B & D Montana #3 Plectrum Demo

My first attempted at a demonstration video! My editing chops are not so good so please excuse the ragged nature of this little presentation.
I have never spent much time with Bacon banjos so this was a big leaning experience for me. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised with the playability and sound of this great old banjo. It is top notch in every way and so much fun to play. It was very easy to get a good sound out of this banjo. I changed the head to a Remo Renaissance and put on a generic maple and ebony bridge. At first I got the head too tight and it sounded harsh and not very musical so I loosened the head and found a real sweet spot. The tone profile is slightly stronger in the mid range compared to a VegaVox.

[@natehiltz]

Great sounding banjo! And wow, you have such a wonderful feel thanks for posting this

[@seanmoyses]

Well done Brad, nice video and always great playing

[@prushimush]

Great playing here. I have a regular old B&D Silver Bell No. 1 and I play it a lot - it's my main banjo. It's very slightly quieter than my Weymann plectrum, which also has a longer scale, but the Bacon's got a more refined and balanced sound. We have a lot of these Silver Bell plectrums in Philadelphia, it's one of the most sought after banjos around here.

[@davereiber1]

Which one do you like the best I have a Jany plectrum banjo

[@DougsWorldOnaString]

BRILLIANT!!!!

[@sounddoctorin]

wow that's amazing

[@craigwood1327]

You can make any banjo sound fab. People check out Swing Savant.Great Roth solos!

[@mummer1966]

Awesome sounding banjo. Wish I were the owner. Amazing performance and talent!! Thank you so much for sharing this and all your videos. I recognize the Melody but it cannot think of the name of the song, what is the name of the song please? Thank you again... from Philadelphia, PA

[@bradroth2580]

"You Mother And Mine" late 1920's

[@mummer1966]

Thank you very much for responding. I do appreciate it.

[@cdnielson]

@@bradroth2580 Can I ask where/how you learn the songs that you do, or do you make them up yourself, etc.? My grandfather (now passed away) was a great plectrum banjo player and I've just purchased myself one and want to learn some songs on it (I am a solid folk guitarist, and think I can pick it up relatively quickly), but the actual complete songs in tablature or the like seem extremely scarce. Love your playing!

[@prushimush]

@@cdnielson I play the plectrum banjo, also in Philadelphia like mummer1966 - we have a strong regional music scene using 4-string banjos here. Most plectrum players use fakebooks and sheet music and try to push the melody line up to the top two strings - it's a bit of a different style than strictly following guitar tabs. Plectrum banjo tabs are rare, but Don Van Palta has a good chord book with chord charts that work similar to tab that will get you started.

[@clawhammer704]

Smooth right hand.

[@TimWeedOfficial]

Awesome Brad!

[@gordonnorrell7143]

Brad, I put your playing up there with Buddy Wachter, Eddie Peabody, perry Bechtel, and Doug Maddox.....

[@mikeDrzal]

✌️

[@davereiber1]

How many frets

[@coursdeguitare]

i ve the same banjo ....