Ukuleles - Part Two

Alternate string sets for the ukulele.

The most common tuning today for soprano, concert and tenor ukes is C6 (g C E A) while the baritone has the G6 guitar tuning.(D G B E).  Both of these are sometimes made into the Taropatch open tuning by lowering the 1st string one whole step.   The open tuning with a high 4th string is a good choice for both fingerpicking and clawhammer. The low 4th string is good for fingerpicking and strumming. The normal high 4th string on 4 strings are used for strumming, fingerpicking and clawhammer. 6 string ukes can be played strummed or fingerpicked.  8 strings ukes usually are only used for strumming.

For the remainder of this post we will discuss alternate string sets maintaining the 6th chord tunings.These strings are sometimes available as a set or as individual or extra strings.

First we have the low G (G C E A) strings on a Mainland all solid concert mahogany pineapple with a long neck (tenor size). This uke has very attractive rope binding around the head stock, sound hole and body, it sounds and plays great.

Next we have a G6 set of strings (d G B E) on a Kala Tenor with a solid spruce top and laminated spalted maple back and sides. The higher pitched 4th string on the smaller body size make it sound quite different from a baritone.  The lower pitched strings also are very different from the normal C6 tenors.  The G6 set has a nice mellow tone and it is a favorite of Hawaiians and Jim Beloff for his Martin tenor according to his first video.

Next is a No-Name solid mahogany Baritone from eBay with a set of C6 strings (g C E A).  Nice dolphin inlay and a very mellow sound due to the larger body when compared to smaller ukes.

The Mele all solid Koa tenor 8 string has a very full sound like a 12 string guitar.  It strings are C6 tuning (gG cC EE AA)  Perfect for strumming.

When I bought the Mele solid mahogany double puka tenor it was tuned g cC E AA.  I changed the 2nd A string to be an octave lower for a very different sound.

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For my birthday I just received  the new for 2015 Kala 5 String Tenor Uke with a solid cedar top and laminate acacia back and sides.  The fourth course has both high G and low G strings.

In 1919 the C.F. Martin company began manufacturing Tiples.  These were modeled after South American Tiples and Hawaiian Ukuleles.  The instrument had 10 steel string in 4 courses tuned like D6 ukuleles. Today Ohana builds tiples based on the old Martins.  Mine is tenor size and has a solid mahogany top, back and sides. It is tuned gG cCc eEe AA.  There are a number of youTube videos of people playing the American (Martin) style tiples as well as various  South American models. In the 1920s The Golden Melody Boys released a number of records featuring the tiple in the Paramount Old Time Catalog.

Today's new Golden Age of the Ukulele has shown us many new models of ukuleles including the Gretsch Guitalele.  It is tenor size and it has a solid mahogany top and laminated mahogany back and sides with nylon strings.  It is tuned A D G C E A (like a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret).

There are many youTube examples of various ukulele strums.  Aaron Keim has a good number of excellent examples of both fingerpicking and clawhammer ukulele playing.

Ukuleles - Part One

I have enjoyed learning to play the Ukulele over the last several years.  Being both a guitarist and a clawhammer banjo player gave me some advantages with learning chords and strums.  Declining health issues have me enjoying lighter instruments like ukes more these days.

There are lots of  youTube videos to help you learn.  I started with the two Jim Beloff DVDs.

Today good ukuleles are highly affordable.  My favorites affordable brands are Ohana and Kala. These  imports are made in Asia and I understand they use CNC equipment in building them.

I recommend buying a ukulele from either eBay seller MIM or the Uke Republic or Elderly Instruments websites.

Once you get good enough to know more of what you want, you can buy a Martin or a Kamaka or many other different brands where the quality is a couple of steps up and the prices are quite a few steps up.

If you don't have small hands I recommend starting with a Tenor size instrument with at least a solid top. Soprano or Standard size ukes have a short scale and your fingers can struggle to fit inside the fret boundaries. Another disadvantage is many soprano ukes have friction tuners making the instrument a bit harder to tune.  The Tenor size is the most popular in Hawaii today.

There are many different woods used in Ukulele construction, Koa, Cedar, Spruce, Rosewood, Mango, Walnut and Mahogany among others. The are also Banjo Ukes, Resonator Ukes and Bass Ukes on the market today.

The ukes I am discussing in this post are all mahogany instruments in my collection.  Each has a solid top, back and side. Mahogany has a warm, mellow and round tone - the best sounding ukes to my ears.

First we have a Hula UK-145 sopranino.  12 frets with friction tuners.  The scale length is 10 7/8 ".  This a very cool little uke to own after you have no problems with standard size ukuleles.  I bought this uke for a little more than $100 from Mele Ukuleles.  I tune it in the older D6 tuning (a D F# B).

