I have just returned from my local antique shop $230 (AU) lighter with one (1) additional and un-named instrument.
I THINK it's a banjo/mandolin.
It's double-coursed, 8 strings, has 17 frets, a (faux?) hyde face, gently curved, circular back with a round metal 'disc' in the centre. Really, it just looks kind of like a midget banjo.
on the head is written 'Wayne' and 'Harlem'.
It's terribly out of tune, not that I have any idea how it IS supposed to be tuned...
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated... I googled till my eyes hurt but I'm still not convinced.
It does sound like a banjo-mandolin, I've seen them myself. Could you post photos? If it is, tune like a mandolin, GG DD AA EE. My uncle has one he picked up at a garage sale a long time ago, he doesn't play. I tried to tune it up and get it going but the fretboard has almost come away from the neck so it's in desperate need of a luthier. I think the tuners may be shot too. It was made in the 1800's. Apparently they have a nice, bright sound; louder than a mandolin (of course) - have fun!
I also picked up one of these in a junk shop once. I presume it's a banjo mandolin. I put mandolin strings on it and tuned it as above, and it sounds OK.
Unfortunately, I have one of those as well - it sounds truly dreadful. It gathers dust under the bed - and that's where it should stay, lest some uncouth person plays it anywhere near me! However, I'll happily sell it it to anyone who plays at the session that bazouki dave and the real tooty flutey plays - that'll teach him/her for complaining about highland pipes.
These used to be very common at junk sales and auctions, no doubt resulting from the great banjo-mandolin craze of ... er ... 1925 or something.
Most of them are not very good. You've got nothing to lose (since the $230 is already gone) by cleaning it up and putting some good strings on it (perhaps D'addario J74s or the lighter J62 set)
At worst, it will make a good wall-hanging.
You don't say where you are, but if you're in Melbourne, you could try taking it in to Mick Lewis's shop in Russell St in the CBD and see what he (I think it's mick's son actually) has to say about it. He won't mince his words.
I have seen two or three examples of this thing that you describe.
As it happens, there is one nailed to the wall of the South London pub I drink and session in.
Also years ago a drummer I often play with got one from a car boot sale. It was hopeless, wouldn't tune up, the intonation (fretting) was wrong.
But I heard or read at the time that there were thousands made like this, indeed during the 30's and the purpose of them was decorative and not musical. They were actually made to be put on a shelf and looked at!
So I should nail the useless piece of doodah on your music room/ studio wall!
I can't resist an unusual instrument - shame it sounds as if the thing might be better for bashing in fence-posts than for playing, but I recognize entirely that wish to purchase something unusual just in case it turns out to be fun to play.
I have loads of things like that that I've bought and then (eventually) released back into the community
Also known as a banjolin.I had one once for two weeks and then I sold it at a second hand shop.I lost money,but I was happy to get rid of the thing.It sounded like two skeletons screwing in a biscuit tin,or perhaps playing the bars of a birdcage with a fork.
Good description! I also liked someone's description on this list of a bowed psaltery, "a rat p*ssing in a tin cup". In fact, didn't Beethoven describe the sound of the harpsichord as "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof"?
Sir Thomas Beecham was once asked which instrument a woman should give her son, bearing in mind that the young man would be practicing in a crowded house.
"The bagpipes," Beecham suggested. "They sound exactly the same when you have mastered them as when you first begin."
My housemate nearly leapt out of his skin when i told him what i bought and ran to my room to play with it.
He's been trying to make it sound nice for the past ...seven? hours.
I couldn't resist, it was just sitting there so lonely in the shop under a pile of old magazines... I must say he looks a little ridiculous next to the rather snobby cello. Lady and the tramp indeed.
Still, it's a kind of satisfyingly plinkyplinky sound that' coming down my hallway. I'm sure another seven hours of it will erasdicate any pleasant thoughts I'm currently having about it though.
I'm actually in Perth (where?) but we're improvising with my housemate's banjo strings... should be either a working-order novelty toy or firewood in no time.
Does anybody have any idea if banjoleles (?) are easily come-by? That's what I'm really after, but I don't even know if you can get them any more.
