Jim can I get a decent Banjo for around $300 to learn on ? I'm a poor working Hillbilly from the Mountains of North Carolina ! Would be an Honor to meet you Some Day !
Is there any way I could get the information to the person who purchased this banjo? Or maybe you could give them mine? I would like to know what it would take to purchase it from them.. I'm a serious cash buyer, with cash in hand.. I'd really appreciate any help. I most definitely will make an offer.
Hey Jim, Loved all the solid Gibson banjo info, but I'd have been happy just listening to you play. If you haven't made any vids on just you playing, please consider it!
Thanks Ronnie.....I am a ..."Happy Banjo Picker"!!! .....Playing Banjos like this one will make you Happy!!!... glad you like the banjo and the picking Ronnie.... JM
One of the best sounding clawhammer banjos I ever heard was owned and player by Bob Flesher at AugustaFest in West Virginia. The banjo did not have a metal tone ring at all the head set directly on the wood rim. I could not believe the sound of that banjo. Of coarse he is an expert clawhammer banjo player and banjo builder.
i inherited one of these and found this video while trying to find information about it. I've never been a banjo player, but i feel like i need to learn it now. it seems disrespectful to just leave it sitting in the case.
Mr. Kirk McGee played a nice RB-11 during the 1930s, and later sold it to Bashful Brother Oswald. It ended up in Roy Acuff's Museum in Opryland (next to one of Uncle Dave Macon's lightweight Gibsons he used to throw about on stage), where it went from there I have no idea. I bought one from Curtis McPeake, back when nobody wanted them, and kept it for a while, but I was playing a lot of clawhammer which tends to be a bit rough for these banjos, so I traded it back for a Vega. One of the dumbest things I ever did. Thanks for showing it, it's a fine instrument, especially in your hands.
Thanks Royce....these fine old Pre War Gibson Banjos are really something.....they still inspire me to play.....even after all these years....Jim Mills
Tone rings, for the most part, are hyped up well beyond what they're truly worth. It's 4/26/2020 & if you're giving more than $350 for a ring (market value), you're paying for the name & the hype associated with it.
I've always felt that the component that most determines a banjo's tone, response and volume is the wood rim. I've played some that boasted fancy tone rings that failed to impress, and some super lightweight ones with simple or no tone rings that blew me away. The RB-11 played here proves that tone rings are optional and not mandatory!
What a banjer, and what a banjer picker! You da man Jim and I appreciate you sharing your rare finds with us. This is indeed a hoss cat! Ijust wish you would post more vids. Got any new recordings in the works?
Hi Jim! Big fan here! I have a style 5 conversion for sale right now that has Nickel hardware instead of gold. The parts are all pre war though, and the real interesting thing is the tension hoop is an original 5 string! I was told they may have just grabbed what they had on the shelf at the factory, either that or someone swapped out the gold parts of this style five with some other nickel 5 string. Anyways it’s on eBay right now if you know anyone who wants it. The tension hoop is the big selling point that I think most people won’t get. Do you think I should sell it with the banjo or separately? Thanks
Jim, is there any notable reason why some of the RB-11's have one of the pedals on the resonator pointing straight up the neck (as with the one you have here), while others have the inlay on the resonator rotated 45 degrees? (For example - bit.ly/2obJ6RS)?
Hello Justin....and thank you for your interest....concerning the differences in the flower motif on the style 11's....I can't say I know of any reason in particular other than ....the inlay patterns on many different Pre War Gibson banjo models vary greatly throughout the Pre WWII era....and I believe they (the factory workers) weren't that concerned very much about a slight variance at the time.....and would have never imagined that some 80+ years later.....that collectors/players like us would be critiquing and studying every facet of these old banjos today!!!!....it sure is fun to note these differences though...Thank you again Justin...JM
Hello Luke.....let me make this clear.....this "is not Earl Scruggs' banjo at all".....it is another 1930's Gibson RB-11 very much like the Gibson RB-11 banjo that Earl Scruggs first recorded with in 1946.....JM
Jim Mills correct me if I'm wrong Jim, but didn't Earl's banjo also have the smaller tone hoop? I think in 1937 Gibson starting producing RB-11s with an arch top size tone hoop sitting in a groove on the top of the rim. From the pictures I've seen, Earl's banjo was one of these. Thanks for a great post! Love your playing!
Hello Joe.....and you're absolutely correct.....for whatever reason.... around 1937 Gibson decided to decrease the diameter of the tone hoop in the Style 11's....making them an arch top... rather than a flathead.....and Earl's was of the later arch top type.....as a matter of fact... I just sold another 1930's RB-11 identical to Earl's...only a few weeks ago....complete with its arch top tone hoop.....JM
