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Author Topic:  Using a Boss GEQ to simulate a, um b....a....n....j.....
ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 22 Jan 2017 8:16 am    
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OK, yes I said it: A banjo.
(Ducks as miscellaneous items are flung at my head.)

I know about the dobro sim trick, but I got to thinking about if there was a way to simulate a banjo sound with either a pedal steel or a six string.

I know that there is a way to do it using a handkerchief placed under the strings.

By the way, I recently did some recording with the dobro sim settings using a regular six string acoustic and a slide, and I think that it sounds really good.

Thanks in advance.
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 22 Jan 2017 8:48 am    
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The best way to simulate the banjo is to use a round hard piece of wood as a bar.
I've used banister rail, and a friend with a lathe made me one of white oak.
If you lack a wooden bar, carefully place the edge of the hand on the crown of the fingers, with just enough meat on the strings to spike sustain.
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Ken Metcalf


From:
San Antonio Texas USA
Post  Posted 22 Jan 2017 10:09 am    
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Try a Plastic comb works pretty good
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Godfrey Arthur

 

From:
3rd Rock
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2017 1:04 am    
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An EQ pedal may get somewhat of a quacky tone but it won't recreate the way a banjo's strings ring out.

The drumhead body is responsible for that.

If you really need to do this, get a MIDI pickup on your steel and then:

Try putting this in your laptop and using a MIDI interface to get from your guitar to your pc and then out to your amp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBHW9ePwzk8

You asked for it you got it..Toyota...
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Chris Walke

 

From:
St Charles, IL
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2017 8:40 am    
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Not exactly your scenario, but maybe there's something useful to you...

I was playing in a band that wanted banjo in some songs. I didn't have one at the time so I strung up a Danelectro reissue electric with 5 strings, even put an octave G for 5th string. Piece of foam under the strings just in front of the bridge, not enough to mute them, but enough to reduce the sustain and make it "plunky."

Electronically, I ran thru a Boss EQ pedal into a chorus pedal. Played with the frequencies until I got that upper midrange-y clang, dropped some of the lower freqs all the way down. Took some experimenting & tweaking, but in a band mix, people heard the rolls and seemed to think I was playing an electric banjo.
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Scott Duckworth


From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2017 10:02 am    
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See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzULT1xpnJM
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Steve Becker

 

From:
Daytona Beach FL
Post  Posted 30 Jan 2017 11:38 am    
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I use a 1 inch wooden dowel 'bar' made of pine (or any soft wood). I rounded the edges so it wouldn't catch in the strings. I tried putting lacquer on it, but it created more sustain than I wanted. So unfinished sounds better, however you won't be able to slide around as much... By itself, it sounds kind of like an electric piano, which is cool too, but if I combine it with my Bo Bro pedal, it comes real close to a banjo. Just roll off the mids and lows on ur EQ ,use light pressure and banjo like rolls. I use it all the time, and get a lot of good feedback from people wondering where is that banjo coming from...!
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Steve Becker

 

From:
Daytona Beach FL
Post  Posted 30 Jan 2017 11:42 am    
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BTW- Sharpies work good too, but the dowel was more comfortable.
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