New Guitar

As some of you are probably aware, I have been learning how to play the banjo for the last year and a half or so. Rather than bring it with, I figured I would just bring some strings along and restring a guitar. I am sure that I could find a banjo here if I looked hard enough, but it would probably be very expensive. It would definitely not be at the pawn shop three blocks from here. Last week, I decided that I would finally bite the bullet and buy one, especially since it is really more of a deposit on a loan than a purchase. I doubt I will get what I paid for it when I sell it, but hopefully I will get close.

You can't quite tell from this picture, but it only has five strings. I restrung it and tuned it to something that I know how to play. In this case, it happens to be open E tuning. Since a banjo has a fifth-string that is five frets shorter than the other four, it posed a bit of a problem getting it tuned correctly. After a little experimentation, it occurred to me that I could tune the fifth string up and tune the other four down, leaving me with open E. Open E is what long-necks are usually tuned to, so all I have to do is put a capo on the third fret and I know what chords I am playing. Since I am going to be playing by myself mostly, it doesn't even matter a whole lot that the chord I am playing is actually a step and a half lower than what it would be normally.

As far as I know, this is a unique creation and I am not sure what to call it. People have been tuning banjos like other string instruments for a long time (mandolins, ukuleles, guitars, and, rarely, a bass. maybe others as well, but I have never heard of them.) There really isn't a standard naming convention. Mandos and ukes usually place the banjo part first in the name, creating banjolins and banjoleles. Basses are typically named bassjos. Guitars go both ways in names, causing a problem. I feel as though guitjo is used more often, but banjitar still shows up fairly often. I feel as though I am going to just call it an abomination or something like that. I have also thought about naming it Frank (short for Frankenstein), but I doubt that I will need to refer to it often enough that it will matter. It doesn't sound terrible (and I kind of like the lower tuning), but it definitely lacks what the banjo brings to the party. Maybe I will just have to buy a longneck when I get home.