I'm interested in a banjolele but I don't know how much I really want to spend on one. Amazon has a lot of really cheap ones which are probably of dubious quality from brands like Aklot, Kmise, Vangoa, etc. This would be great, but I also suffer from the curse of not being able to play stringed instruments right handed. I was thinking it wouldn't be that hard to restring one of these left handed, but restringing often involves having to replace the nut since the channels cut for the strings might be asymmetrical.
All that being said, I have a cheap normal ukulele I got from Amazon and the grooves in its nut are perfectly uniform, so it would actually be very easy to restring it if I wanted to (I bought it left handed though so I didn't have to). If anyone has one of these uber cheap banjoleles could they tell me what the nut looks like (and the bridge for that matter) so I know how possible it would be to restring it?
Edit: or perhaps the nuts are not glued in place and could be flipped?
I've seen a few videos of people playing ultra tiny 5 string banjos. Not only are they super awesome just to look at, they seem like a great idea for convenient solo practice or just a fun thing to have. Unfortunately, they are also super expensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJib28XaurI
For some reason though, I have seen many many small 4 string banjo ukuleles for sale for really low prices and it got my noggin joggin'.
I see two ways of approaching this, either cut and rasp away the neck and headstock above the 5th fret and narrow the string spacings for the 4 strings and fit a 5 string tailpiece and bridge, or add strip of wood along the neck to accommodate a 5th string. I'm leaning towards the former.
Does this sound even realistic or possible? would the fretboard need to be completely replaced to match relative banjo tunings?
Not done anything like this before, and while yes, chinese made banjoleles are pretty cheap, I wouldn't want to buy one just to make something completely useless.
advice would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve just bought a Kmise Tenor Banjolele. Looking for tips on set up and ways to improve the instrument! In particular my 1 string in a little dull whenever not open. Looking forward to expert advice!
Banjolele is a terrible instrument to idly strum and sing Weezer to. It’s got the percussive qualities of a banjo without the punch of steel strings. In the wrong hands it’s flat and lifeless, but still loud enough to be annoying.
It used to be popular for Tin Pan Alley songs in the age of raccoon fur coats and straw boater hats. Nowadays I think the best use of it is for claw hammer playing traditional Americana songs. Not as loud as a banjo but still has that jangle and re-entrant tuning which allows for banjo’s right-hand techniques.
Here is a lovely quiet version of an English fiddle tune (the roots of many Americans and bluegrass songs) played claw hammer style on the banjolele.
You wouldn’t mind having this guy as a neighbour.
https://youtu.be/IAi2Y8mTKpg
Hi everybody, I bought this Kmise Tenor banjolele (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TBGYTS8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) a few months ago, and have enjoyed getting back into uke and learning to play bluegrass with it.
However, when I play certain notes (2nd fret F# on E string, high octave A on A string, 3rd fret Eb on C string, etc.) the notes will be so flat, even though my tuner tells me the strings are in tune. I thought it was normal for all ukes until my friend brought over a very high quality soprano uke and every note on that instrument is in tune going up the fretboard. I also recently restrung my banjolele and I know I did a pretty bad job, since it was my first time restringing any instrument and the winding on the pegs looks awful.
So I’m wondering, could it be the quality of the instrument? The horrible restring job? Maybe the way I’m fingering/strumming/picking? Bending the string on those out of tune notes sometimes brings it to the right pitch but it is very inconvenient to do every time. Thanks for any help in advance!!
i really love the sound of the banjo and would love to learn, but i am small and one of the least musically talented people i know! i love folk punk and especially wanna learn songs in that genre, but wasn’t sure what to start with!
also where does one find tabs for songs?
I'm a beginner. Have been enjoying my Gretsch G9110 concert ukulele that I picked up used. I'm now considering buying a banjolele. I'm looking at a custom made instrument from a hobbyist builder. It's not a make or builder that anyone will be familiar with, just a local (to me) guy. What I'm curious on... what should I look for when I check it out in person? Are there obvious ways to differentiate something finely crafted from a poorly constructed instrument? All I know is that it looks pretty nice in the photos, has an 8" pot, a JJB pickup, and that it's 26" in length.
Hi all, I’m interested in purchasing a banjolele. I already play the banjo, ukulele, and acoustic guitar so I’m pretty familiar as far as playing instruments go. Just looking for some advice on brands and if there is really any difference between this and a uke. Thanks!
I just got into playing a banjolele so I started with a very budget one but it seems their is something wrong with the e string it has a strange buzz to it, the banjolele is tuned and I’ve fuddled around with it but the buzzing wont dissipate, if anyone has any ideas to help this problem i like to hear them? Video where I show the problem: https://youtu.be/jTG5dVUhivk
So I have no background in music, I mean none at all I can't read music don't know how to play anything. Recently I bought a banjolele because I thought it would be a cool and cheap hobby to take up and my one musician friend said the uke is a good beginners Instrument and I love the banjo so I bought a cheap banjolele to play around with. Any tips or useful things you can tell me would be helpful.
I'm interested in a banjolele but I don't know how much I really want to spend on one. Amazon has a lot of really cheap ones which are probably of dubious quality from brands like Aklot, Kmise, Vangoa, etc. This would be great, but I also suffer from the curse of not being able to play stringed instruments right handed. I was thinking it wouldn't be that hard to restring one of these left handed, but restringing often involves having to replace the nut since the channels cut for the strings might be asymmetrical.
All that being said, I have a cheap normal ukulele I got from Amazon and the grooves in its nut are perfectly uniform, so it would actually be very easy to restring it if I wanted to (I bought it left handed though so I didn't have to). If anyone has one of these uber cheap banjoleles could they tell me what the nut looks like (and the bridge for that matter) so I know how possible it would be to restring it?
Edit: or perhaps the nuts are not glued in place and could be flipped?
