For enthusiasts of early banjo
Bobey Nickle's Jig
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Comment by Tim Twiss on March 23, 2015 at 4:26pm
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Nice. Makes me think, the fretted banjo was certainly evolving at that time.
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Comment by Paul Draper on March 23, 2015 at 4:39pm
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Right. On the cover of the Buckley 1860 book is a fretted Ashborn.
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I love fretless, and trying to see how far you can push it, but I really feel something like those fretted Ashborns would be the "go to" instrument for many of these, especially those in the upper ranges and using more complex chords.
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Comment by Strumelia on March 23, 2015 at 6:40pm
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How can you be sure though that they weren't flush frets, fret markers? There were lots of scribe and inlaid lines indicating note positions back then I believe. The Stichter had scribed fret lines, for example.
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I very much agree with you.
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Lisa, I suppose that could be true. I was going on info gleaned from Gura and Bollman's book "America's instrument".
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Can't be. Just guessing by the execution of the material. I don't know that flush frets really help. It's about intonation, and getting it quickly.
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Also, seeing that picture of Swain Buckley with that fretted monster he played..pre - 1860. I just bet James Buckley had his hands on the best.,
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I've never moved a bridge. Rather, I have it marked specifically. I rely on tiny grains of wood to mark my "spots" up high. Moving it totally shifts your intonation. Then again, I do not play anything of the magnitude of a huge Stichter.
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Hmm, I move my bridges all the time, both in minstrel and OT (on fretless only of course), mostly to accommodate diverse changes of key and playing situations. I don't seem to need more than about a minute to relocate my brain and fingers after a shift.
That said, I must reveal that my own 'Stichter' is not huge by any means!
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