Blues Bluegrass and Beyond

Blues Bluegrass and Beyond

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Bluegrass Banjo or Resonator Guitar?


Welcome back to Blues, Bluegrass, and Beyond! Today I want to talk about the ResNick 5-string banjo. The ResNick banjo is no ordinary banjo. In fact, this is not an instrument that you would be able to buy at music retailers such as Guitar Center, or your local bluegrass music store. The ResNick 5-string banjo is an odd pairing of a resonator guitar and banjo. Basically, the instrument consists of a banjo neck, five strings, a banjo headstock, and a tone ring. However, the banjo’s head is removed, and the body is equipped with a ‘hubcap’ style Dobro resonator.
Thanks for visiting Blues Bluegrass and Beyond! Photo retrieved from www.banjoteacher.com
     The instrument was created by Ross Nickerson. Nickerson is a well-known bluegrass banjoist and music teacher who has had the opportunity to play alongside musicians such as Tony Trischka. Nickerson provides a variety of workshops, some of which even take place on cruise ships. He has written numerous books on the topic of bluegrass banjo, and has created acclaimed teaching methods as well as a slew of instructional CDs and DVDs to help budding musicians. Alongside resonator guitar luthiers, Mark Thibeault and Jason Friesen of Rayco Resophonics, Nickerson designed and built his resonator ResNick banjo.
Thanks for visiting Blues Bluegrass and Beyond! Photo retrieved from www.banjoteacher.com

     This banjo is an interesting concept in the fact that it combines the best aspects of both a banjo and a resophonic guitar. The actual tone of the instrument is one of the resophonic guitar, however, the playing style used to play the instrument is unmistakably banjo. In consideration of the peculiarity of this instrument, I still believe it will stay a specialty banjo without any great acclaim. However, it is still a very nifty instrument capable of playing a variety of styles, such as slide guitar blues, country blues, Delta Blues, traditional, and bluegrass. However, a price tag of $2,569 may hold many potential buyers back from buying the instrument. 
Check out the video below to see this banjo in action! 

Visit www.banjoteacher.com to learn more about the ResNick banjo. 





Photos courtesy of www.banjoteacher.com. Video retrieved from YouTube. 

2 comments:

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    Dr C

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