I'd like to hear more ideas of what else you could use a mandolin-banjo for, though...
A bloke came to me recently wanting lessons in how to play the mandolin-banjo (I think, but could be wrong (and usually am), that the banjolin is a slightly different instrument and much less common). Naturally I just had to oblige.
I own one of these myself (given to me by a non-player). I've also restored another couple. All the ones I've seen have been crudely and cheaply built.
Generally they sound pretty awful unless you damp the strings behind the bridge.
yeah, it is a different instrument. apparently a banjolin has only 5? single strings...
This odd little thing actually doesn't sound awful. It's kind of like the puppy with three legs... Kind of repulsive but oddly enough I don't want to put the poor little neglected creature down.
It's really heavy, and very solid. No bits falling off, in fact i think you could probably drive over the thing and do alot more damage to the vehicle.
Thank you for all of your contributions, at least I know I haven't bought a one-off rare and possibly valuable curio. just a lump of useless plinkyplinky junk. I'm going to try to love it like one of my own, though.
There will be no wall-nailage here. No sir.
I may, however, nail my housemate to the wall if he doesn't stop fiddling with it.
What is a "teachestnut bassoon"?
It is the wrong month for this group of mixed nuts to be referred to as an "august body".
After playing the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti on both piano and harpsichord, I think his sonatas sound better on the harpsichord because that is the instrument they were written for. However, the keyboard music of Beethoven sounds better on the piano because that is the instrument he was writing for.
what IS a teachestnut bassoon? I couldn't find anything on Google, I'm just picturing a teachest bass with a bassoon instead of a broom-handle type pole. I imagine it would take a little multitasking to play this... not to mention extra limbs.
I also imagine that i am quite far off the mark here.
"Up, up, and away in my beautiful baboon"
Or, maybe they meant:
"Up, up, and away in my beautiful bassoon"
Is this true if you are in the fifth dimension?
Pedantic Pete - leave him alone. Do you not think he has enough to deal with having purchased one of the instruments of torture used by the inquisition without having his spelling corrected LOL.
Does hardly anyone here have anything kind to say about banjo-mandolins?? The above photograph is almost identical to (but obviously older than) an instrument I bought new just 4 months ago after eying it for 2-3 years in a local instrument shop. I got it for about US$150. Despite all the jokes I've heard about it looking like an antique bed warmer, or boiling water in it, I find the more I play it, the more sweet I can make it sound. Guess some o' you blokes ain't got what it takes So I played it last night in the open band for our local contra dance. It was sweet Never gets drown out by the bank of fiddles.
what on earth did i just purchace?
what on earth did i just purchace?
Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have just returned from my local antique shop $230 (AU) lighter with one (1) additional and un-named instrument.
I THINK it's a banjo/mandolin.
It's double-coursed, 8 strings, has 17 frets, a (faux?) hyde face, gently curved, circular back with a round metal 'disc' in the centre. Really, it just looks kind of like a midget banjo.
on the head is written 'Wayne' and 'Harlem'.
It's terribly out of tune, not that I have any idea how it IS supposed to be tuned...
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated... I googled till my eyes hurt but I'm still not convinced.
Thanks
Michela
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cellocello
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
sounds like a mandolin or mandola. try gdae or cgda or dada tuning...
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Mina the Fiddler
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
It does sound like a banjo-mandolin, I've seen them myself. Could you post photos? If it is, tune like a mandolin, GG DD AA EE. My uncle has one he picked up at a garage sale a long time ago, he doesn't play. I tried to tune it up and get it going but the fretboard has almost come away from the neck so it's in desperate need of a luthier. I think the tuners may be shot too. It was made in the 1800's. Apparently they have a nice, bright sound; louder than a mandolin (of course) - have fun!
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by camwebby
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
I also picked up one of these in a junk shop once. I presume it's a banjo mandolin. I put mandolin strings on it and tuned it as above, and it sounds OK.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cathycook
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Unfortunately, I have one of those as well - it sounds truly dreadful. It gathers dust under the bed - and that's where it should stay, lest some uncouth person plays it anywhere near me! However, I'll happily sell it it to anyone who plays at the session that bazouki dave and the real tooty flutey plays - that'll teach him/her for complaining about highland pipes.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Ron P
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
These used to be very common at junk sales and auctions, no doubt resulting from the great banjo-mandolin craze of ... er ... 1925 or something.