Next is a Koloa KU-500 soprano with 12 frets and deluxe friction tuners. Scale length is 13 5/8 ".   It plays and sounds great.  I paid about $80 for this instrument on ebay Also tuned to D6 (a D F# B).

Now we have a Koloa KU-550 baritone - tuned D G B E (guitar tuning).  B stock $99.  20 1/8 " scale length. 14 frets to the body, 19 total frets.

The Ohana TK-38 tenor is modeled after the Martin 2T.  It is tuned g C E A.(C6 Modern Hawaiian)  17 " scale length. 14 frets to the body, 19 total frets.

Finally we have an Ohana CK-28 Vintage Portugese Style Nunes/Dias reissue Concert Ukulele. Also tuned in C6 tuning (g C E A).  14 Frets total. Friction tuners. Scale length 15 7/8". 

Here are links to
Mele
MIM
Uke Republic.
Elderly Instruments

More Uke Posts to follow:

Cheap Guitars

Most roots musicians in the 1920s & 30s played inexpensive guitars because that's all they could afford.    In that tradition I now play some such instruments - specifically the current Recording King Dirty 30s guitars.

I have owned expensive guitars that have increased in value over the years which can be a good investment.  I have recently sold these as my playing ability has been reduced due to many chemotherapy treatments causing nerve damage in my hands and feet.

I sold some stuff on eBay and had a little spending money so I bought a Recording King RPH-05. The list price is $299 and the street price is $199 but I bought a B Stock one on eBay for $129 with free shipping.  It had some scuffs and other imperfections which you have to look for.  The action is good and it sounds & plays nice thanks to the solid spruce top.  It is an 0 size guitar which is actually bigger than a Parlor.  For fun I decided to put on a pickguard, bridge pins and some decals over the dot inlays and on the headstock.  The guitar looked cool as is but I wanted to "bling" it up for a few more dollars.

My next purchase of another B Stock was a Dreadnought size RDH-05.  This $139 purchase included a B Stock hard shell case also with free shipping.  I bought an over sized pickguard and some Star inlays.  This guitar plays and sounds great.  Nice deep bass tones.

My final purchase was an 000 size ROH-05 B stock for $119 with free shipping.   I looked to see why it was B Sock but could not find any scratches, dings, etc.  I then double checked the color and realized it was 2 Tone Sunbrust instead of 3 Tone. It was easy to play and sounded good so  I was pleased.  I "blinged" it up with a martin style pickguard, bridge pins and some fancier decal inlays.  The decals are supposed to leave no residue if removed.   I looked for B Stock but avoided any with cracks or more serious issues.

Recording King Guitars in the 1930s and later were sold by Montgomery Ward.  Many of these guitars were made by Gibson.  Today the Music Link sells Recording King as well as guitars with the Loar label.  The instruments are made in China but are very nice Travel Guitars that you don't need to worry much about.

Here is are links to the Recording King Website http://www.recordingking.com/   
and the Loar Website. http://www.theloar.com/

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Fate Norris Biography

Many thanks to our friend Pat Towell for providing this article about Fate Norris of the 1920s Skillet Lickers,  Click on the link below to read the PDF file.

Fate Norris Biography

Automated MP3 Downloads

A number of  Juneberry78s.com  visitors have requested Downloads for our Legacy MP3 Roots Music Albums.  These albums have been distributed on CD-Rs and DVDs since we started our website back in 2005.  Early this year (2013) we made some MP3 Downloads available at very reasonable prices (usually $1.99 per album).  However, our customers usually had to wait several hours before receiving the downloads because it was a manual process.

To do automated downloads additional software was required.  We found an excellent product (DLGuard) for a reasonable price and had several people test it.  We made a few adjustments and have already rolled it out.

Juneberry78s.com now has a  direct link  to the automated downloads that replaces the old "manual" link.

We have created several new albums for downloads only and are in the process of making all 300+ of our albums available for downloads.   Well over 100 albums are available now.

This allows our customers to purchase as few items as desired and spend very little money to get one of our many albums with content you will find nowhere else.

In the near future we will use our new store - juneberry78s.biz  to also resume sales of Records (78s, 45s & LPs), Books & Magazines, Used Commercial CDs & DVDs, Musical Instruments, etc.

With today's technology it is unbelievable what can be stored on a tiny computer component.  I am now a true believer in eBooks and digital MP3s.  I still will buy physical CDs like the new Bear Family Johnson City Sessions Box sets as well as discs with meaningful notes from County, Yazoo and Arhoolie.  Unfortunately liner notes are not distributed with downloads.

