Cluck Old Hen on fretless banjo

[MrGratefulheart]

Sounds good Man, almost bought the Bart Reiter fretless but at the last minute switched to a big fat charles waldman. Using the "minstrel nylgut strings and really like it. Of course now I covet the fretless experience. really like your DYI approach. thanks

[grrrlshawn]

Love it! <3

[hyderbanjo94]

Sounds Great!

[Frailer46]

Hi lvs,

I play melodeon (=button accordeon) and banjo. Check out the videos of Pitchpole Jack on YouTue. i love this frailing sound and wish I could do it better.

Keep playing

Best wishes

Frailer 46 = Gwilym

[Frailer46]

Hi lvs,

I play melodeon (=button accordeon) and banjo. Look up 'Pitchpole Jack' on YouTube. I love the frailing sound and wish I could do it better.  Videos like yours on YouTube spur me on. Keep frailing.

Best wishes

Frailer46 (=Gwilym Davies)

[locustvalleystring]

Thanks, Frailer46. I checked out your vids....but couldn't figure out if you were the fiddler or the accordian player. Larry

[Frailer46]

I liked your performance so much it is now the ring tone on my cell phone - true.

frailer46

Gloucestershire, UK

[G1le]

That has a really nice sound!

[jeramy576]

bravo! absolutely great version!

[banjobubby]

good stuff son im about too make a hand made frettless any suggestions?

[locustvalleystring]

@banjobubby  Well, I have gotten most of my old banjos needing repair on eBAy. I never built one from scratch. Based on my experience with repairs and putting on a new fretboard......better to go slow and carefully than to rush it. If you have a stumbling block, check with the resources out there before continuing, so that you don't have to undo something ( and sometimes you can't undo). Good luck. Post something so we get to hear you and your banjo. Thanks, Larry

[banjobubby]

i will i may be a few months but ill let you know as soon as i get it built,

check out my page i have some banjo stuff on there no frettless ye though

[johnarm64]

wow that was fuckin sweet

[lurholm]

Ace!!

[hawaiiandobroblues]

Very nice

[cabinbowman]

Awesome...gotta love it

[acefiddle]

Nice job! Loved it. Thanks for sharing.

[xSNOWYJOEx]

you sir are a purty gud guy

[A5thdiad]

beautfil sound! saw a fretless bassjo the other day...maybe one day i can hear that too!

[thegreatestbak]

im bidding on a fretless banjo on Ebay myself...may I ask where you picked up this version of cluck old hen? Im learning out of the miles krassen clawhammer book right now and in there its in A modal tuning. What style of clawhammer would this be by the way?

gr8 vid

[locustvalleystring]

Thanks. Can't remember where I learned it. I will look around to see if I can find the source. I am NOT in modal tuning though....this version calls for standard tuning. Good luck on the bidding. This was an eBay banjo with a cracked fretboard. Larry

[sisseeboy]

@locustvalleystring it kinda sounds like a cross between old loe clark and cluck old hen. pretty sweet

[blueshaldag]

very very neat man

tune and groove

keep on the good stuff

:)

[LegallyMoi]

Where did you get your nylgut strings?

[LegallyMoi]

That was amazing for a first fretless tune!

[davevanfunk]

Sounds great. It's interesting that you do this is what appears to be standard G tuning instead of tuning up the B string to C. Kind of gives it a Mt. Airy feel.

[locustvalleystring]

Thanks, Dave. You have a good ear (and eye) to catch that. You are correct....standard tuning. I did not work that out, but learned it somewhere..... I just forget where. Larry

[david1513]

i build personalized banjo's im on my second banjo now! im trying to capture that same sound on a fret board banjo, my frist banjo was a resonator tenor banjo, i was inspired by M eli Jackson at his death to carry on his hobby building music insterments canjo's and banjo's, my frist banjo was built for his doughter doris in tribute to eli jackson, David Coffin*

[PFCBeetleBailey]

I am not crazy about clawhammer, but you sound great! That fretless is a cool lil' banjo you got there :-)

[printfellow]

Awesome!!! Wonderful!!! Thank you!

[nationalo]

Nice one!!!!

[surfinbernard77]

Wow! This is great!

[locustvalleystring]

Thank you, Bernard. Love that fretless. Larry.

[jkboro]

beautiful! damn that sounded nice

[tuckytunes]

that was good. thanks for posting.

[yoteskinner]

wow i never knew you could do fretless it sounds so much better that was i lie the twang it makes i want to start playing i am goign to get one off ebay any pointers would help

[locustvalleystring]

yotes,

Sorry to respond so late. You need to be patient in hitting the notes......getting the right pitches. One thing to keep in mind is that sliding up to the note will make the pitches sound closer to the ear. Avoid chords....play the melody lines with slides where appropriate. There are fretless calwhammer tab books out there. Have fun. Larry

[johnorford1931]

It was rather a long time ago that I had a couple of fretless banjos - one was a six-string.