Most of them are not very good. You've got nothing to lose (since the $230 is already gone) by cleaning it up and putting some good strings on it (perhaps D'addario J74s or the lighter J62 set)
At worst, it will make a good wall-hanging.
You don't say where you are, but if you're in Melbourne, you could try taking it in to Mick Lewis's shop in Russell St in the CBD and see what he (I think it's mick's son actually) has to say about it. He won't mince his words.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Bren
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
"Unfortunately, I have one of those as well - it sounds truly dreadful. It gathers dust under the bed "
Ditto...
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Johannes J
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
"It's double-coursed"
Double cursed.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by granama
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
some of these instruments would probably sound better if you removed the second course and just made it a 4-string
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Bren
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
...and then removed the first course and just made it a bodhran.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by granama
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
But, alas, the only way it can be removed is for the mandolin-banjo to be kissed by a princess - upon which it reverts to the form of a mandolin.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by granama
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
damn hybrids.... coming from a guy that used to play the 6 string banjo (guitar/banjo) before learning tenor
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by camwebby
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
That's nothing - I used to play the teachestnut bassoon.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by granama
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
I have seen two or three examples of this thing that you describe.
As it happens, there is one nailed to the wall of the South London pub I drink and session in.
Also years ago a drummer I often play with got one from a car boot sale. It was hopeless, wouldn't tune up, the intonation (fretting) was wrong.
But I heard or read at the time that there were thousands made like this, indeed during the 30's and the purpose of them was decorative and not musical. They were actually made to be put on a shelf and looked at!
So I should nail the useless piece of doodah on your music room/ studio wall!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/MandolinBanjo.jpg/800px-MandolinBanjo.jpg
This is a picture I found that is one the horrid things (although this one might be in playing order- who knows?!)
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by yhaalhouse
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
I can't resist an unusual instrument - shame it sounds as if the thing might be better for bashing in fence-posts than for playing, but I recognize entirely that wish to purchase something unusual just in case it turns out to be fun to play.
I have loads of things like that that I've bought and then (eventually) released back into the community
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Also known as a banjolin.I had one once for two weeks and then I sold it at a second hand shop.I lost money,but I was happy to get rid of the thing.It sounded like two skeletons screwing in a biscuit tin,or perhaps playing the bars of a birdcage with a fork.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by dafydd
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Good description! I also liked someone's description on this list of a bowed psaltery, "a rat p*ssing in a tin cup". In fact, didn't Beethoven describe the sound of the harpsichord as "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof"?
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Sheesh - what is it with this site?? What's wrong with the word "p i s s i n g"?
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Some esteemed members of this august body have an old fashioned sense of decorum.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by dafydd
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
I think that the harpsichord crack came from Sir Thomas Beecham.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by dafydd
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Sir Thomas Beecham was once asked which instrument a woman should give her son, bearing in mind that the young man would be practicing in a crowded house.
"The bagpipes," Beecham suggested. "They sound exactly the same when you have mastered them as when you first begin."
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by dafydd
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
... So no good?
My housemate nearly leapt out of his skin when i told him what i bought and ran to my room to play with it.
He's been trying to make it sound nice for the past ...seven? hours.
I couldn't resist, it was just sitting there so lonely in the shop under a pile of old magazines... I must say he looks a little ridiculous next to the rather snobby cello. Lady and the tramp indeed.
Still, it's a kind of satisfyingly plinkyplinky sound that' coming down my hallway. I'm sure another seven hours of it will erasdicate any pleasant thoughts I'm currently having about it though.
I'm actually in Perth (where?) but we're improvising with my housemate's banjo strings... should be either a working-order novelty toy or firewood in no time.
Does anybody have any idea if banjoleles (?) are easily come-by? That's what I'm really after, but I don't even know if you can get them any more.
I'd like to hear more ideas of what else you could use a mandolin-banjo for, though...