New Orleans 2013

My wife Amy and I returned from a short vacation in New Orleans, Louisiana last week. We had a great time.

We flew in to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport and picked up our rental car.  We were tired from the flight so we decided to eat at the Marriott Hotel's Restaurant at 555 Canal Street for dinner.  The food was excellent.  First we had a salad composed of watermelon, basil, grape tomatoes, grapes, red onions, feta cheese with a red wine vinaigrette dressing that was delicious.  We also had seafood gumbo.  I ordered a side of lobster mac & cheese and Amy had a bite.  Amy ordered a skirt steak and I ordered pecan crusted catfish.  For desert we each had peach cobbler a la mode.  We had white zinfandel wine with our food.  We were both pleased with our meals.

After a restful night's sleep we went to the Sunday Jazz Brunch at the Palace Cafe a block away on Canal Street.  Amy ordered a shrimp omelette and I had cajun eggs benedict.  The band was a small unit with a trumpet, banjo and standup bass.  Two of the fellows also sang.  I requested King Oliver's Canal Street Blues. They did a nice version. We bought a few souvenirs and dropped them off at the hotel.  We then went to Harrah's Casino for a little gaming.  To save money we had a take out dinner from Popeye's.  The fried chicken, red beans & rice, biscuit and sweet tea were very good for fast food.  On this day we had two very brief rain storms.  It did not rain again and the temperature remained pleasantly warm and humid.

The next day we had delicious brunch at Deanie's Seafood in the French Quarter and then went shopping at the French Market. We watched a small combo play some Fats Domino tunes, nice versions and the piano player sounded like Fats.  We had a snack of Crocodile Tenders that tasted similar to chicken. Parking there was quite expensive $38 for three hours.  We then relaxed at the swimming pool at the hotel and had a tasty snack at the hotel lobby before retiring for the evening.

Our next day's adventure included a trolley ride on St Charles Ave going towards LSU. Lots of nice old buildings and old mansions to view.  We turned around at the end of the line and went back to Canal Street towards the Mississippi River.  We went on a Steamboat Cruise up and down the Mississippi River and had a tasty lunch with fried catfish and other Louisiana items.  There was a jazz band with trumpet, trombone, clarinet, banjo, piano and drums.  They played some vintage Louis Armstrong material as well as some later dixieland type material.  We enjoyed the performances and the tour

On our 4th day we went back to the Harrah's Casino because we heard good things about their buffet.  We were not disappointed with the food.  Practically any Creole or Cajun dish was available so we did not try all the dishes that we wanted.  The gambling was again less successful.

For our final full day we drove around in both the French Quartet and Historic Uptown N.O. where we had a delicious lunch for a bargain price at Superior Seafood again on St. Charles Ave.   The fried green tomatoes were very tasty - similar in concept to fried zucchini.  Amy had a blackened salmon dish while I had shrimp and grits.  The desserts were only one dollar so I expected a small serving but was surprised that size was that of a six dollar California dessert.

The streets in New Orleans are usually narrow and people drive slow compared to California.  At any time on a street you may find automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, joggers, horse drawn carts, bicycle taxis, taxis, buses and trolleys.  We noticed a Red Line and a Green Line for the trolleys

We departed Friday but had our final meal at Mother's.  I remember the delicious ham and cheese po boy sandwich I had in 1960 for 15 cents.  Today's price was about eight bucks and it was as tasty as I remembered.  Amy ordered Mae's Omelette which came with grits.  I helped her finish both.   The flight from New Orleans went smoothly but we had a two hour delay at the Phoenix Arizona Airport before finally departing to Ontario California.

We picked up some In-N-Out Burgers to eat at home.  As much as we love to travel it's great to be back to Home Sweet Home.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

My new 1938 Harmony Supertone Parlor Guitar

For several years I've had a Link on Juneberry78s to Steve Chipman's  VintageParlorGuitars.com website.

I had always enjoyed viewing his inventory of vintage guitars and reading about the ones that he has restored..

I knew his prices were for the working man so I began the process investigating a purchase from Steve about a month ago.

What I wanted was a small body, ladder braced guitar with 12 frets to the body - like those most of the old Early Blues and Old Time Artists used.

Steve was very accommodating providing me with pictures and sound clips of guitars based on my request.

The instrument that appealed to me the most was a 1938 Supertone made in Chicago by Harmony.

It is 0-sized, 12 frets to the body, ladder braced, all birch body with a tailpiece and a floating bridge.

Steve sent me the guitar on approval,  he wanted me to be absolutely sure that I wanted to keep it before paying for it.

I tried out the guitar and was surprised that a small guitar had so much volume.