I used double-length gut violin strings and the sound was very tasty.

[wjniemi]

That is absolutely AWESOME!!!!

As a lifelong violinist learning 5 string Scruggs style for fun, I am blown away! Fretless banjo! Now I've seen everything!

Best regards,

Bill

[hovanti]

That was great! Thank you for sharing it-and your banjo-with us.

[locustvalleystring]

Life is short. Go get that banjo and start playin!!!! Larry

[GeoffBowers]

That's great Larry - thanks for taking the time again. You've probably saved hours of restringing and loads of cash lost in the experimenting.

Thanks again, Geoff. :O)

[GeoffBowers]

Nice job! I see that you're using nylon strings. Would you save us a lot of time and expense in experimenting and tell us the gauges please?

Thanks in advance, Geoff. :O)

[locustvalleystring]

I stopped using nylon. I now use the Aguilla composite strings. When I did use the nylons, I bought the LaBella Banjo Strings (set No.17) and took the gauges they gave me (no gauges indicated on the packaging). The 4th string is silver wound on nylon. I like the composites better. They are a little stiffer and give better sound output. They take some stretching to hold atune, but then they are solid and do not change with the weather. Thanks. Larry

[GeoffBowers]

That's really useful Larry - thanks! I'm having a hard time locating the Aguilla strings though. I've seen them mentioned on the EZFolk archive site with respect to the uke, but just can't find a source anywhere to order from? Maybe you wouldn't mind putting me on to one please. One further thing - if you wouldn't mind? Could you tell us the string gauges you use? 'Sorry about all of this work...

Best' Geoff. :O)

[locustvalleystring]

Geoff, I no longer have nylon strings. The Aquilla composite string gauges are not listed on the package, but I used my vernier caliper and got: .021, .025(wound), .030, .024, .021 inches. The numbers seem wrong, but they are not. The 3rd(unwound) string is thicker than the 4th(wound) string. Larry

[Khalilullah]

What is the tuning? Sounds great!

[locustvalleystring]

standard tuning....

[hosejockey41]

What kind of fingerpick are you using?

[locustvalleystring]

Dunlop plastic fingerpick. When my middle finger nail is in good shape, I prefer pick-less. I try to keep both the middle finger and the ring finger ready to play.

[pappyfiddle]

@locustvalleystring Sally Hinton Inc. IIRC makes some stuff called Hard As Nails (careful how you pronounce that) Look in the ladies cosmetics (pretend you're shopping for a gift for a lady) I've found I can actually split firewood and then go sit down to do some pickin' and still have 3 millimeter nails. I just paint that stuff on the outboard 1/3 of each nail and they break far less often. It doesn't show hardly and doesn't change the nail texture etc. much. Over and out

[RandyHaddock]

awesome! i want one!

[shmeldrick]

you dont by any chance have tabs for this do you?

[locustvalleystring]

I learned it from a friend at Clifftop last year. It is in standard tuning and pretty easy to work out.

[shmeldrick]

its ok i figured it out

[Knockdownbanjo]

Nice banjo and great playing....

[MSfeller]

Yes, very nice, that fretless banjo sound kicks ass! I wasn't even aware of fretless banjo, thought it was like an antique thing, but heck, it does sound very, very good!

[RaggedTime]

wow, really nice "fretless" tone, especially for an ex-wrecked banjo! Do you think a "universal favorite" is good to start with?

[locustvalleystring]

The Stewart Universal Favorite is a nice banjo, but I would be hesitant to remove a good fretboard from an old vintage banjo to make it a fretless. I searched for, and found, a banjo with a hopeless fretboard (cheaper that way also).

[RaggedTime]

Oh, what was I thinking when writing this comment? - the remark on the sound, and the question about the universal favorite were unrelated to each other! I'm thinking of starting to play the banjo, and because there aren't many fretless ones I'm thinking of a fretted vintage banjo.

[Authorized77]

That's so cool! I never have heard of/seen a fretless banjo.

[locustvalleystring]

skinnbanjo85....The fretboard was beyond repair. I removed the frets, then gently heated with a cloths iron through a cloth, working slowly from one end to the other with a small spatula. Good luck.

[queteimportaguey]

nice! fretless rules!

[amnovicki]

I've been an upright bassist for many moons, so I'm familiar with fretless instruments. I want to learn the banjo, and wonder if fretted is better.

[locustvalleystring]

Thenks. That was my first fretless tune. Tough to get the pitch right to my ear without the frets being there. Still working on the technique.

[darius97]

this sounds great but it reminds me of cripple creek more than cluck old hen

[TheBachands]

I REALLY LOVE THIS ONE! GREAT JOB!

[sparkyfiddle]

Great playing. Interesting, I did a similar thing with an old 1880's Dobson Victor fretless I got on ebay!