Pedals for Banjo

[Giorfida]

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

I’d assume the compressor would essentially work more like a limiter only, since there is immediate decay/0 natural sustain to actually compress.
I’d also assume it would do an amazing job of making the response across the neck fairly even (my limited experience with banjo was that left to their own devices, can have a lot of loud spots and dead spots across the neck)

 

[Cybercow]

But as a genuine banjo pedal suggestion . . . .

 

[The Gator]

Well kind of. The compressor just evens out the attack. Basically I'm not that good of a banjo player and I know my consistency in my attack is not always that great. It evens out the level of all the notes. The banjos obviously not a sustained type of instrument so that doesn't really factor in, but it does make it a little thicker. I don't like to use the dynacomp it's better if you have something with an adjustable attack setting

 

[cwsquared]

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!

Virtual Jeff Pro: https://www.fomofx.com/

It's a digital whammy bar/pedal.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

 

[matmonster58]

Phaser is great on banjo. Check out Shadowgrass live shows for some great examples

 

[HamishR]

I have to admit that when I first saw the title of this thread I thought it was a joke. There's just something about a banjo...

One pedal I am really tempted by is the Bigsby pedal by Gamechanger. It looks really cool and has some interesting features. But for the number of times I might use it it's not cheap.

 

[Giorfida]

I would think a compressor would be next to useless with the extremely short decay of a banjo.

octave could be cool, though!

 

[Cybercow]

I would think a compressor would be next to useless with the extremely short decay of a banjo.

octave could be cool, though!

I dunno. I think compressor's tendency to dampen attack transients could be cool on banjo. And I suspect you're right about the sustain aspect of compression; it would likely be nil.

 

[Gordo]

As a kid my idea of the rudest form of rock (we're talking pre-punk here) was Flatt and Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". I can't decide if the violin was the most bitchin solo in the history of rock music or the banjo was just the carpet that that bugger rolled in on but regardless, I'd think that anything that can push a guitar over the edge can easily tip it in for banjo.

Fast forward to Bela Fleck and the possibilities are endless.

And don't get me started on bagpipes...

 

[Feral Feline]

Delay and Fuzz are my favourite effects for bagpipes, but a jet-flanger sounds amazing on the drones with some slight OD on the chanter.
I would think they have very different needs, the drones of the pipes vs the short attack-decay of the banjo.

However, Yeah, keep bagpipes in the "What's the Best Pedal Circuits for Bagpipes" thread...

I would think a compressor would be next to useless with the extremely short decay of a banjo.
...

The way you say that implies that the only use for a compressor is to add sustain; but compressors have other uses.

 

[tegendemuur]

I'd say, go for the classic studio trick of cascading two compressors (look at Origin Effects SlideRig or Cali76 Stacked Edition for commercial slide guitar options ). I went with the latter for my single-coil lapsteel with benders (for steel guitar sounds), and the percussiveness of the plucking is something for which I parked my Effectrode LA-1A until I find a better use for that pedal. I imagine it would level out the volume of a banjo across all notes and compress the sound in a very satisfying way as well. That is, if that sort of honky-tonk-ish sound that I love from these country instruments, is what your friend's after as well.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Recently been thinking about how much I want a tenor banjo. Keeping an eye out for a bargain on fb marketplace and the summer garage sales. If I get one, you know it’s getting a pickup and running through some wacky delays and pitch shifters.

I bet ring mod would actually work really well on banjo due to the short attack. Blending in just a little bit with the dry signal (15% wet, 85% dry) would make it so the tone gets pretty scrongly and interesting, but the decay would be quick enough that you’d only really perceive the fundamental and wouldn’t necessarily perceive the ring mod as being strictly discordant