Other: BanjoMate Tone Enhancer

Submitted by flange5st on 3/7/2009

Where Purchased:

Overall Comments

After I was told that I would recieve this " tone enhancer" it was in my mail box four days later. It was shipped and packaged in a professional manner. I believe these folks have good business savvy and sense. I would imagine that any thing you would buy would be expidited in the same fashion.

The "enhancer" is made from a small sheet of light gauge brass. It is bent to make it stiff and so it will not touch the resonator except where the velcro@ is attached. There is a set of directions to follow, explaining that the best place to attach the " enhancer" near the neck notch . That's where I placed it giving room for it to sit parallel or diagonal with the strings.

The banjo I used it on is an old " bits and pieces" banjo ( masterclone) that I assembled and it is the one that I tinker with. Which is a good thing for my other banjos, all Gibsons, 1926, 1957, 1993. Each of these have a particular sound that I love and so they stay , after they were set up, the way thay are. I use which one I'm in the mood for. Enough about these.

The " clone" banjo is a mahogony neck, maple rim, and a flat back maple resonator. The banjo on it's own is not a bad sounding banjo, IMHO, but it lacked a good strong low "D" string. So with the head tuned to a G# , ( which gives me the maximum overall sound for the banjo), I installed the " enhancer" parallel with the strings.

The improvement that I heard and in what others heard was, a more mellow " B " string and a fatter lower"D" string, with out making the banjo change dramatically in any other area.

I use the term "others" due to playing the banjo at three different picking jobs with different acoustics and p.a. equipment. The banjo before installing the " enhancer" has good volume, intonation, and balance up and down the neck. Thses are the areas that didn't change. I also had other pickers listen to the banjo and play it for me so I could be in front of it and could decide for my self if there was any unwanted noise or overtones. None of these were present, either.

The consensus is , with the tone enhancer, it made this banjo sound more like a good 'Ball bearing" and not so much like a clanky flat head or a pingy arch-top, ( byw, the banjo has a flat head tone ring of an unknown origen , more that likely from an Asian built). The banjo is a bit drier sounding .

I'll leave it in the banjo but I might try it on a round back resonator soon.

These are not very expensive and it might be worth a try on any banjo but as with mine, any changes , I believe, will be incremental and specific for each banjo.

I tried using it diagonally but in that position, it didn't make any difference to the sound of the banjo, so parallel works the best.

As of 04-10-09 I decided to put a standard mahogany veneer resonator on my parts banjo and take the flat back one off. As a result, I also reused the Banjo Mate in the new resonator, ( thank goodness for velcro). The sound with the standard resonator is heavier now and with the Banjo Mate at the same position as on the flat resonator,( parrallel nearer the neck heel), the sound is hard and ringy. The is very balanced and has a strong "D" even more so with the Banjo Mate. I believe this will be a good product for any one who wants a heavier, hard, ringy sound. The resonator has alot to do with this change but , now, I can't discount the Banjo Mate Tone Enhancer. Highly recommended.

Overall Rating: 10