Must be the 75 year old aged wood.

I enjoyed playing the guitar after getting used to the baseball bat like neck.

Steve supplied two bridges the lower one for finger picking and the higher for flatpicking.

After about one week I decided to keep the guitar, sent Steve a check and I now own it.

Steve recommended an eBay seller that carried 3/4 size Hard Shell Cases and I ordered one.

Here are a few pictures of the guitar.

Here's an interview with Steve discussing his parlor guitars. 

http://www.bluesguitarinstitute.com/steve-chipman-vintage-parlor-guitars

Early History of the Juneberry78s Roots Music Catalog and Websites.

We began making digital recordings of early American Roots Music around 1998 when CD Burners became "affordable".  At that time affordable meant the burner cost $500, blank CDs cost almost $2 each and you needed to use a $1500 Windows 95 and then Windows 98 PC. The failure rate when burning CDs at 1X (real time) was about one in three and you were limited to 74 minutes of music.

My former boss, mentor and lifelong friend Jerry Olson was already making audio CDs on his PC from his extensive LP collection. Jerry explained to me what hardware and software he used, I tried it and it worked like a champ.

I had been trading Roots Music with the late Robert Nobley of Roanoke Alabama since 1973.  I started collecting Roots Music in 1964 and Robert started about 1954.  In 1998 Robert sent me a tape of some new 78s, I burned an Audio CD and sent him a copy. When he played the CD he was in total shock not believing I could create such a CD on my PC.

We began making Audio CDs of roots music, not duplicating content on such labels as County, Yazoo, Document and other independent labels.  Most of the Blues/Jazz albums (our 14000 series) came from my collection.  The first 100 or so Old Time Music albums (our 15000 series) came from Robert.  He would send me a master tape, I would create a CD Master copy and send him some CDs.

A guy at work had a small website and showed me the basics of  HTML code.  Larry was paying Yahoo way too much money to host a site so I researched and discovered I could do it all myself.

In early 2002 I built a Linux Server using an old 386 PC and configured to be an Apache Web Server.  I was able to use a free DNS Service, Verizon DSL and began hosting the original Norms78s Website from my home.  Norms78s was used to trade/sell Public Domain CDs and I corresponded with people across the globe.   MP3s were still in the future so distributing audio CDs (.wav files) became problematic.  This was because we had well over one hundred and fifty albums in our catalog and would need to burn each CD after we received a request.  In early 2004 Verizon blocked the ports that web servers use so we chose to shut down Norms78s rather than pay them an unreasonable amount of money.

To be continued.

Health Status
As some of you might be aware Juneberry78s suspended distribution of our MP3 Discs, and trades / sales from our 78, 45 and 33 1/3 RPM Record Collections.
This was due to health issues and order fulfillment concerns.
Treatments have been successful so far and I look forward to returning to full strength.
I still have upcoming radiation treatments in Los Angeles in July.
After that I'll be on maintenance for two years.
Thanks to all for the good wishes posted to this blog, facebook, forums, e-mails, text messages, phone calls, etc.

 Juneberry78s Website Status
We have re-opened our MP3 Discs Distribution with some changes.
> We have reduced distribution of MP3 CD-Rs to 3 items.
> All of the content on the discontinued CD-Rs has been reissued on 3 new DVDs.
> The MP3s for all albums have been modified so the ID Tags now include Artist Album info and relevant JPeg images.
We will still wait a while before re-opening our Record Store.
We have found a mobile app for our website that runs great on Smart Phones.
There is no charge to you for this app and our site is now easy to use on your phone.
We also installed some Flag Counter mini windows on our home page.
In the past we received correspondence from such countries as Latvia, Japan, Sweden, Australia, France, China, Canada, as well as many other locations.
We similarly received correspondence from perhaps 25 to 30 US states.
Going forward we will have a more comprehensive picture.
It's too bad that we can't get the country, state & province counts retroactively.
Finally we are working on some MP3 Downloads featuring some interesting newly compiled albums.
Two of these albums are ready with more to come soon
Lots of great Roots Music.
Check it all out on    www.juneberry78s.com

Playing Music
I'm an amateur musician who plays for my own enjoyment.
This T Cell Lymphoma cancer I've been battling and the treatment have left my fingers a bit "spastic",so in a way I'm starting over but still having fun.
Somehow my fingers do find their way more accurately playing clawhammer & minstrel banjo than they do on guitars.
This probably is due to fewer and lighter gauge strings on my banjos.
I try to play a little each day

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After nearly 20 years of battling a low grade lymphoma - Waldenstrom's Macroglobunemia I now have two cancers. Iam optomisticthat I will go into remission The new one is T Cell Plasmoblastic Lymphoma. I will start an agressive chemotherapy in the local Kaiser Permanente Hospital. I may remain in the hospital for up to three weeks while they monitor my heart, immune system, low blood pressure and more. I am very lucky to have a loving and suportive wife,family and friends.

