Good Banjo Alert: there's a "Patent" Model Cammeyer Zither-Banjo in South Yorkshire up for auction on eBay.  Those can be very good instruments and are usually in poor shape when for sale. This one looks to be in good shape. It's listed as a "G banjo". I've seen that reference in print from time to time and could never make sense of it. Does anyone know what it means?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192160974993?ul_noapp=true

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Nice banjo... You NEED another Jody!

I always thought that the "slang" term for a Bluegrass banjo tuned with open strings as a Gmaj chord was a G Banjo as opposed to the "Classic Style" with the lower bass C string.  

But there may be some other explanation, what do I know?

At $123 shipping to the US! Not this time.

As far as I know "G banjo" is a term confined to Britain and her former colonies.  Bluegrass players play with the bass string tuned to C as well as to D. This includes  Earl Scruggs.  My impression is that "G banjo" indicates that it is not a tenor or a plectrum banjo, Maybe it's a reference to the fifth string, which is usually tuned to G. 

thereallyniceman said:

Nice banjo... You NEED another Jody!

I always thought that the "slang" term for a Bluegrass banjo tuned with open strings as a Gmaj chord was a G Banjo as opposed to the "Classic Style" with the lower bass C string.  

But there may be some other explanation, what do I know?

It simply is a method of differentiating it from the more common Eb or "Alto" banjo.

 Actually in 1958 I heard  a woman in an antique shop in New Hampshire call a tenor banjo a "B flat banjo". My dad and I were instrument hunting and we asked the proprietor if she had any banjos for sale. She did, They were at home. We walked with her about 30 yards to her house and she produced three banjos from under the bed. One was a banjo-mandolin. "This is your banjo" she said. The next was a Gibson tenor banjo. "Now this is your Gibson". And the third was another tenor. "And this is your standard B flat banjo. These are valuable".   We left without buying any banjos. But that summer we obtained a beautiful Gatbomb 5 string banjo with inlaid fret markers. That was my first banjo, the one I learned to play on.

Now what's this about an "alto banjo"?


Trapdoor2 said:

It simply is a method of differentiating it from the more common Eb or "Alto" banjo.

"Sherman, set the wayback machine to April 1st."

"Yes, Mr. Peabody..."

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