New banjo!

[John Cohen]

I have been looking for a smaller late 19th century banjo to play stroke style tunes on when traveling to places with humidity problems or for when I don't feel like lugging my Boucher around.  Over the last few weeks, I've probably played forty banjos from this time frame, and all of them were lacking in my opinion, although I play stroke style only and haven't had prior experience with these banjos, so I'm biased towards the sound of the early minstrel banjos.  Today I finally found the perfect banjo- an SS Stewart American Princess, which is an A-scale ladies banjo with a 10'' pot.  Interestingly, with medium tension nylgut strings the banjo plays very well down tuned to D and E (even low bass tuning)!  The most surprising thing about this banjo (and the reason I bought it) was the tone.. it sounds almost identical to my Hartel boucher, and despite the 10'' pot, it sounds HUGE and has great volume.  I can't explain why this little banjo sounds like it does, but it's perfect and I thought I'd share some pictures with you all.  The neck is pretty straight, although the store I bought it from had it strung with steel strings.  It's also missing two inlays, which I plan to have replaced in the near future.  It's such a happy banjo.  Side by side compared to banjos with 13 and 14 inch pots, it holds its own and isn't quiet or thin sounding at all.  This is with a synthetic head as well- I'll also be replacing that in the near future.

[John Cohen]

Here's more pictures:

[Rob Morrison]

John-- I've got an 1880's Haynes banjo a bit on the small side, and with no tone ring, that sounds and plays incredibly well in A/E tuning with gut strings.  They don't have to be oversized to sound great.  If you're really concerned with humidity, think twice before you put a skin head on your new banjo, perhaps a Fiberskyn instead.

[Strumelia]

Hi John, nice banjer!

Do you notice any difference in terms of your playing stroke style on fretted versus on fretless (which i assume your Boucher is) ?  I find I myself play quite differently depending on that.

[John Cohen]

I personally don't, but I only play stroke style and I have a background with other fretted instruments.  I think the only difference I notice is when sliding up or down, but that's to be expected.  It is refreshing to go back to the freedom of my fretless Boucher after playing the Stewart for a while.  The main difference I notice is in string spacing and tension, but it's easy to adjust to the different banjos and switch back and forth.