"Joel is of course correct about ear playing. I wasnt thinking of the ear learning courses offered by Dobson et al. I was thinking more in line with modern ear playing like one finds in the old-time community. My point was that from the earliest days…"

"I think a lot of this stems from the fact that you are citing out of date research. "

"I just went over your classic banjo section and there are still a lot of inaccuracies: Stroke style banjo was taught in many tutors, not just the Briggs tutor. You call it "minstrel style" but "stroke style" or "banjo…"

"Would it be possible to find out from where Eric Stefanelli got the vellums for those two banjos? Maybe I'll just write him a message here on the forum..."

"Yeah, while .028w is not my cup of tea on any banjo, it wouldn't be a problem on a 26" scale neck. "

"Again, it depends on the scale length."

"Feel free to email me whenever you have questions at johnncohen1992 "at" gmail.com. I'll be happy to try and help."

"Hi Jack, I have a lot of info I can share but am pressed for time at the moment (I'm in graduate school and have exams). I do want to say that the waltzes, marches, Schottisches, and polkas that you referred to as classical music were not -…"

"I use a .024w (silver on nylon) on all of my banjos, regardless of scale length. It is a period-correct size. It is light enough to provide lots of dynamics but heavy enough not to buzz. A .028w might work OK on shorter scale banjos, but on larger…"

"I do not like the tension or tone of Savarez carbon strings, and I find that they do not intonate well. Seaguar Premier carbon fishing line is far less expensive and intonates perfectly. It sounds and feels the same as the Savarez carbon, so I…"

"No, you have to order them from their site. Pyramid strings also offers singles in the correct gauges. They are based in Germany."

"No, you want the fingerboard sitting even with the pot. It sounds like you may have a neck angle issue (modern banjos have back angle to allow for taller bridges). Also, keep in mind that it takes some practice to fret the strings with action as…"

"Ian, I think our differing experiences with Ren heads might be due to our different setups. I use lighter bridges than you do and much lighter strings. Every time I've tried a Ren head (regardless of the type of banjo) it made my too bright and…"

"I also noticed some errors with your dates. For example, your dates and timeframes for the various Bacon banjo company locations are not accurate. "