How guitar players cheat playing the banjo. (6-string banjo!)

This is a banjo-guitar, or a guitar-banjo. A guit-jo? Maybe banjitar? Whatever you wanna call it, it's kind of thought of as a novelty instrument, but it actually has some really interesting roots as an instrument that came out of necessity!
If you want to learn how to play a great piece written by a 6-string banjo player, full transcription for Johnny St. Cyr's Guitar Blues on the Patreon!!
If you’re interested in buying this banjo, contact Kyle on his website!
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[@PHJimY]

This is not cheating. If it sounds good, it is good.

[@cheerubebayonettaholopaine2638]

i bought a 6 atring banko by accident in a secondhand store for 50€ 😁👍 im a total beginner in every instrument i have at home, but its so fun to find out and leanr to know them.

[@kostringworks]

Nice! Dude have fun with it!

[@almostliterally593]

Nashville tuning on these is awesome

[@kostringworks]

I bet!

[@redbeardshomestead]

I've had a six string gold tone banjo for 12 years now. It was $650 brand new and worth every penny even though it's heavy AF! I put it away for about 5 years and stopped playing it because I was playing in a band where it didn't fit. These days it gets played everyday and I love it.

[@kostringworks]

Heck yeah, Golds Tone makes great stuff for the money! Love to hear folks are ripping these 6-string banjos out in the world!

[@SurfingSerpent]

If you take string 1, 5, and 6 down a whole step, you get D-G-D-G-B-D. This makes it perfectly in line with normal banjo, but with bass strings instead.

[@kostringworks]

Dude that’s pretty cool!

[@pauld7704]

Well before founding the Hot Club of France, Django Reinhardt made a living as accompanying violin and accordion players in a style called Musette with a six string banjo. Besides being one of the greatest lead guitarists ever, his rhythm work was unparalleled and a lot of it was honed in those days, he was sought after even in those days. There’s one photo of a very young Django looking very serious with a banjo in his hands.

[@kostringworks]

Dude did not know that about Django. So cool, I’ll have to look that photo up. Makes sense!

[@pauld7704]

@@kostringworks He’s one of my guitar heroes, I have an old acoustic archtop from the mid ‘50s made in the style of the Selmer he played, it has a round sound hole which makes it less collectible but more affordable, it’s a treasure. The top is eight strips of spruce and according to the seller the neck is from pear wood. There was a large community of Sicilian luthiers building those guitars, Busato being the most desirable. This one was made for a retail store and isn’t identified but the luthier who rebuilt it thinks it’s a Buccolo. Too much information, sorry. I just found your channel. I have an LG-2 from the mid 50’s too, needs a neck reset but is very cool. I also have a really old L&H Arion parlor guitar. It was gut stringed but someone in the 60s or 70s put steel strings on and bent the neck. A local luthier reset the neck and rebraced it for steel strings and it sounds great.

[@jimsliverootsculturemusic]

Like so many others, Robert Johnson started on a cigar box guitar too. It's a precursor to the National steel, designed for more volumes.

[@kostringworks]

Didn’t know that about RJ! Good mahogany in those cigar boxes.

[@jimsliverootsculturemusic]

@@kostringworks Up Jumped The Devil by Conforth and Wardlow.

[@wheninroamful]

Another great vid, Kyle. I didn't see it posted for sale on your webpage that sends you to Reverb; just thought id share in case something went wrong. Keep these great vids coming... 💙

[@kostringworks]

Thanks! Gonna try to sell off reverb for now, but I could see how that be confusing!

[@wheninroamful]

@@kostringworks I get it, but I didn’t see it on Reverb

[@officialWWM]

That Gretch looks really nice.

[@kostringworks]

It's great! It's actually up for sale currently if you're looking!

[@uncommonsensewithpastormar2913]

I considered getting a six string banjo, but ultimately decided to go with the traditional 5 string. With the advent of electrical amplification there is no need to have louder mechanical amplification, except as he said in the video, to give a different color and texture to your sound. Besides, the high drone string is much of what gives a five string banjo its unique sound. I do appreciate, however, the history of the six stringed banjo he shared in this video.

[@kostringworks]

Fair! One thing to consider is volume or not, nothing comes close to the tone of a 6-string banjo. So sometimes is comes down to that. Have fun with the 5!!

[@markharwood7573]

Here's a suggestion. A short-scale 6-string can be tuned like the standard G tuning on the 5-string. That means that there is a G thumb string that goes right down to the nut. That can be fretted at the low frets, making the instrument more versatile than the regular 5-string. I sent that suggestion to Gold Tone, but don't think I ever got a reply.

[@revjeferson]

Great video!!!

[@kostringworks]

Thanks!! Glad ya dug it!

