Improving your banjo ukulele tone: put a sock in it!

If your banjo ukulele tone has too much sustain and sounds muddy, here's an idea to help clean up the sound.  This little trick is nothing new...it's been used for years, but a lot of people don't know about it.

All you really need is an old sock that's getting ready to head towards the trash.  It might be a bit easier for us guys to locate an old sock (or 10) in the drawer.  My wife always trashes her socks as soon as they develop a hole or two...whereas mine generally have 5 or 6 before I toss 'em.  It's a guy thing, right?



You could also use a piece of foam or a cloth.  Here's whatcha need to do...

Banjo Ukulele buying tips

The "unofficial" banjo ukulele week continues here with some more buying tips for ya.  Earlier this week, John Bianchi listed off some very informative vintage banjo uke buying tips.  Today, a little more modern take on it with some very helpful advice from Steve Roberts of The Banjo Ukulele Forum.

Thanks Steve for passing this info along!

Banjo Ukulele Buying Tips

by Steve Roberts

Here are some things to watch for:

Banjo Ukulele: Changing the head (skin)

This week, we've been blogging about banjo ukes!  We're gonna keep that going for the rest of the week and designate this the "unofficial banjo ukulele week".

Today, we're passing on a couple links about changing out your banjo ukulele's skin head...Something that I need to do soon on my 1920's Slingerland.





First things first, where to buy one?  You can buy goat skin and calf skin heads at Elderly Instruments.  I bought one through them recently and was very pleased both with the quality and service, so I'd recommend 'em.

Here is a great "how to" article from Ukuleleguide.com.  It's a very thorough explanation of the process of replacing a banjo uke head complete with links and plenty of pictures (the picture above was taken from their article).

If you'd rather watch somebody do it, below is a great video demonstrating the process.  Our friend and banjo uke enthusiast John Bianchi tells me that replacing a torn or worn out skin is absolutely essential to finding out exactly what your banjo uke sounds like.  So order away and give it a shot!  The process might seem a little intimidating, but once you get going, you'll find that it's something that even the most inept person (like myself) is able to do.  Good luck!

Vintage Banjo Ukulele Buying Tips - part 2

In the last post banjo ukulele expert, John Bianchi gave us some vintage banjo ukulele buying tips and advice.  In this post, John gives us a break down on a TON of different vintage banjo ukes.  Again, I must express my appreciation to John for taking the time to write this up for us.  Hope you enjoy the rest of his article!  And don't forget to do yourself a favor and check out his blog.

http://theukaholic.blogspot.com/

The Banjo Ukulele:

Tips for Buying Vintage

By John Bianchi

Finally, here are a few brand recommendations for prospective buyers.

Vintage Banjo Ukulele Buying Tips - part 1

I recently had an inkling to share some tips for buying vintage banjo ukuleles.  It's a subject that I admittedly don't know a lot about it, so instead of trying to push forward on my own, I asked for some help from banjo uke guru John Bianchi.  In addition to knowing almost EVERYTHING about old banjo ukes, John is a very fine player.  Thanks John for being awesome and passing along all this buying advice!  This is the first of a two part article.  Click here for part 2 where John breaks down all the different makes and models of banjo ukes!

Check out his blog here.

Check out his Youtube here.

The Banjo Ukulele:

Tips for Buying Vintage

By John Bianchi

If you’re new to playing the banjo ukulele, you may hear more experienced players
recommend vintage banjo ukes as having a different sound and feel than the current
generation of the hybrid instruments. And while its true that vintage ukes have the
potential to be great instruments, it can be daunting to approach buying one. But,
there are a few tips that can help you make the right choice when considering a
vintage banjo ukulele.

10 Ukulele Blogs to check out

I guess it just makes sense that someone who blogs about ukuleles also finds himself subscribed to quite a few ukulele blogs.  One of the best parts of my day is checking those for new posts.

I've assembled a list of my 10 favorite ukulele blogs that you should check out and subscribe to.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!  Here they are in no particular order....