Bass banjo

Infobox Instrument
name=Bass banjo
names=


classification=String instrument
* Plucked string instrument
range=
related=
*banjo
*bass guitar
articles=There are multiple instruments referred to as a bass banjo. The first to enter real production was the five-string cello banjo, tuned one octave below a five-string banjo. This was followed by a four-string cello banjo, tuned CGDA in the same range as a cello or mandocello, and modified upright bass versions tuned EADG. More recently, true bass banjos, tuned EADG and played in conventional horizontal fashion have been introduced.

Five-string cello banjo

The five-string cello banjo was originally a gut-stringed instrument with a 3" deep 16" diameter rim, marketed by S.S. Stewart in 1889 [ [http://www.forgottenwisdom.com/banjoorchestra/music.html String Stories, Chapter 1: Banjo Orchestra ] ] . Advertising copy used the terms "bass banjo" and "cello banjo" to refer to the same instrument.

Other banjo makers manufactured similar instruments, including A.C. Fairbanks, with a with a 12-3/8" diameter head and a 29-1/2" scale length [ [http://www.billsbanjos.com/Laydie.htm A ] ] and A.A. Farland, with 12-1/2" head and a 28-1/2" scale [ [http://www.billsbanjos.com/Farland.htm A ] ] . Gold Tone is the only contemporary manufacturer [ [http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/374/CEB-5 CEB 5 by Gold Tone ] ]

Four-string cello banjo

In 1919 [http://www.siminoff.net/pages/gibson_banjo_chrono.html Gibson Banjos...The Golden Years ] ] , Gibson began manufacturing a 4-string cello banjo, known as the CB-4 [http://musicaviva.com/instruments/gallery/display.html?serienr=8809] . Other vintage manufacturers of four-string bass banjos include Bacon & Day [ [http://www.banjobuyer.com/banjo/4402 Bacon & Day Silverbell Cello banjo 14 inch pot , TRUE & RARE - Used Banjo For Sale at BanjoBuyer.com ] ] . Gold Tone is the only contemporary manufacturer [ [http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/371/CEB-4-Marcy-Marxer-Signature-Model CEB 4 (Marcy Marxer Signature Model) by Gold Tone ] ]

Gibson bass banjo

Gibson produced a separate instrument called a "bass banjo" from 1930 to 1933.This was a 4-string instrument, played as an upright bass, with a stand substituting for a spike. It was tuned EADG, the same as Gibson's mando-bass. [ [http://www.drbanjo.com/photoalbums/odd_ends/large-images/L-03-bass.html www.DRBANJO.com ] ]

Bassjo

The Bassjo, also referred to as the banjo bass in a 2006 article featuring Les Claypool on the cover of Bassplayer Magazine [Fox, Brian. "Les Does More." Bass Player 8/2006: 40-50.] was made by luthier Dan Maloney. Maloney was a friend of Claypool's approximately ten years ago when Claypool asked him to construct a guitar with "a banjo body and a bass neck ("Les Does More" 43)." The Bassjo can be heard on Claypool's 2006 album "Of Whales and Woe" on the track "Iowan Gal."

Gold Tone bass banjo

Gold Tone produces a commercial version of the bass banjo [ [http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/81/BB-400-Bass-Banjo BB-400 (Bass Banjo) by Gold Tone ] ] . It has a 32" scale and a 13" pot.

Heftone upright

An unusual bass banjo variation is the Heftone bass, which combines a large, 22" banjo pot with an upright spindle to produce an upright bass banjo. [ [http://www.heftone.com/bass Heftone String Bass | Heftone ] ]

References