Bob Flesher Custom Banjos - Model "Mad Moon"

Up to date list of Juneberry78s visitors.

Over the last several years descendants of the following artists have visited the Juneberry78s.com website. In some cases we have provided original 78s from the era for a family treasure. In almost every case we have provided digital copies of the 1920s music that no one in the family had heard for many years.


Albertville Quartet
Ashley's Melody Men
Big Chief Henry's Indian String Band
Binkley Brothers Dixie Clodhoppers
Brammer Brothers (early bluegrass band)
Buffalo Ragged Five
Bush Brothers Quartet
Crowder Brothers
Deal Family
Grady Family
Happy Hayseeds
Haywire Mac's Orchestra
Bill Lamey (Cape Breton fiddler)
Fiddling Bob Larkan
Fiddling Sam Long
Emmett Lundy
Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng & Clem Garner
Moatsville String Ticklers
North Canton Quartet
Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers
Payne Family Quartet
Holland Puckett
Edd Rice
Jilson Setters (J.W. Day)
Luther Strong
Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers
Tobbaco Tags
Walburn & Hethcox
Ira & Eugene Yates
Young Brothers
Jess Young

We were also contacted by the descendant by marriage of Gervis Bloodworth from the sensational Jones and Bloodworth Murder Case. Avoline Bloodworth wrote an excellent true crime book about the case- Murder At The County Line. Both Carl Conner and Vernon Dalhart made a record about the case.

It has been an honor and pleasure to be of service to these families.

Fiddlin' Bob Larkan

Fiddlin' Bob Larkan (1870-1942) recorded in early 1928 for the Okeh Label and then again in late 1928 for Vocalion.

The Okehs incorrectly spelled his name Larkin.

Clyde Snider contacted Juneberry78s.

I have all of Fiddlin' Bob Larkan's recordings except "Paddy Won't You Drink Some Good Old Cider". Larkin was my great-great-grandfather and I would like to have that recording. Can you help?

We were able to do so.
Clyde was able to provide the following information and all pictures.
Click on any of the items above or below for a better view

Yes, Fiddlin' Bob was born in New York City.

Both his parents were born in Ireland.

Bob and his wife, Harriet, had 13 children, two of whom played on his recordings, Forrest "Bob" Larkan and Alice Sherbs.

I would guess the photo was made during the late 1930s.

Bob Larkan was called Fiddlin' Bob and also Uncle Bob Larkan sometimes.

Fiddling Sam Long

We take great delight when contacted by descendants of  Artists of the Past.  Even more so when it's an artist of the stature of Fiddling Sam Long - always a favorite of mine.  If only he was able to record more and with the Electric Process a year or so after .... oh well we are thankful for the few wonderful recordings he did make.  Sam Long was the great uncle of Hugh Long who provided the above newspaper clippings and the following narrative.

Attached are the newspaper articles re Fiddling Sam Long. I know at least one of the articles was published in the Joplin Globe in 1926. The other could have been from the paper out of Commerce, Oklahoma.

Sam's niece had worked many years to complete a genealogy on the Long family, but she passed away in 1986. She had 3 daughters who I have contacted regarding the genealogy, but all deny they have it, so I (we) are in the process of obtaining the info on our own and hopefully get it recorded with Ancestory.

Sam died in 1935 at the home of his Uncle Ransom Long in Butler County, KS of lung problems as a result of working in the lead mines in Joplin, MO.

Hugh Long
Newton, KS

NOTE: Click on the above images or any image in our blog to see more detail.

Listen to Fiddling Sam Long and Ray Kastner playing Echoes of the Ozarks from a 1926 recording.

Banjo Review

First we have a Black Walnut Fretless made by R. K. Smith. These "Frank Proffitt" style banjos are offered on eBay and the seller is banjothunder. This banjo has a nice plunky sound for Old Time tunes. The workmanship is excellent. Strings are nylGut.

Next is a Chuck Lee Badger 6 String Banjo. This banjo-guitar or Guit-Jo is also constructed of Walnut with a 12 inch rim and integral tone ring. The peghead inlay of a Wizard with Staff is beautiful, there is backstrapping and the heel type is Dobson. Sounds great when finger picking ragtime guitar tunes. Chuck is truly an fine artist. Steel strings.

