To my ears they sound remarkably similar, but I think that happens a lot when an individual player demos different instruments. For example, when Geoff Hohwald demos banjos they all sound to me like Geoff Hohwald.

I think the fact that the grandee compares well with these more expensive/sought after instruments isn't a testament to the grandee, but rather evidence that there isn't a lot of "magic" to good banjo tone. I think that decent parts fit together and setup well is all you need, and then the rest comes from the player.

To my ear, none of the four audio-only examples sound like the Grandee you play on camera in the opening of the video. It's brighter sounding even down the neck and seems to have very little low end punch.

All four sound pretty good. It's hard for me to choose, so I didn't vote yet.

Did you record the audio samples with different equipment than the video's audio?

The tapping of the picks on the head was a little distracting but all in very good . It was hard for me to choose they were all really good . I did vote and am interested in the outcome. God bless

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Originally posted by LouieChee

To my ears they sound remarkably similar, but I think that happens a lot when an individual player demos different instruments. For example, when Geoff Hohwald demos banjos they all sound to me like Geoff Hohwald.

I think the fact that the grandee compares well with these more expensive/sought after instruments isn't a testament to the grandee, but rather evidence that there isn't a lot of "magic" to good banjo tone. I think that decent parts fit together and setup well is all you need, and then the rest comes from the player.

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I hear more of a difference when the banjo is played acoustically in person.  What we hear these days is our phone or computer's speaker processing of an electronic signal created digitally by a device that typically was not designed for recording banjos.  These devices are limited and do not capture all the nuance, timbre, and tone of a banjo, which is very complex in its overtones.  (An exception would be the videos that Elderly produces, which obviously are using really good equipment).  The differences show when you are sitting in front of the banjo in person.  It's the weakest-link-in-the-chain theory.   But the bigger point that it's the Indian and not the arrow is true.  I've heard far better players play my banjos and they can tease out nuanced tones  that I don't hear when I play.

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Originally posted by Brian Murphy

quote:

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Originally posted by LouieChee

To my ears they sound remarkably similar, but I think that happens a lot when an individual player demos different instruments. For example, when Geoff Hohwald demos banjos they all sound to me like Geoff Hohwald.

I think the fact that the grandee compares well with these more expensive/sought after instruments isn't a testament to the grandee, but rather evidence that there isn't a lot of "magic" to good banjo tone. I think that decent parts fit together and setup well is all you need, and then the rest comes from the player.

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I hear more of a difference when the banjo is played acoustically in person.  What we hear these days is our phone or computer's speaker processing of an electronic signal created digitally by a device that typically was not designed for recording banjos.  These devices are limited and do not capture all the nuance, timbre, and tone of a banjo, which is very complex in its overtones.  (An exception would be the videos that Elderly produces, which obviously are using really good equipment).  The differences show when you are sitting in front of the banjo in person.  It's the weakest-link-in-the-chain theory.   But the bigger point that it's the Indian and not the arrow is true.  I've heard far better players play my banjos and they can tease out nuanced tones  that I don't hear when I play.

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+1

Audio recordings rarely capture the full color of an instrument that is readily apparent in person; if the full color is apparent, it was applied in/with processing.

Nice job on the recordings, they sound true and differences are present.  It needs to be live to generate a reasonable opinion.

The first three banjos do sound quite a bit alike. Hard to choose. But what the hey, I'm game to try.

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

Did you record the audio samples with different equipment than the video's audio?

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The audio was all recorded on a Zoom H6 at 320k mp3, using the onboard stereo microphones. I did normalize the banjo clips independently, so there is a volume difference between the introduction and the clips. That may be what you're hearing. 

There is also an issue of YouTube compressing all the audio. I've put up a web page with the original sound files here so you can hear them without YouTube's interference.

I can decide. 

I'm leaning towards: 4 - 3 - 2 - 1

But I bet if you mixed them and changed the labels I'd come up with something else. Except I think 1 would still come in last. Watch it be the pre-war! 4, 3 and 2 are a crapshoot.

"This video is purely about the sound."

Yep. It's a controlled experiment for sound preference. Mr. waystation is not asking us to identify the banjos or come up with a "right" answer. 
 

My sound preference is #2. 

I listened through them on my tablet. I usually pick up on preferences pretty quickly, but all I heard here was #4 was the loudest. Disappointly, I heard nothing that stood out to my ear in tone in any of them.

#4 seems to balance the tone more than the first three which all were exceptional, tuff choice.

My impression with 4 is that there is better note definition/separation. Is anyone else hearing that?

2,3,4,1

Given the banjos as set up, played, and reproduced here; 3, 4, 2, 1. Tough choice between #3 and #4. Disclaimer is that I cannot hear worth a flip anymore.

Thanks for the responses and votes on the Grandee comparison test! The test will be winding down early this week, and I’ll post again on YouTube with the same audio combined with the video for these sound clips, identifying which banjo is which, and the vote tallies in the comments.

