“Banjo killer”? Wishful thinking?
I bought an open back clawhammer banjo (scooped neck) last fall to learn clawhammer. Nice mellow style that has long intrigued me. This weekend I donned my banjo picks and played some Scruggs style on that banjo for a while (so much easier than clawhammer for me!). When I next picked up my Kimble two-point, which is not a quiet mandolin, I was shocked at how much quieter the mandolin was. I hadn’t even been digging in on what is by design a relatively quiet, warm banjo. I did try digging in harder on the mandolin to see if I could get it closer to the volume level of the banjo. I could get closer with really hard picking, but I couldn’t do that with any melodic single-note runs and double-stops (FYI, medium strings, Blue Chip CT55).
I’d be interested in some volume level tests of banjos with resonators vs what are considered to be loud mandolins.
(BTW, I also played a fiddle to compare volume, and without digging in it was as at least loud as the banjo, and much louder than the mandolin. I haven’t played much fiddle lately, and part of the reason is because they’re so freaking loud, and right up nearly my ear!)
Doug Brock
2018 Kimble 2 point (#259), Eastman MD315, Eastman MDA315, some guitars, banjos, and fiddles
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