Pedals for Banjo

[geoffrey]

So I've never thought about guitar effects pedals for banjo (probably because I don't play banjo), but I thought I'd bring this question to you all. To give some context, my doctor plays banjo in a band (they do Americana and some Irish stuff). He was telling me he needs something that will give him "more range" and that he wishes he could make it sound like "an old Gibson guitar." Kind of vague, I know, but it got me thinking: Is there anything I could build that might help him?

Of course I did a bit if research on ye old interweb. What I found was limited but interesting; there was even a vid that Mad Professor put out (see below) using some of their effects with a Banjo, with the Deep Blue Delay sounding particularly cool (making the PPCB Seabed a fun option for him). Although that's not really what he's looking for, he'd love it cause he's that kind of guy. I also saw that phasers seem to popular with banjo players, although I'm pretty sure that's not what he's looking for.

But as far as what he mentioned his needs are, I was thinking of these possibilities: a clean boost, preamp, maybe a compressor (may be all of the above?). Apparently the MXR Micro Amp + (PPCB Micro-Addition Boost) is popular with banjo players. As far what he already uses, he wasn't very clear other than that he has an EQ.

Anyway, I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. Even if I weren't presented with this situation, I think it's kind of a interesting question to ponder anyway.

 

[DeadAirMD]

The obvious and only choice is to make him an HM-2, for banjo of course.

 

[Barry]

I would think most anything short of heavy distortion, most modulation should work, compression as well, doesn't hurt to experiment!
You want to check out some off the charts Bluegrass, look up Billy Strings!

 

[Barry]

 

[cwsquared]

I saw JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) open for Clutch in '22. Banjo and effects. So good. Not in the vain of your doctor's current or desired sound but JD really opened up my thoughts on what could be done with banjo. As an example:

 

[jwin615]

A notch filter centered at 2k?

 

[Cybercow]

 

[KR Sound]

That delay sounds awesome with a banjo!

 

[HamishR]

A slapback delay could be amazing with a banjo, given the limited sustain. And of course there is the Boss feedbacker.

But of course this was the first pedal which came to mind:

 

[jimilee]

A slapback delay could be amazing with a banjo, given the limited sustain. And of course there is the Boss feedbacker.

But of course this was the first pedal which came to mind:

View attachment 65343

This, some delay would fatten that right up.

 

[The Gator]

I use an EQ, a compressor and reverb on my banjo. You can tone shape, level out notes and get that high lonesome sound.

 

[geoffrey]

This is all excellent feedback, guys. Definitely going to build a seabed and a simple compressor to start; I know he'll have fun with the delay. I'll have to check in with him regarding his reverb situation because I didn't think of that, so thanks for bringing that up, @The Gator.

Any other suggestions welcome. Never a bad idea to befriend and impress your doctor

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Does anyone make a whammy bar for a banjo?

 

[geoffrey]

Does anyone make a whammy bar for a banjo?

ooh, if I I were a banjo player I'd be all ever that

 

[benny_profane]

Does anyone make a whammy bar for a banjo?

Floyd Rose banjos have been an American butt rock staple since Warrant famously used one on “Cherry Pie.”

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Does anyone make a whammy bar for a banjo?

Not sure it would feasibly work since the timbre is pretty reliant on the bridge floating on a stretched drumhead— the loss of tension would make the bridge fall out from under the strings if the bridge remained floating, and if it was mechanically affixed some way it would probably stop it from having the characteristic quick decay. I’m sure you could run it thru a whammy pedal, but even then, the decay would probably be too quick to get dive bomb type effects— would be cool for pitch bending trills and stuff like that though.
I have an old banjo I got at a garage sale years ago but it’s totally unplayable— if I can fix the severe neck bow, I’ll throw a pickup on it and try it out with my Bass Whammy. Honestly, I bet the 2 octaves harmony mode would sound incredible!

 

[Passinwind]

What pickup system is the good doc using?

For the last six months I’ve mostly been playing a dobro/bano hybrid and I’ve done a few different preamp/EQ pedals with the intention of adding at least one to my open source filter preamp repository on Github. My dojo has both magnetic and piezo pickups, so the blend aspect is a big part of my designs, FWIW.

 

[Barry]

Not sure it would feasibly work since the timbre is pretty reliant on the bridge floating on a stretched drumhead— the loss of tension would make the bridge fall out from under the strings if the bridge remained floating, and if it was mechanically affixed some way it would probably stop it from having the characteristic quick decay. I’m sure you could run it thru a whammy pedal, but even then, the decay would probably be too quick to get dive bomb type effects— would be cool for pitch bending trills and stuff like that though.
I have an old banjo I got at a garage sale years ago but it’s totally unplayable— if I can fix the severe neck bow, I’ll throw a pickup on it and try it out with my Bass Whammy. Honestly, I bet the 2 octaves harmony mode would sound incredible!

I guess Autowah would be you're only option!

 

[spi]

An equinox or other equalizer might make a good tone shaper.

 

[hamerfan]

I am currently in the mood making a tone shaper tool for a bandmates Strat. Its the same task, to make it sound full or Gibsonish. My first idea is to give him a multi band eqalizer to let him look for the right frequencies to cut thru the mix. Then to take TS style circuit and tweak it (high pass low pass).My hopes are towards the Ibanez STL topology with the variable mids or a BMT circuit.