I’ll post the new video late Wednesday (Eastern Daylight Time), so if you are still interested in registering your vote, listen to the hi-res clips at https://waystation.net/BanjoComparo/ and vote before Wednesday 5PM EDT. I hope you all enjoy the results!

I voted, but I'd want to hear them all in person if there was money on the line!

#2 spoke to my soul though. Whatever that is, it's a good banjo! My ranking would have to be 2,4,3,1. Whatever #1 is, it needs some help.

2,4,1,3 are my preference.

Thanks for doing this BTW, I was wondering how a GT Grandee would compare.

Rick

I just posted a Grandee for sale if you are interested. I'm gradually switching over to resonator guitar.

The results of the Gold Tone Grandee test are public! Thanks to the 33 people who filled out the form, and to the fifteen who left text comments, as well as to everyone who has commented here. Here’s my summary of how things turned out.

First of all, the results were extremely close. On a five point scale, the spread between the three main banjos in the test was just over a fifth of a point. If you look at the distribution of votes for each banjo, you’ll see a bell curve shape for banjos 2 and 3, centered around 4 stars. Banjo 4 looks like the winner, with the plurality of votes at the 5 star level, with 4 and 3 stars getting progressively fewer votes.

So far, I haven’t mentioned banjo 1, and there’s a reason: it’s not really a competitor. In order to test the validity of the voting, I took one of the other three banjo recordings (no points for figuring out which one, although the flaws in my playing should give it away) and reduced the overall volume by 1db. The three other banjo tracks were normalized to the full available volume range. The goal was to intentionally make a recording that was just slightly inferior to the other three, and see if people’s ears picked up the difference.

They did. Banjo 1 ranked a full star below the lowest-ranked of the other three – remember, only a fifth of a point separated best from worst in that group. Banjo 1 got more 2-star votes than any other ranking. So people did pick up on the difference, which says to me that the perceived differences between the actual banjos being compared were legitimate.

The results speak well for the Grandee, which held up extremely well against the classic Gibsons and actually received a goodly number of favorable comments and (as far as I can tell from the comments) first place votes.

So, hop over to the Google form, where the banjos are named and the votes have been revealed, or to YouTube to see the videos that were recorded along with the sound samples. Let me know if seeing the banjos being played affects your perception of how they sound.

The survey results are available at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1J1gLZ-zfM8VmoXrya5bnm2Y7AIjNdZUlL_F3OPQ_mOc/viewanalytics

The reveal video can be seen at https://youtu.be/dc2HneTOnYs

I hope you enjoyed this experiment, and thanks for playing along.

In person which of these banjos had the most volume? My Granada reissues sounded decent tonally but my Grandee runs rings around them volume-wise with more "sparkle" and clarity overall. 

Former banjo brand snob here.. I owned a pre-war Master Tone in the 80s. It was stolen. I’m guessing someone reading this right now probably has it. In the shape it was in when I lost it, it would be five figures today. I wish I’d written the serial number down.. I then bought a 1970s one for way too much money, then sold it to support my ongoing classic and reissue Les Paul habit.. Anyway, not long ago I bought a Gold Tone RB 250+ JLS #12 with the (actual) Tony Pass birch block rim. If you haven’t played one then I’ll simply say that there’s very little daylight between it and both of my former Gibsons. Friend of mine has an old Mastertone and a very nice Deering. He was reluctantly impressed after playing it. And, at $2700, it’s not exactly “entry level” either. I’ve since added a nice maple arm rest and a full set of Kieth Tuners. It’s a pro rig. Hope this helps.

So Richie, please clarify.

The Greg Rich Granada came in first followed closely by the pre war Style 6?

Thanks.

Given that Greg Rich is now affiliated with Gold Tone, at what banjo manufacture date or serial numbers can we safely say we have a "Greg Rich" Mastertone by Gold Tone?

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Originally posted by The Old Timer

So Richie, please clarify.

The Greg Rich Granada came in first followed closely by the pre war Style 6?

Thanks.

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That's the result, although I think the difference between 4 stars and 4.03 has to be considered statistical noise. You could say that the result favors the Style 6 since it got more 5 star votes than the Granada, offset by a 1-star and 2-star vote which pulled its average down. The Granada got more 4-star votes than any other level, while the 6 got more 5-stars. The absolute number favors the Granada, but the distribution curve makes the 6 look better. There are lots of ways to read statistics.

The Gold Tone came in impressively close to the pair of old Gibsons, especially considering how big the gap is between those three and the slightly tweaked control. The vote distribution was also centered around the 4-star levels, much like the Granada. 

I would honestly call this a three way statistical tie, especially based on hearing the three banjos side by side in real life. I think the vote differences were based more on tonal preferences than quality - people just liked the sound of one better than another.