banjohangout.org/myhangout/vid...#theVideo
Pretty nice sounding, mellow tone banjo here. I have tried getting that tone out of regular open back banjos but never have gotten even close such as using nylon strings and a skin head.. Here we have the gourd itself, probably a skin head that is probably not as tight as regular banjos, and pretty minimal metal. Has anyone created a similar tone out of a common open back banjo? How long do tack heads last? I am surprised they work all that long? I had a fretless once but it had a wood rim and wasn't even close to this mellow sound. What exactly is causing most of the tone here? Has anyone tried making wood tension hoops and other metal reducing parts and does that make a difference/improvement? Lastly, gourd banjos don't always sound this good – more mystery. banjered
The link does not show a gourd banjo. It shows a bluegrass resonator banjo.
Thanks! Try this youtube.com/watch?v=QRkX4FPX8Ag
The size and shape of the gourd, the head tension, the string gauge and tension (sounds like he is tuned two steps down, or maybe they are the Nylgut minstrels), the scale length, the overall quality of materials and build, the player's touch, the type and position of microphone, post-recording processing (if any), what they ate for breakfast, etc. etc.
I vote for the Helmholtz resonance as being the big difference.. That resonance frequency-squared is proportional to the total soundhole area divided by the volume of the pot. On all string instruments, it's the lowest body resonance frequency, and body resonances are what turn string vibration into sound. Furthermore, on normal banjos, the lowest string frequencies are yet lower. So they do not get converted efficiently into sound. Typically, that applies to about the lowest half octave. Making the soundhole too little can get you into other trouble. So, what I think you need is a very deep pot.
I said deeper, but bigger diameter would do, too. (In my experience, it actually does.)
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