"The Gibson" banjolele

Started by shawnb, December 03, 2022, 01:04:03 PM

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shawnb

For something at the opposite end of the technology spectrum...

My brother in law just gifted me this ukulele from the 1920s.  Read up a bit, and it appears to be a Gibson UB2 - 8" drum & 14 resonator pins. 

Some time later, Gibson dropped the "The" from the headstock.

First order of business?  Tune it!  The tuning pegs won't hold a tune, they all just unwind.  Gotta go read up on ancient tuning peg maintenance...

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Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

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shawnb

These are the very tuners in question...   This video shows a couple ways to try & keep the original Waverly tuners. 

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

#3
I think this banjolele had lots of use - plenty of wear on the neck, etc.  But I think it subsequently sat unmaintained for a long time.

I tried to tighten everything up, but the head wouldn't tune.  And the tuners were, uh, choppy...  "Friction" tuners, strings mounted directly on the post, no gears for a smoother ratio.  So you would skip from B to D# when trying to tune the 3rd string to C...

So...  I ordered a new calfskin head.  I found a replacement "antique" bridge (the old one was missing a piece).  New strings.  I tore it all apart, cleaned up a bunch of rust, & put it back together. 

Good thing, too, because the head had basically become fused with the drum & wouldn't tune. 

I tried not to alter anything, e.g., a light cleaning, but no refinish.  I cleaned rust off, but did not grind past the deep pitting.  Tried to leave everything as-is.  The fretboard had a hairline crack through most of it.  A couple cleanings with Fiddlebrite and the fretboard crack almost disappeared as the wood just absorbed the oils. 

Changing the calfskin was actually kinda easy. Very much like doing a piecrust!

Plays & sounds great now, tuners work, and it all looks MUCH better!
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Chumly

The wood looks quite nice!
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

shannonrichards

Why is it called a banjolele?

arkieboy

I assume it's a marketing thing trying to pick up on the popularity of ukuleles to help sell banjos.  Make a banjo the same size and tuning as a uke, call it something cool and get a slice of the market with the tooling and expertise you already have.
Main rig: Barden Hexacaster and Brian Moore i2.13 controllers
Boss SY1000/Boss GKC-AD/Boss GM-800/Laney LFR112

Other relevant gear: Line 6 Helix LT, Roland GR-33, Axon AX100 MkII
Oberheim Matrix 6R, Supernova IIR, EMu E5000, Apple Mainstage, Apple Logic, MOTU M4

admin_shawnb

The banjolele was rooted in vaudeville, where they needed something easy to play like a uke, but loud like a banjo.

George Formby was probably the most famous player back in the day, with his split stroke strumming style:


arkieboy

Ah!

One of my many cousins' husband is a pretty good Formby impersonator - as in earned money doing it.  I'm not sure what he has.  My brother has at least one banjo, but the one I know about is a 5 string with a long neck - IIRC a something about the design made it distinctly Birmingham (UK) made from the turn of the century.
Main rig: Barden Hexacaster and Brian Moore i2.13 controllers
Boss SY1000/Boss GKC-AD/Boss GM-800/Laney LFR112

Other relevant gear: Line 6 Helix LT, Roland GR-33, Axon AX100 MkII
Oberheim Matrix 6R, Supernova IIR, EMu E5000, Apple Mainstage, Apple Logic, MOTU M4

admin_shawnb

#9
The end of that George Formby video shows some pretty impressive strumming technique.  Ragtime on Rockstars...

A quick tutorial in that technique, a fast 3-3-2 rhythm:


shannonrichards

Quote from: admin_shawnb on October 25, 2023, 06:56:40 AMThe banjolele was rooted in vaudeville, where they needed something easy to play like a uke, but loud like a banjo.

George Formby was probably the most famous player back in the day, with his split stroke strumming style:



Thank you for sharing.

drbill

I believe Peter Frampton started on one when he was young.
GP-10, KPA
BM i2.13p, '76 Les Paul Deluxe w/GK-3, MiM RRS, Ibanez RG420GK, Charvel strat copy w/GK-2a, FTP

shannonrichards

Is a banjolele just a shortened banjo?

admin_shawnb

#13
Quote from: shannonrichards on November 02, 2023, 01:18:32 AMIs a banjolele just a shortened banjo?

No, it's more of a hybrid.  String type, # of strings, flat fretboard, and the tuners are more like a ukulele. 

They tended to repurpose banjo hardware, though, on the resonator side.  E.g., you can see in the pics that my tailpiece is designed for 5 steel strings.

shannonrichards

That's pretty neat, thank you for enlightening me.