. There are tons of them out there. They sell fast and they sell high. They are sought after and they sound great in the right hands with the right setup. But…

Why do you not see them on the professional stage? The big stages have Bowties, Conversions, RB3s, parts Gibsons, a little of it all. But I can’t name one professional right now that regularly plays an Earl Scruggs standard.

Why?

Sep 23, 2024 - 9:47:44 PM
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6102 posts since 5/29/2011

Deering made a Terry Baucom model. Huber makes a Sammy Shelor model and a Ron Block model. Gibson also made Doyle Lawson and Sam Bush model mandolins. I never see anyone playing any of those on stage either.
Maybe there is a stigma to playing an instrument with someone else's name on it. I know I would have a problem with it, and I am not a professional.

Sep 24, 2024 - 2:32:29 AM

4330 posts since 7/12/2006

For a while Gibson quality went downhill.
Maybe the model just didnt live up to the name? Were they always made of maple?.
I myself have never.been a big fan of maple.

Sep 24, 2024 - 3:34:18 AM
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Players Union Member

Emiel

Austria

10479 posts since 1/22/2003

They were made of maple, because that is what Earl Scruggs specified… Like Granada models.

Sep 24, 2024 - 4:34:58 AM
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5516 posts since 11/20/2004

I would have to question your first statement. I believe Gibson built more RB250 models than any other and for the longest time. I heard that Gibson supplied banjos to some performers and this was probably not one they offered. The stigma idea likely has merit as well.

Sep 24, 2024 - 5:00:09 AM
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15796 posts since 6/2/2008
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I guess we didn't see top pros playing Gibson JD Crowe banjos, either. Maybe endorsement isn't one of the features pros look for in a banjo.

The inlay in a Deering banjo Ryan Cavanaugh has been photographed playing looks to me like the Terry Baucom model.

Sep 24, 2024 - 5:23:51 AM

3700 posts since 12/31/2005

Do many pros play stock models as their number 1? Seems to me like many pros have their main banjo, which they use for recording and safe (bus/van) travel. They have another banjo or two for checked baggage travel, which sometimes is a stock model. (Plus, if you're playing with a pickup through all sorts of gizmos through a large amp system, does having a prewar flathead really matter?) 
When a pro plays one banjo a lot, they tend to go through a lot of necks, so it's hard to say what "model" they are playing. Andy Thorn plays a JD Crowe model, but he said in an interview that he has had a lot of broken necks from travel. In the Jim Mills interview, JD Crowe said he couldn't remember how many different necks he had on banger. So there may be a number of Scruggs pots on the road with replacement or custom necks.

Edited by - Brian Murphy on 09/24/2024 05:25:54

Sep 24, 2024 - 5:46:48 AM

hofstbr

USA

16 posts since 9/25/2019

Billy Failing from Billy Stings band played an Earl Scruggs model for quite awhile. He's now a Nechville artist I believe.

Sep 24, 2024 - 7:11:32 AM
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RB3

USA

2154 posts since 4/12/2004

There are a number of reasons why a professional road musician might choose not to play a Gibson ES Standard on their performances. They might not like the sound or the playability of the instrument, so they don't own one. If they do own one, and they value the instrument highly, they might not take it on the road because they don't want to run the risk of losing it or having it damaged.

Sep 24, 2024 - 9:41:14 AM

6102 posts since 5/29/2011

quote:
Originally posted by RB3

There are a number of reasons why a professional road musician might choose not to play a Gibson ES Standard on their performances. They might not like the sound or the playability of the instrument, so they don't own one. If they do own one, and they value the instrument highly, they might not take it on the road because they don't want to run the risk of losing it or having it damaged.


Good point. In his days with the Country Gentlemen, Bill Emerson frequently played a Fender banjo on the road because he didn't want to travel with his RB4.