[@loyddussaultsr4181]

Put on the 6 octive strings for a 12 string guitar remove the back cover and stuff a piece cloth between the steel adjustable rod and the head to mute the sound a little and see it you don't like the results when you play. I did that to my Gretch and I do like how it sounds

[@kostringworks]

Def the first time anyone has suggested that to me! I just might!

[@markharwood7573]

Good stuff. It's galling that people, usually in the USA, think the 5-string is the "real" banjo and the 6-string is some kind of cheat. It shows an ignorance of the instrument's history. There are several types and the 5-string with its thumb string is just one. The four-string has several variants. A friend of mine plays a seven-string fretless. The six-string has an honourable history, as mentioned in the video. As it happens, my current six-string isn't very good and I gave up playing it until it crossed my mind that it might be good in Nashville tuning. For once, I was right! I warmly recommend it.

[@kostringworks]

Dude nice! I’ve actually never tried that tuning on a guitar even. I’ll have to give it a go!

[@xkidmidnightx]

The drone string on a Banjo is what makes it real. The first banjos and banjo like instruments from Africa always had a drone string. It's internal to the sound. If if doesnt have that its just a guitar with a different body.

[@paulyflyer8154]

Being a guitarist and too lazy to learn the banjo I bought a guitar banjo 2 years ago in eager anticipation. However, I just can't get it to sound like a genuine banjo at all and all I can think of is its because of the way a 5 string is tuned? Mine wasn't particularly cheap at £600 but it just sounds dull.

[@kostringworks]

Yeah for sure, all the banjo families have a unique tuning so def hard to achieve what one does without having the actual instrument. That said, guitar-banjos can sound fantastic had their own thing!

[@howlinhobbit]

I’ve never seen the Gretsch instrument you’re talking about here, but I have seen and heard similar instruments from other makers. the only Gretsch I own is a wood bodied resonator ukulele. if I want a banjo sound I have an older no name banjo uke.

[@kostringworks]

Love gretsch! Banjo ukes rule!

[@PHJimY]

I crush the ends of ball end strings with vice grips. they fall to pieces and come right out, giving you a loop end string.

[@kostringworks]

Ha nice 💪

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Johnny St Cyr played one of these

[@redbeardshomestead]

That's exactly what he talks about in the video 😂

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

@@redbeardshomestead Yep, takes us back to that Good Old Fashioned Dixieland Jazz Era

[@billallen1594]

My New Year’s resolution is not to buy any more guitars until I can play the ones I have better. Then again…

[@kostringworks]

Well you still have a couple weeks til new years 😂

[@tommytramp]

COOL I looked up higher end 6 string Banjoes Like Deering and Vegas gos over 2200 thats not cheap Best learn on a cheeper model first make sure its for you right? GREAT VIDEO THANX Kyle...MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!

[@kostringworks]

Absolutely, I’ve always held the opinion that cheap banjos made the best banjos. Merry Xmas to you too bud! Appreciate ya!

[@nathanfrazermusic]

I have a deering I love it

[@kostringworks]

Nice! What are those running these days? This used to be mumblin’ Drew’s but he just got a vintage Vega 6 string (which is absolutely amazing) so he’s moving some stuff. I was shocked to see how cheap these go for.

[@nathanfrazermusic]

I think they’re around 800? I put a K&K banjo pickup in it but it rings out so bad on the treble side it hurts my ears. I like playing it with this jug band group I mess around with.

[@kostringworks]

@@nathanfrazermusic haha dang. My favorite banjo “pickup” is a 57 strapped in the pot!

[@wheninroamful]

@@kostringworks Here in Seattle, a Deering Goodtime is about $500-600 pretty sure at Dusty Strings. Super cool they rent them for $1 day (well, $30 o month) and the rental money will go towards a purchase of a new one if you want. I love them, amazing "cheap(er)" banjos for sure.

[@thunderstruckram]

went to your website,, has this been sold?

[@kostringworks]

Hey Dave! Sorry these KZbin comments get so easily lost in the fray. The banjo is still for sale. Someone almost bought so I took it down it but they've since lost touch. If you're still interested, head over to my website and fill out that inquiry form and we can chat from there!

[@Yourbosskid]

It's a ganjo homie

[@kostringworks]

😂 it is a ganjo isn’t it.

[@clawhammer704]

Use electric guitar strings.

[@kaintuffin-qb5wu]

Its a dud instrument that isn't as good as either the banjo or the guitar. They just don't sound all that good. Thats what I think anyway.

[@marleyjohnson8938]

Bro go listen to some Keith urban

[@redbeardshomestead]

There's a bit of a learning curve to it. You can't pick it up and play it like a guitar or a banjo and expect it to shine. Strumming sounds horrible and claw hammer style is a little too bright and loud. I like to play it with a little bit of a palm mute alternating between strumming and picking styles.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

I would get a new tailpiece that allows for both loop end & ball end strings.

[@kostringworks]

That would def do the trick!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

@@kostringworks A Terminator Tailpiece.