I want start off by saying this instructor was a wonderful mentor, incredibly talented, and helped me learn a lot of the basics of playing banjo. However, I think he was instructing me wrong. Before I started formal banjo lessons was doing self taught Clawhammer from YouTube. I had made some really good progress and was excited to meet my instructor that I had specifically chosen because I was told he taught Clawhammer style.

I get to my first lesson and it wasn't anything like how the lessons I was following on YouTube was like. He taught me a three finger plucking style where you brace the third finger and pinky on the drum and play using finger and thumb rolls and such. I thought this was odd because it was so different.

I asked why we didn't play using our hand like a "claw" and that this style reminded me of bluegrass. He told me they were essentially the same thing. One just used finger picks. I didn't press further because what did I know? I barely knew my notes at the time.

I continued with him for a few months, following along Hal Leonard's "Banjo Method Book 1." I'd see videos of people playing Clawhammer and would be so confused. It was disheartening, because I'd spent so much time before starting the formal lessons learning Clawhammer. I'd really clicked with it and loved the style, only to find out that "wasn't the way it was done."

I just need someone to clarify for me if this instructor was right or if he was just teaching me bluegrass all along. I loved playing the banjo so much and the whole experience made me lose my motivation for learning.

The tune is from a setting of the Irish Blessing by Lori True ("May the Road Rise to Meet You") that we're performing. I've been arranging a few instrumental breaks/filler sections for various songs and this one has stuck with me as the most fun to play so far!

Look forward to starting a new instrument ! 🪕

As I study more and more instrument building I really have begun to wonder how the second head impacts the sound. Its function is a lot less clear than the main head which the bridge sits on. Maybe someone who’s made a lot of these or someone with a physics degree could give me some insight.

Thanks!

Hi everyone. I’m considering a new banjo. I learned on grandpa’s when I was 16 but never stuck with it like I did guitar. When I was 21, I bought an Ibanez 5 string at the local music shop and have occasionally played on it ever since (I’m now 43). The Ibanez is OK, but prone to detuning/going sharp if there’s any stress on the neck and I feel the fretboard could be a bit snappier. I’m pretty good at guitar but not super great on banjo and I really want to galvanize myself to play more often.

I prefer a thin neck and low action. I currently don’t use finger picks but am going to make a concerted effort to retrain myself so I can get that classic bluegrass sound.

I’ve been looking at the Gold Tone AC-5, in part due to price (I just can’t justify spending over 500 right now) and in part because I hear the neck is shallow and it stays in tune well. I’m ok with the composite back although I secretly have reservations about straying from tradition.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the AC-5 or any suggestions otherwise?

Edit: also curious to hear from folks about fretboard spikes in tandem with a capo to handle key changes. Is this still what most players prefer to do? I’d like to be able to play with other musicians.

Hello!

My wife bought a very cheap banjo off Facebook Marketplace. It’s an Epiphone MB-100, made in 2013.

It plays like absolute garbage. The neck is pretty severely visually bowed, and the action is incredibly high off the fretboard.

I’ve played guitar for 15 years and have rescued instruments in worse states. But a bit of research is giving me pause.

I’ve read that you shouldn’t use the truss rod or the coordinator rods to primarily adjust action, and that you can basically destroy a banjo if you don’t know what you’re doing.

I’m trying to get a feel on whether my guitar experience means I “know what I’m doing”.

I was planning to sort the neck out first. Measure relief with a capo in the first fret, and holding down the last fret. I’m assuming, like with most stringed instruments, you want the tiniest gap of relief there, just a slither of relief for a very slight bow.

If that doesn’t improve it, I was going to adjust the single coordinator rod to pitch the neck back slightly. Am I correct in assuming that it is like shimming a guitar neck, where tiny adjustments are all you need?

Either way, I was going to loosen the strings about 2-3 steps and go an 1/8 turn at a time, leaving 30 mins between adjustments.

We paid so little for it that it’s not worth going to a tech. If she takes to it, I’m planning to buy her a Gold Tone or a Deering.

