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| Other names | Cello banjo, banjocello |
|---|---|
| Classification | String instrument (plucked) |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322-5 |
| Developed | Late 19th century |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
There are multiple instruments referred to as abass banjo. The first to enter real production was the five-stringcello banjo, tuned oneoctave below a five-string banjo. This was followed by a four-stringcello banjo, tuned CGDA in the same range as acello ormandocello, and modifiedupright bass versions tuned EADG. More recently, true bass banjos, tuned EADG and played in conventional horizontal fashion, have been introduced.
The five-string cello banjo was originally a gut-stringed instrument with a 3 in (76 mm) deep 16 in (410 mm) diameter rim, marketed byS.S. Stewart in 1889.[1] Advertising copy used the terms "bass banjo" and "cello banjo" to refer to the same instrument.
Other banjo makers manufactured similar instruments, including A.C. Fairbanks, with a12+3⁄8 in (310 mm) diameter head and a29+1⁄2 in (750 mm) scale length[2] and A.A. Farland, with12+1⁄2 in (320 mm) head and a28+1⁄2 in (720 mm) scale.[3] Gold Tone is the only contemporary manufacturer.[4]
In 1919,[5] Gibson began manufacturing a 4-string cello banjo, known as the CB-4.[6] Other vintage manufacturers of four-string bass banjos includeBacon & Day.[7][verification needed] Gold Tone is the only contemporary manufacturer.[8]
Gibson produced a separate instrument called a "bass banjo" from 1930 to 1933.[5] This was a 4-string instrument, played as an upright bass, with a stand substituting for a spike. It was tuned EADG, the same as Gibson'smando-bass.[9]
TheBassjo, also referred to as the banjo bass in a 2006 article featuringLes Claypool on the cover ofBassplayer Magazine[10] was made by luthier Dan Maloney. Maloney was a friend of Claypool's approximately ten years ago when Claypool asked him to construct a guitar with "a banjo body and a bass neck ("Les Does More" 43)." The Bassjo can be heard on Claypool's 2006 albumOf Whales and Woe on the track "Iowan Gal", as well asPrimus' "Captain Shiner" from the albumTales from the Punchbowl.
The bassbanjolele, is often made by individual luthiers and is without much mainstream use and production. They are often tuned E1–A1–D2–G2. It is often just another version of aU-bass. It is often slightly longer than a U-bass.
Gold Tone Music Group produces a commercial version of the bass banjo.[11] It has a 32 in (810 mm) scale and a 13 in (330 mm) pot.
An unusual variation is the Heftone bass, which combines a large, 22 in (560 mm) banjo pot with an upright spindle to produce an upright bass banjo.[12]
| Bass and cello banjos | ||||
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