Build Quality
This banjo played great right out of the box, but soon after getting it I took it in-person to master banjo luthier Brooks Masten's basement shop in Portland, Oregon to get his take on it and to do any additional setup work that might be needed. Brooks was very impressed by the build quality and materials used. He said that ash was a very stable neck wood. He even uses ash in some of his banjos. The only adjustment Brooks made was to slightly lower the action at the nut.
Sound Quality
I have already played this banjo at four Irish sessions over the last two weeks and have received compliments on its sound. I even got to hear another lefty play it for a moment so I could experience it from that perspective. Someone also happened to make a short recording of an outdoor session I was in at a park and I was shocked at how clearly the banjo stood out amongst tin whistle, concertina and fiddle. I don't hear any compromise in the sound at all by having an open back (no resonator), a very short scale (19.75 inches) and a smaller than usual pot (10" rim as opposed to 11").
Playability
Having this banjo in my hands seems to have bolstered my confidence. The high B-string means that I don't have to make that leap to the 7th fret of the E-string. This has definitely made my playing more fluid. The shorter 19.75" scale is not a problem at all. It's actually part of what makes this banjo easier to play. I was initially worried about the chunky feel of the neck, but I don't think this has hindered me at all. It primarily feels chunkier due to the width of the neck since it has 5 strings at the nut instead of 4. Brooks Masten assured me that a chunky neck is a good thing for a banjo's resonance and for keeping it in tune.
Supports Guitar Fingering
I was always a one-finger-per-fret type of 4-string Irish tenor player. I never adapted to the more common and more recommended mandolin type fingering. Irish tenor banjo players are taught to slant their fretting hand at an angle and use mandolin fingering, which means pinky on fret 2, middle finger on frets 3 and 4, ring finger on fret 5 and 6. Saving the pinkie finger for fret 7. Having that angle allows you to do this fingering. I don't do this angle though. I like to keep my fingers almost parallel to the frets like a guitar player would. This banjo allows me to fully embrace my preferred way of holding my fretting hand and fingering the notes one-finger-per-fret.
More Range in First Position
This GDAEB all 5th tuning from low to high gives me more range. That extra string tuned to B has a 5th fret E note. That's the equivalent of a 12th fret E note in standard EADGBE guitar tuning or GDAE mandolin/Irish tenor banjo tuning. This means I can play "up to the 12th fret" without having to leave first position since I have the equivalent note on the 5th fret. I haven't quite figured out what to do with this extra range yet. For some tunes it'll mean that I can play the melody in a higher octave. It could also open up some interesting higher-pitched harmonic opportunities if I make small chords incorporating notes on that high B string.
Tab and Staff Paper are the same
I realized yesterday that having 5 strings tuned in 5ths means that "mandolin tab" for this instrument could be written on tab representing 5 strings instead of four. It just so happens that traditional sheet music staff paper already has five lines. I do still write out the occasional tune in tab or notation so that I can see it more clearly, and now I can use regular sheet music staff paper for tab or for notation!
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| With 5 strings this works for both tab and notation! |
Inspiration from other instruments
I believe the late jazz tenor banjo player Eddy Davis had a tenor banjo with a 17 inch scale and 10 inch rim custom made by Joel Eckhaus of Earnest Instruments. That helped me feel OK with a sub 20 inch scale tenor banjo mandola. At first glance, my banjo could be mistaken for baritone banjolele, which is not a bad thing. The design also draws characteristics from the old-time banjo world simply because that is the type of banjo Zach Hoyt usually makes. The additional range potentially places this banjo into banjo-mandolin sonic territory, which is cool. If/when I can play a melody an octave up it'll double the fiddle and mandolin octave. Lastly, an inspiration for 5 strings tuned in 5ths with a similar scale length comes from the Puerto Rican Cuatro, which has 5 (double-course) strings tuned in all 4ths BEADG on a 20.5" scale, the exact opposite of my all 5ths GDAEB tuning.
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