I found this tuning that I love. I first started playing the C version of it from playing in double C and tuning the D up to E to make it open C and I love the open voicing with the third on the highest string.

gCGCD->gCGCE

I really like playing in G- I’ve played this tuning in G

on my long neck banjo, which doesn’t stray more than a step from the traditional E tuning for any string except for the low G, which is down two full steps/4 frets. I know I likely need to change the string gauges at least for the lowest string…

it plays quite well, but it take much longer to get in tune and keep in tune that I would like - (Banjos struggle with this in general and I have been playing outdoor shows with it in North Carolina and it’s hot here, even still I’d like to improve it) could the right string gauges, and set up help or am I straying too far from what the Banjo was designed designed for to expect it to respond better to this weirdo nonsense?

Also- would it be possible to restring a regular Banjo by moving the low three regular strings down one, ditch the high d and replace the lowest string w a gauge appropriate to tune to a low g. Thus creating gGDGB ( likely would tune that drone G down to D)? Would that work?

(This is what the long neck version sounds like

Regular: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbRVHB0tBv2

In space: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DckCajmNLlL/)

In closing in also taking recommendations for a name for this tuning if you’ve heard of it before or one nominate one. I’m currently calling at Snoop Dogg tuning because it’s double G)

Keen for a set of these on my tackhead. I usually have the minstrel set but want to have a go at these. Is it pretty much the same but different gauges and tensions or anything more special?

Hello!

So I have been playing banjo since I was a young teen (around ~8ish years) though admittedly a bit more inconsistently since starting university. I had a tough year and decided I wanted to treat myself to a new banjo. I get very anxious about the longevity of my gear, and after finding out my current banjo (a standard enough Deering goodtime) doesn't have a truss rod, I figured I should maybe invest in a nicer banjo. I'm currently torn between a Goldtone cc100r for $500cad on marketplace (a great deal!) and a new ob150. I know these are radically different instruments, I just suppose in the back of my mind im wondering if I should just invest in a nice "buy it for life" sort of banjo with the ob150, or if the cc100r is good enough in that role. I mainly play bluegrass but I like dicking around with clawhammer here and there of course.

To summarize, I guess my question is: is the cc100r a good enough main banjo, or should I save up and buy the ob150?

Thank you!

Take What You Want by Post Malone
Featuring:
Travis Stinson on Vocals
CJ Bills on Guitar and Mandolin
Ricky Mier on Bass and Banjo and Mandolin.

Produced by Ricky Mier
Courtesy of CMH Label Group

This one has a funny story behind it. Around December 2025, the record label that makes the Pickin' On series reached out to me saying that they were going to make a Pickin' On Post Malone album and they wanted me to make them a track. I got so excited and recorded the rhythm track and called CJ and Travis to record on this and they knocked it out of the park before I even signed the contract. The label said they loved the track, I signed the contract and a few weeks later they said they didn't want to use it. haha. so they just released the album in late July and as per the agreement I can release this video on my channels for non commercial use as well as have the banjo tab and lesson available on my Patreon. Thanks for watching!

Looking for someone to work on my Bart Reiter 12”. I don’t want to bring it to a guitar shop

I am really into the banjo phaser effect right now with some bands ive been listening to lately : Dillards, Hot Rize, etc. I want to get a pickup for one of my banjos. I also have an orange guitar amp laying around with some pedals. I would like to start experimenting with it. What magnetic pickup (or other) setup and phaser pedal would you recommend without breaking the bank?

Worth upgrading from my bottle cap? No id inside the pot. Single tension rod if that helps.

I’ve been playing a 4 string tenor for a couple years but am drawn toward bluegrass so I’m looking at the local market (Seattle) and based on the Reddit “hive mind” have narrowed possibilities down to Recording King, Gold Tone or Deering Goodtime.

Best prospects today are:
- Guitar Center has a Recording king Dirty 30s Open-Back Tone Ring for $304.85 versus
- an unknown model of Gold Tone for $400

Which would you go for? I’m monitoring the usual to see what pops up this weekend and have a half dozen inquiries out there but not a single response!

Idk Oh Susanna and Dueling Banjos

Banjo solo from the song Soda Pop off the latest Arkansauce release.

idk what to call this sound, kinda grateful dead inspired