Finally we have a Prust Banjos Boucher 19th Century Replica Tensioning (Special Order). This Minstrel Banjo with highly figured maple has a 12 inch rim with oval holes for the brackets. It's nice to not have to flatten the bridge when you finish playing which is the case for tack-head banjos. The flush frets are helpful with intonation. NylGut strings. Great sounding banjo for Minstrel Tunes.

Michael Hauver Barbecue Bob 12 String Guitar for sale on Ebay

I said goodbye to my Michael Hauver Barbecue Bob 12 String Guitar which sold on eBay Wednesday March 24, 2010 at 22:30:13 EDT. The buyer communicated that the guitar was even more than he expected. I am pleased that it has found a happy home.

I have owned and enjoyed playing this guitar since 2006. This guitar sounds so good just doing some of the simple Lead Belly runs like the start of Leaving Blues. I later changed the 3rd string pairs to play in unison but the guitar in the auction has them back in octaves after the new setup. I have also experimented setting it as a 10 string, a 9 string and a 6 string. Barbecue Bob himself probably used his Stella as a 9 or 10 string - this seems the only way he could do those wonderful snaps on the bass strings. I prefer to finger pick without picks and the 9 string setup is great for that. I read Skip James used a Stella 12 string strung as a 6 stringer for his 1931 Paramount session.

With the 26 1/2 scale I tune it to B E A D F# B
To play with others use the C F G7 shaped chords to play in the actual key of G
Use A D E7 shaped chords to play in the actual key of E
Also D G A7 to play key for the actual key of A.
And G C D7 to play key actual key of D.
Use a capo on the first fret and use E A B7 to play actual key of C

I have read on other blog postings that modern "Stella" guitars like those made by Mike Hauver sound "new" and don't have the old vibe of a real Stella. Of course on a real Stella from that period the wood will have aged quite a bit. However, I would guess nearly all of the Stellas on the 78s from the 1920s & early 1930s were fairly new at the time of the recordings so those would have to also sound new.

Finally, the Stellas from that period were cheap factory made instruments and the modern Stella "Clones" like this guitar are made with great care and expertize and not sold for Cheap Prices when new. Mike Hauver does the repairs, neck resets etc for Neil Harpe's Stella Guitars and he probably knows as much as anyone about the construction of original Stellas.

Here's the link to the auction on eBay

Here's a link to the Michael Hauver Blues Guitars website

Here's a link to Neil Harpe's Stella Guitars


More on the 12 string guitar.

I has captivated by Lead Belly and bought my first 12 string in 1966 or 1967. It was a Contessa Acoustic (Japanese) costing $99 from the local music store. I'm sure it was constructed with laminated woods but it sounded mighty good to my ears at the time. I bought the Leadbelly 12 String book by Pete Seeger & Julius Lester for $2.95 and was soon walking the basses and learing many great songs like They Hung Him On A Cross and Down In New Orleans. I also learned to play Mississippi John Hurt's Casey Jones (his only 12 string performance that I know of. First Issued on a Piedmont LP). Blind Willie McTell was beyond my grasp at the time (not that I could play like he does today). Later I began learning to play harmonica, banjo, dulcimer and fiddle. I'm not sure what happened to the Contessa - probably traded it in on another instrument like a cheap Japanese Blue Grass banjo I used for learning clawhammer banjo at Lundberg's in Berkeley.

Forwarding to the 1990s the next 12 String Guitar I bought was a Sigma modeled after the Martin D-28 Herringbone that was never available as a 12 String. The Sigma 12 was a decent sounding & playing 12 string guitar. Then a few years later I purchased a Rickenbacker 330 Electric Guitar. This was actually a birthday present from my wife Amy. One interesting thing about the Rickenbacker is that the string courses with octaves have the low note first and then the higher note. The 330 was hard to play as the neck is too narrow - the same width as their 6 string. They actually use the same neck for both models. It is interesting the way their 12 sring tuners are designed and installed. I bought the Roger McGuinn 12 string video and he revealed how he plays his Rickenbacker using 1 finger to cover two courses (or 4 strings). I still could not make a clean C chord (with 1st & 3rd Strings open and 2nd strings at the first fret). I sold that guitar on eBay at a slight profit 10 years later.

I bought the Hauver in 2006 and an electric Danelectro 12 String around 2007 or 2008. I sold the Sigma on eBay for about 60% of what I paid for it 12 years later - imports don't usually hold their value. The Dano 12 string is an inexpensive clone of a guitar that never existed. The neck is wider making it easier to play and the one I have has the string pairs like the Rickenbacker. The Dano 6 string and bass guitars available now are copies of the early cheapies that people like Jimi Hendrix and John Fogerty learned to play with as kids. Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin still uses a cheap vintage Dano for some recordings. Duane Eddy has a picture of a Dano Longhorn Bass on the jacket of one of his LPs.