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cellocello
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
eradicate, rather.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cellocello
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
A bloke came to me recently wanting lessons in how to play the mandolin-banjo (I think, but could be wrong (and usually am), that the banjolin is a slightly different instrument and much less common). Naturally I just had to oblige.
I own one of these myself (given to me by a non-player). I've also restored another couple. All the ones I've seen have been crudely and cheaply built.
Generally they sound pretty awful unless you damp the strings behind the bridge.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by DonaldK
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
yeah, it is a different instrument. apparently a banjolin has only 5? single strings...
This odd little thing actually doesn't sound awful. It's kind of like the puppy with three legs... Kind of repulsive but oddly enough I don't want to put the poor little neglected creature down.
It's really heavy, and very solid. No bits falling off, in fact i think you could probably drive over the thing and do alot more damage to the vehicle.
Thank you for all of your contributions, at least I know I haven't bought a one-off rare and possibly valuable curio. just a lump of useless plinkyplinky junk. I'm going to try to love it like one of my own, though.
There will be no wall-nailage here. No sir.
I may, however, nail my housemate to the wall if he doesn't stop fiddling with it.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cellocello
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
What is a "teachestnut bassoon"?
It is the wrong month for this group of mixed nuts to be referred to as an "august body".
After playing the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti on both piano and harpsichord, I think his sonatas sound better on the harpsichord because that is the instrument they were written for. However, the keyboard music of Beethoven sounds better on the piano because that is the instrument he was writing for.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
what IS a teachestnut bassoon? I couldn't find anything on Google, I'm just picturing a teachest bass with a bassoon instead of a broom-handle type pole. I imagine it would take a little multitasking to play this... not to mention extra limbs.
I also imagine that i am quite far off the mark here.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by cellocello
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
I stand corrected.A banjo-mandolin has 8 strings,and a banjolin 4 strings.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by dafydd
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Brazilian priest carried away by party balloons
http://elkinblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/brazilian-priest-carried-away-by-party.html
Surely they mean baboons; or bassoons at the very most.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
"Does anybody have any idea if banjoleles (?) are easily come-by?"
I use one when I'm cleaning windows ....
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Bren
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
.. with my little stick of Blackpool Rock
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Bren
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
"Up, up, and away in my beautiful baboon"
Or, maybe they meant:
"Up, up, and away in my beautiful bassoon"
Is this true if you are in the fifth dimension?
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
i bought one recently for £58.
as far as i can tell its from the 1920s or 30s
it sounds pretty good though.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by DubChieftain
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Apart from inventing a new verb; 'purchace', to buy without appreciating the true value of........
The big question is; what is the scale length ?
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Check out the post I just made for a banjo band. They have a half dozen guys playing banjo mandolins.
# Posted on April 22nd 2008 by Fishmonger
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
Pedantic Pete - leave him alone. Do you not think he has enough to deal with having purchased one of the instruments of torture used by the inquisition without having his spelling corrected LOL.
# Posted on April 23rd 2008 by breandan
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
IN FACT WHAT YOU HAVE IS NOT A MUSIC INSTRUMENT. IN IS CALLED A FOUDISSA AND IN USED IN IRELAND TO WARN OFF FOXES FROM FARMS AROUND CHRISTMAS
# Posted on April 24th 2008 by Pat Duff
Re: what on earth did i just purchace?
> They were actually made to be put on a shelf and looked at!
> So I should nail the useless piece of doodah on your music > room/ studio wall!
> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/MandolinBanjo.jpg/800px-MandolinBanjo.jpg
>
> This is a picture I found that is one the horrid things
> (although this one might be in playing order- who knows?!)
>
Does hardly anyone here have anything kind to say about banjo-mandolins?? The above photograph is almost identical to (but obviously older than) an instrument I bought new just 4 months ago after eying it for 2-3 years in a local instrument shop. I got it for about US$150. Despite all the jokes I've heard about it looking like an antique bed warmer, or boiling water in it, I find the more I play it, the more sweet I can make it sound. Guess some o' you blokes ain't got what it takes
So I played it last night in the open band for our local contra dance. It was sweet 
Never gets drown out by the bank of fiddles.
Suzanne.
# Posted on April 28th 2008 by SuzThoughts