"I agree about it its value. And I thank you for your time and effort. Your time also has value.
More than we few on this forum appreciate what you have preserved and will come to appreciate it in the future."
Classic-Banjo
A Site Dedicated to all enthusiasts of Classic Style Banjo
-
Jody Stecher
- 80, Male
- San Francisco, CA
- United States
- Blog Posts (24)
- Discussions (2955)
- Events
- Photos (38)
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- Videos (25)
Jody Stecher's Discussions
Historical question about banjo strings
19 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jody Stecher Sep 7, 2025.
St Louis Tickle: New Arrangement for 3 banjos
2 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jody Stecher Aug 29, 2025.
Three voice arrangement for The Tantalizer
4 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jody Stecher Aug 9, 2025.
Gifts Received (2)
Jody Stecher's Page
Latest Activity
"I have had success in feel and in sound using light gauge steel for strings 1,2, and 5, gut or nylgut for string 3, and an Aquila Type D lute string, which is copper wound on nylgut filaments. For a Camm Vibrante Royal I've used,…"
"I would think that all professional and semi-professional zither-banjo and "regular banjo" players who lived and performed within 90 miles of London in 1939 would have known each other. "
"I misinterpreted. You had mentioned two wire 2nds. I wrongly assumed the strings in the package photo were those. Obviously I can't count. Not even to 2 :-)"
"A .022 inch wound string would be used for the bass course on a steel-strung 5-string banjo. It's just below medium gauge. Some go heavier, some go lighter. "
"My digital micrometer is precise all the way down to teensy increments like 0.0001 mm. I used the old "analog" micrometers for decades but they reacted to cold temperature. I had to warm them up before they would give an accurate…"
"Is "the pack with the wound strings" a typo for the pack with the *unwound* strings? It looks like plain steel wire to me.
#22 steel wire is .028 inches so that can't be what is meant.
022 inches in plain wire is far too heavy…"
"There is also a note saying "Last banjo ever made" but nothing visible in the photo to indicate what banjo that cryptic statement referred to, Thousands of banjos have been made since 1939 so a particular category might have been intended.…"
"I don't know who built it but it looks like it may be a composite of parts. While 6 grooves in the nut suggests 6 long strings, the absence of the customary tunnel for the short string suggests the neck may be from a standard open-back…"
"I think you are chronologically safe with Hot Corn. ("Pop Corn" in Bradbury). See my conversation with Joel Hooks about this by entering "corn" in the search box. Joel posted a number of versions. You can take your pick, or…"
"Rob MacKillip writes in his video that Grimshaw put his arrangement of Nocturne in Eb in his tutor book on how to play The plectrum banjo. Grimshaw's books on how to play fingerstyle banjo are in the Tutor Books section here on this site.…"
"I had a look at the Roy Smeck composition "Banjokes" and tried to play it. I think this may be tenor banjo music. The chord formations are obvious and easy on an instrument tuned in fifths, as the tenor banjo is (CGDA). For 5-string…"
"Congratulations and Thank you. What sort of errors, rough edges, or gnarly bits are expected to be found? Digital anomalies? Errors in the scores themselves? A click on a title leading to a different score?"
"Excellent! And Happy Birthday, Canada. "
"I was going to reply but Joel has made most of the points I would have made.
One more point: soft strings played with bare fingers were not loud enough to be heard in a band with horns. It could be made to work in recording, but not in live…"
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Banjo Benches at San Francisco Airport!
I was taking a flight out a new terminal at San Francisco the other day and was surprised and amused to see the shape of some comfortable new benches with a new shape. Off topic because they look like plectrum banjos? No indeed, these are Zither Banjo Benches! I'm afraid my mobile phone takes horrible quality pictures but at least the shape was captured. The wave of the future?
…
ContinuePosted on November 17, 2011 at 4:06 — 5 Comments
Farland Metal banjo head on ebay
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 20:50 — 2 Comments
clear photos of the missing banjo
Note the copper bass string, the red binding around the pot and the inlay "The Cammeyer Vibrante Royal" These are distinctive.
Posted on November 28, 2010 at 22:16
Comment Wall (24 comments)
- At 4:06 on April 7, 2009,
Trapdoor2 said…
- Jody, regarding the banjo I'm playing in my videos: that's one of Bob Flesher's "Cotillion" (12") models; my main axe for about 6 yrs. Thanks for the kind remarks, I've gone from archtop Stelling "shrill" to "tubby" over the years (in more ways than one!). I have a fiberskyn head on it, Aquila Nylgut strings and one of those Cole 5-footed bridges. I have a small collection of banjos but the Flesher gets all the playing time these days.
- At 5:54pm on March 14, 2010, Joel Hooks gave Jody Stecher a gift…
- At 8:11 on August 19, 2010,
Liz McElwain said…
- Thanks, Jody. Hope to be able to meet you over the Didmarton weekend.
- At 17:08 on September 11, 2010,
Anthony Peabody said…
- I enjoyed meeting you at Backwell, and I am afraid that I assumed that you were a newcomer to Banjo, so please erase from your hard drive any superfluous and quite unnecessary advice. You don't need any encouragement either. I was the bass banjo at the end of the line, filling in the blanks, and wishing I could play better. So you see, you encorage me!
Anthony Peabody
- At 17:48 on December 22, 2010,
Eric STEFANELLI said…
Thanks Jody, to add me as a friend, i am deeply honored !
I would be to give you some piece of information about my banjos making, give me please your e-mail, mine is : eric.pat-luths@orange.fr .
About your music, many people in France like bluegrass & old timey music, and play it, there is many bands, many american banjo players come to France every years to teach, and have many pupils, there is summer country festivals...i was myself a pupil of Tony Trishka in 1978 and and Ben Eldrige in 1982/83, but we can speak about it by mail. Classic banjo is unknow or very few people know this kind of banjo music.
Eric
- At 14:09 on August 3, 2011,
Pam Tointon said…
Thank you Jody I enjoyed that. Nice to hear an original composition, but well beyond me yet as a beginner I'm afraid.
regards Pam
- At 12:51 on October 18, 2011,
Neil Angus Goodwin said…
- Thankyou for the info, that might explain why it is the only Cammeyer I have seen with the metal bands.
- At 23:51 on March 5, 2012,
allan ideson said…
thanks jody for your input.ime a guitarist .i have good instruments ...this banjo .has a lot of volume .also the neck and fingerboard are a work of art .after all these years the neck is straight .....no truss rod.when i master the beast ill put some tunes on ....thanks...allan
- At 21:34 on March 8, 2012,
skip sail said…
hi Jody,met you on your australian tour,we talked Fred Macdowell and Robert Petway and jammed a bit on some fingerpicked blues at Camperdown. Thanks for the welcome to the forum! Skip
- At 7:32am on May 14, 2012, thereallyniceman gave Jody Stecher a gift…
- Jody, Bill and Scott get out the glasses and have a celebratory drink on me! Ian, thereallyniceman
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