In addition to the Roger McGuinn video there is a video by Ernie Hawkins covering some McTell items and the late Harry Lewman has a Lead Belly video. Harry Lewman also put out a fine Lead Belly Book with words and tabs to many Lead Belly songs. I believe No Stranger To the Blues is the book title.

I never really got the hang of playing electric guitars but I'll posts some photos of my collection of Electric Cheapies in the future.

More Banjos

In early February I still had enough Christmas money to buy another banjo or two.

I surfed the web to Jeff Menzies' website. I noticed a Dipper Gourd Banjo and inquired about purchasing it. Jeff asked if I intended to actually play the instrument and offered me Gourd Banjos #35 #193 or #196 (the email include JPegs). I was so intrigued by the unusual look and the peg head of #196 that I bought it. See photo above.

When it arrived I was amazed at the beauty of the instrument. It is obvious that Jeff was trained as an artist. This banjo has an unbelievable sense of balance, both physically and artistically. The neck is claro walnut with an apple wood fingerboard. Finally I tuned in up to low minstrel standard tuning (dGDF#A) and began playing it. The narrow finger board was not a problem as I rarely play above the 5th fret position. The action at the nut was perfect. The pot is smaller but deeper than my Banjo Factory gourd banjo.

I've seen people on youTube playing Gourd Banjos (while sitting down) with the instrument between their legs - that does not work for me. I place the gourd on my right leg and anchor it down with my elbow at the spike extending through the instrument. The sound of this banjo is excellent - plenty loud with full deep tones.

This Gourd Banjo is a bit more expensive than the one from the Banjo Factory. I will say that both are excellent instruments - you pay more for the artistic beauty of Jeff's banjos.

Here is the link to the Jeff Menzies website.

Several weeks back I first saw Brian Carver's youTube channel. Brian is a college student who makes banjos, some similar in appearance to those that Frank Proffitt made and played. Brian created his own pattern that only uses two pieces of wood. Over the last year he has offered some nice ones made from Cherry and Walnut.

He also introduced a Budget Line - Pine Mountain Banjos for $130 with free shipping. These instruments are made of pine and with walnut hardware (the nut, bridge, pegs and tailpiece) and have a 24 inch scale. They have been sanded but have no finish or stain and the instrument can only support light nylon strings.

Brian still had one Pine Mountain Banjo available and he sold it to me (and I stayed within my Christmas money budget). The banjo arrived, I tuned it up to standard open A and began playing. The sound is not very loud but OK if you wish to play and sing by yourself. No worry about awakening my wife in the bedroom.

Since I've been such a big fan of Frank Proffitt for the last 40 years I am pleased to now own a similar instrument. I have a feeling by this summer that I may wish to get a Walnut or Cherry banjo from Brian. I'll probably sell this banjo on eBay then.

Check out Brian's youTube Channel.

Listen to Baby-O by Frank Proffitt.

Listen to Johnson Boys by Frank Proffitt.

Banjos

Due to my peripheral neuropathy playing steel string instruments is often uncomfortable. More recently I've been focusing on playing Ukuleles and a Flesher Tack Head Minstrel Banjo all of which have nylon or nylgut strings.

On December 26th of 2009 I spent some of my Christmas money by ordering a Gourd Banjo available from The Banjo Factory Website.

Quoting John Salicco "my objective is not to produce absolutely historically accurate facsimiles. I'm trying to produce a sturdy playable fretless banjo that has the right general 19th Century look and feel, but at a price that almost anyone can afford".

After a short three week wait the banjo arrived. I found it well constructed and was pleased with its appearance. It came with a nice cloth carrying case. I found the action at the nut a bit too high for me, but this was an easy fix. For Minstrel Style Banjo playing I like a wider spacing of strings so I also replaced the bridge. This banjo was quite a bargain costing only $260. I chose the Stichter peg head option as can be seen in the picture above.

In a short time I was playing some Minstrel Banjo Tunes and really enjoyed the deep sounds of the low tuning (2 1/2 steps lower than clawhammer). I'm working on getting used to the smaller (9 1/2 inch) pot size. I also need to be able to adjust to the additional depth of the gourd and better control how to hold the banjo.

Here's the link to The Banjo Factory.


Minstrel Banjo playing does not have an oral tradition and was no longer popular by the time records were being made. Today's players play tunes learned from various Banjo Books published in the mid 1800s. Fortunately the tunes are available today in tablature. Bob Flesher has some on his Dr Horsehair website.