Sep 25, 2024 - 6:40:43 AM
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2893 posts since 1/4/2009

they get played on stage, just not by the big names often, but its not because these are crap banjos. Its more to do with the fact that there only a handful of big name banjo players, certainly less than 50, probably more like 20 or 30 active people that could be considered big names. The prewar gibson and evenmore the prewar flathead sound is a real thing. So when you have a small group of elite pickers and thousands of different banjos to choose from, those elite pickers go for the best available, which is the prewar gibson. You play the ryman, youre going to play your prewar gibson.
Start paying attention to the little guys, the banjo player you might not know their name playing with a touring or up and coming group, those guys play the scrugs standards, the rb-250s, the deerings etc.

Sep 25, 2024 - 7:10:29 AM

banjoez

USA

2834 posts since 7/18/2007
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Most Pros have access to better banjos or have endorsements. The ESS and other reissues are fine banjos but usually nothing exceptional and that's what a Pro looks for.

Edited by - banjoez on 09/25/2024 07:11:54

Sep 26, 2024 - 4:47:30 AM
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456 posts since 4/26/2007

Jim Britton played an ESS on tour with Larry Sparks and he made it sound like a million bucks, partly due to it being a Rich-era model so it was a quality five to begin with, and mostly because Jim has tone for days.

But that is clearly an exception, of course. I haven't seen too many of any signature model onstage.

Sep 27, 2024 - 4:26:10 PM

banjonz

New Zealand

12143 posts since 6/29/2003

I used to own a '98 ESS (regret selling it). I also have CDs of US bands showing the member holding their instruments
Some show the banjo player holding an ESS.

Sep 30, 2024 - 11:48:15 AM

3165 posts since 12/4/2009

Hello,

I witnessed Bela Fleck playing both his signature prewar and his Gold Tone replica on stage. They both sounded like banjos. Yet the prewar sounded better. Earl played his namesake banjo on several Gibson promotional YouTube shows. Other than these examples, I see more other brand instruments than any famous players model.

Edited by - Aradobanjo on 09/30/2024 11:55:17

Sep 30, 2024 - 7:32:07 PM

64 posts since 6/9/2023

Cory Walker has played an Earl Scruggs Golden Deluxe with East Nash Grass and lots of studio/side work the last couple years with folks like Jason Carter and Tim O'Brien. It sounds better than just OK to me.

I have an '05 ESS that sounds better (to me) than the Huber I used to have. More powerful/deeper low end/stronger up the neck, etc.  Fit and finish on it is as good as the Huber too.

Edited by - MatthewH on 09/30/2024 19:34:39

Oct 9, 2024 - 12:17:19 PM
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3381 posts since 1/16/2013
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Still playing it today. Thanks Andy!
 
Originally posted by HuberTone

Jim Britton played an ESS on tour with Larry Sparks and he made it sound like a million bucks, partly due to it being a Rich-era model so it was a quality five to begin with, and mostly because Jim has tone for days.

But that is clearly an exception, of course. I haven't seen too many of any signature model onstage.


Oct 10, 2024 - 7:02:54 AM

4942 posts since 3/28/2008

Back in the '90s Tony Furtado was playing an ESS. I got to play it a bit when he lived in the DC area, and I bought mine because I liked his so much. I never really bonded with it though.

youtube.com/watch?v=kgO7ZWi8Hf...WxkJ3M%3D

Oct 11, 2024 - 2:58:20 PM
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13228 posts since 10/27/2006

Hmmm... last couple of times I saw Molly Tuttle, she was playing an ESS Standard, one of the best sounding banjos ever. Jem Finer with The Pogues always played an ESS when I saw them with another ESS onstage as a backup.

Oct 21, 2024 - 10:39:28 PM
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110 posts since 12/4/2023

I just saw Gabe Dettinger (with Dave Peterson & 1946) at the Station Inn a week ago, and he was playing an ESS.
He was pulling some real nice sounds out of that banjo too

Edited by - CaseyJones on 10/21/2024 22:40:07

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