I spend most of my playing time these days using a Nechville 'Meteor' electric banjo. I play it acoustically (not through an amplifier) and have installed a thin foam pad beneath the head. It sounds very banjo-like but the volume is a fraction of that produced by a conventional banjo. I had a Deering 'Crossfire' for several years and used that in the same way, but I very much prefer the Nechville. I like the Meteor neck profile, excellent quality tuners (it rarely needs adjustments to tuning) and as a bonus I think it looks super cool!  Sadly, this is not an inexpensive solution.  The current list price on the Nechville website is eye-watering.  However, sometimes  used examples appear (as mine was) and although still expensive are a little more affordable.

Make yourself a 10” open back banjo Hunter. Put a 10” mesh drum head on it and you’re done. Obviously the drum head will require different J hooks and shoes. What you’ll have is another product to sell exactly like the electric fiddle. If you want to gig with it put a pickup on it and you’ll have a feedback free banjo for your gigs. Mesh drum heads come in a variety of sizes except 11” so I just do them in 10”.

I’ve been practicing quietly, for over 20 years, with my Telecaster strung and tuned
Iike a banjo.

to play in my office at work:

Careful David. You may have unintentionally kicked off a movement to mandate that ALL banjos have a carpet head....... banjered

I can see it now ... no more "peel paint" ... use the carpet to apply it instead.  

quote:

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Originally posted by Dean T

I’ve been practicing quietly, for over 20 years, with my Telecaster strung and tuned
Iike a banjo.

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Again, Dean for the Win!

And y'know those silent/skeletal violins still make a goodly amount of noise if you ask me. I weave a bit of yarn thru the strings down by the bridge on a regular fiddle for my hotel fiddlin' time. 

Build you one using a cigar box.

quote:

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Originally posted by BNJOMAKR

Build you one using a cigar box.

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Marvin that sounds good to put a mute on it!

I have a Pohlmann Banjola strung with nylguts, it's not loud at all, very pleasant sound.

I recently took a Goodtime strung with nylons on vacation, stuffed the pot with a thick cloth and put a Gold Tone mute on the bridge - it passed the "wife is trying to sleep in the next room" test with flying colors. Plus the mute gave it a pretty cool fuzzed-out sound.

The Tranjo website advertises a "silent practice" option where they change the head to nylon mesh and add a pickup so you can listen to yourself via headphones. Probably a similar acoustic experience to the differently-strung Tele mentioned above but with a banjo neck.

tranjo.com/silent.php

Hey Marvin, that sounded pretty good! Any details on how you built it? Best! Thanks! banjered

Thanks everyone for the replies, it's definitely given me some ideas about how to build a quiet banjo!

As for the comment about skeletal fiddles still making a good deal of noise, you're not wrong. I figure this thing is a little less than half the volume of my main fiddle, but I had a friend walk down the hall with my door closed and he said he could just faintly hear it. And that was before I put the rubber mute on. With the mute on, it's considerably quieter!

I appreciate all the replies, and I just might be trying some experiments sooner rather than later!