I will say the tab arrangements are quite good. Bob has some excellent CDs & a DVD video with a full band of this music also available through the Dr Horsehair site. Rounder Records released the Minstrel Banjo Style CD in 1994 with some of the top Minstrel Banjo players at that time.

If you are a 5 string clawhammer player I'm sure you will enjoy learning Minstrel Banjo. You can start by using your steel string fretted instrument but you will enjoy it even more with a fretless nylgut or gut string instrument in the lower tunings such as those offered by the Banjo Factory. Bob Flesher also makes Old Time Minstrel and Clawhammer Banjos.  You can also get a Gourd or Minstrel Banjo and play the tunes you already know.  You will be sure to enjoy the lower pitched versions of your favorites.


Here are links to Dr. Horsehair's Music Company.
and to Bob Flesher Custom Banjos.


The Banjo Clubhouse hosted by Tim Twiss is an excellent resource for learning about Minstrel Banjo playing. Tim and other players provides both audio and video examples from various books of the period. A number of different banjos and are heard in the audio examples and seen in the videos. Note: instead of the front page of a book there is one icon of a banjo (which happens to be a Gourd Banjo). All of the audio examples found through that link are played on a Gourd Banjo.

Here's the link to The Banjo Clubhouse.


The steel string standard tuning for playing in the key of C: gCGBD
Minstrel Standard Tuning for playing in the key of G: dGDF#A

The steel string open G tuning for playing in the key of G: gDGBD
Minstrel High Bass Tuning for playing in the key of D: dADF#A



Tom 'Norm' Morrison

New MP3 Compilation Releases

We are happy to announce two new Junberry78s compilations.

Juneberry 105 contains recordings by such performers as the Cartwright Brothers, Parker and Woolbright, Uncle Am Stuart, Jimmie Johnson, John Hammond, Domino George and other wonderful artists.

Juneberry 106 contains recordings by John Baltzell, Watts and Wilson, Samantha Bumgarner, Eva Davis and many others. We include the entire Gid Tanner and his Skillet-Lickers Columbia catalog. It is interesting to hear how they changed from a group playing old minstrel songs to the wonderful fiddle duets when Lowe Stokes (un-credited) joined them. Riley Puckett's singing is outstanding through all of their records.

As we dig deeper into the archives we come across more acoustic recordings, as well as records that are more worn and have more background noise than we would like. The acoustic recordings have a poorer sound quality than the electric recordings than began later in 1926. However, there is still a great deal of wonderful music to listen to and learn from. We have more issues planned.

Juneberry MP3 Compilations

..

J.W. Day

Norm,

My Great Grandfather is James William Day (aka) J.W. Day, Jilson Setters from Ashland Ky.

He recorded 10 songs on 5, 78 records for Victor in 1928.

I have three of the records and am looking for the other two.

I need :
1) The Wild Wagoner / Marthis Campbell
2) Way up on Clinch Mountain / The Arkansas Traveller

My sister and I have found about 60 pictures of him in a collection on the web. We found a book written about him called "The singin' Fiddler of Lost Hope Hollow" by Jean Thomas, plus three other books written by her that include him, a poster of J.W. called "The Fiddler" and recordings he made for The Library of Congress in 1934 and 1937. The records I have now have been matted and framed with details and a picture. They turned out very nice. We have been able to locate his marriage cert. to my Great Grandmother from 1886 and his death cert. from 1942 We intend to donate all these items to the museum in Ashland KY when we pass away. They already have a very nice display about him and Jean Thomas and these items will fit nicely.

Here is the link to the pictures.

http://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOBOX1=jilson+setters&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&CISOSTART=1,1

It is to The University of Louisville.

The pictures are in the Jean Thomas Collection.

Jean Thomas "discovered" J.W. and was his manager from the late 1920s until his death in 1942.

Many people don't know that his stage name, Jilson Setters, comes from his father Jilson Day and his mother Elizabeth Setters.

One of the records I need is on ebay. I think I will bid on it and see what happens.

Thanks again.

Jim Carpenter

Norm

Got the CD's yesterday. They were more than I had hoped for. Thank you so much. The sound was much better than I thought it would be. There were 3 songs from the LOC that I did not have. Thanks to you, I now have all ten of the songs he recorded for Victor on CD.

I also have 4 out of 5 Victor 78s he recorded. I was able to win the one on eBay last Sun. So, our collection is coming along well.

You talked about seeing the Albert Hall while in London. J.W. had quite a trip over there. He wrote the song Fiddler of Lost Hope Hollow while on the ship going over. He told my Mom that he was the only one in his party that did not get sea sick on the ship.

Congrats on your 25th wedding anniversary.

Thanks again,

Jim