Seriously...how hard is the Banjo?

[Tom]

[quote author=8Muddypaws]When I played in a group with a banjo we stuffed a towel in the resonator so we could hear the guitars.[/quote]

Some of the banjo ukulele players in our uke band do something similar (they use a towel or foam). I don't, partly because we have a small number of banjo uke players and, on the numbers where we need the BJU sound, we need the sound.

A couple of us were visiting a wonderful luthier in Concord recently, needing to fix a few things with our banjo ukes. One of the "foam" guys was told to remove the stuff(ing) if he wanted to correct the sound problem he was having.

Any unique Portugese instrument you'll bring home with you?

 

[8Muddypaws]

I stumbled upon a luthiers shop today (Sunday) and he has a couple a beautiful classical guitars for around 850 euros.  Just over $900.  The shop was closed.  Leaving Madrid at 8AM tomorrow and the shop opens at 10.  Eh, whatever.  already got a sweet sounding classical that I rarely play

Not bringing anything home but memories, pictures ( lost count), and a serious case of exhaustion.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

You will be seriously exhausted after that flight home! Takes me about a week to get my days and nights straightened out!

 

[8Muddypaws]

No kidding.  I woke up at 3AM this morning (local time) and my body said it was lunch time.

I've got nearly 1800 images to selectively process and export.  Several HD videos.  I'm kind of glad I didn't take my portable audio studio with me.  Editing that stuff takes even more time.

The high point of the trip home was the candy apple red Steinway grand piano in the terminal in Munich.  It had a sign next to it saying "Just play a Steinway".  Out of the 100+ top level musicians I was traveling with my grandson was the only one with the guts to actually play it.  The entire terminal stopped for a moment.

The trip home was over 25 hours long and I only napped for about 30 minutes.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

A difficult part of playing the banjo is the weight over time, a GOOD banjo will weigh 13 pounds (I own two)and is murder on your back and shoulders over time.>>>Dan