My Banjo
Rick Shubb

I have a few banjos, including a Prucha, a Nechville Phantom, a Gold Tone that sports the first ever graphite neck, a Deering Calico, and a Saga travel banjo. I like each of these banjos quite a lot, and each has something unique to offer. But my main instrument, by far, is my prewar Gibson Mastertone.

I say prewar, although many of its parts are not that old. It is a conversion, and by no means a grail (ultimate collector's banjo). But it is a player's banjo, and sounds great.

When I bought it in 1964 from Jon Lundberg it was an archtop plectrum. Jon converted it to a flathead using an Ode tone ring. I shipped it to to Robbie Robinson in Ohio who built the mahogany 5-string neck. Regrettably, the original neck was not preserved. Most of us didn't think about such things in those days. It was trashed and some of the inlays re-used in the hearts-and-flowers 5-string neck.

In the early 70s I replaced the resonator with a top-tension style maple resonator built by Bob Palmer. The original mahogany resonator, along with the original 40-hole archtop tone ring, became part of another banjo that I sold. Again, I had not yet developed much of a sense of history or respect for the antique value of the instrument, and since these parts didn't serve my needs, they were moved along to pay the bills.

If I had it to do over again, I would save all the parts. I'd preserve the original plectrum neck, and duplicate it faithfully as a 5-string. But I was a kid, and I wanted it to look like Earl's.

I can't remember now exactly what the plectrum neck looked like. Maybe some banjo expert could help me figure it out...

As for its present setup: of course, I use my own 5th-string capo and compensated bridge. More on each of those elsewhere on my site.

Its 5th string nut is in line with the (shortened) 5th fret, a setup which I highly recommend.

I use a clamshell tailpiece which is not the original (4-string. long gone), but very old. I tried a Price straight-line tailpiece, and liked it quite a lot. I think it's probably the best tailpiece, but I just wasn't used to its sound and response. I had some gigs coming up, so rather than get reacquainted with my banjo, I put the familiar clamshell back on. One of these days I'll give the Price another try, and probably stick with it.

The round green mark you see on the head at around 3 o'clock is a Schertler pickup mounted on the inside of the head. The output jack is in a clamp on the flange nearby.

I've recently added a wooden armrest made by Tom Nechville, which is comfortable and looks cool. But by contrast it points out how funky the rest of the banjo has gotten.

I use a Remo head. I adjust the tension by feel rather than tuning it to a note, but I'm going to try that. I'm sure it's a good method. My banjo has been sounding really good to me for quite awhile, so I'm reluctant to change much about it.

The 2nd and 3rd string tuners are Keith tuners, while the others (which have been on the neck since it was built!) are from Stewart-MacDonald.

I use John Pearse strings: 09-11-14-20-10.

If it turns out that I must replace the neck some day, I'd like to reproduce the original plectrum neck as a 5-string. Now if only I could remember, or figure out exactly what it looked like...

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If you're an expert on old Gibson banjos, maybe you could tell me more about it. I'd be curious to know. rick@shubb.com

I've been told that it was made in 1932 or 1933. Inside the rim is stamped 9427-32. There is no oval sticker, but it may have had one at one time.

I didn't take any pictures of the plectrum neck, and now 40 years later I'd like figure out what it looked like. I think the banjo may have been a Studio King. That name has stuck in my mind relative to this banjo for all these years, so it must have been on there.

The entire pot assembly was just like pictures of Studio Kings I've seen:
(http://www.turtlehillbanjo.com/images/A16-19/StudioKing.html):

Same tone ring, same resonator, same tube and plate flange with hexagonal holes.

But I'm pretty sure that the peghead was not that of a Studio King, and I'd almost swear that the neck had the word Gibson and maybe Mastertone somewhere on it. As a teenaged Scruggs fanatic, I don't think I'd have been savvy enough to buy it if it didn't have one or both of those words reassuringly identifying it.

I guess I could be mistaken about some of this; I've seen lots of old banjo necks over the years. But I'll bet it was one of those Gibson anomalies.

Some of the inlays were reused in the 5-string neck (above). They were some version of hearts-and-flowers. Any ideas, banjo people? When was it built? What did the neck look like? What the heck was it? rick@shubb.com

Old banjos vs. new banjos

To me, the best sounding banjos are old banjos. Some new banjos do sound better than some old banjos, and of course setup is a big factor. Certainly the player is the single most important tonal factor. But everything else being equal, old banjos sound better to me. There is more of a difference in playing them than just listening. It's as much a matter of feel and response as it is one of tone.

I don't think that banjos were built better before World War II. I think they're being built better now. But the magic ingredient is time. Time and use. All good instruments improve with time and use. If you take one of today's good banjos - and there are many good ones - and play it for five years, it will sound much better. Incidentally, so will you. Ten years, better yet. And so on. In another fifteen years many of the banjos being built today will sound as good as prewar Mastertones. Maybe better.

On those early Flatt & Scruggs records, Earl's banjo was not yet 20 years old. Microphones of that era were not as accurate as today's, but then again, an oil painting is not as accurate as a photograph. Besides, when it comes to tone, the Earl factor trumps all.