Many banjo players who strum open strings with flatpicks may be disappointed by the muted sound of the low strings. When fingerpicked however, six string banjos can add an appealing gutsy tone that enhances their playing.
Some guitarists use 6-string banjos for Dixieland music, though this is typically not why people purchase them.
The Gold Tone EB-6
Are You an Guitar Player Interested in Switching Over to Banjo? This banjo may be the ideal instrument for you. Featuring an 8″ pre-tuned head with a humbucking pickup under it and volume/tone controls as well as a gig bag, this instrument will provide plenty of practice opportunities!
EB-6 Electric Banjitar was carefully designed to reproduce the essence of this centuries-old resonator sound while providing all of the advantages associated with an electric instrument. To accomplish this goal, every choice made when designing it was carefully considered so as to maintain authenticity while offering all of its advantages – this includes using a custom Remo 8″ pre-tuned head that never requires retensioning hardware and improves tuning stability, along with an extremely feedback resistant stacked humbucking pickup at neck position which captures that plunkiness banjo tone for authentic reproduction of this classic instrument sound!
The maple neck with rosewood fretboard feels very guitar-like thanks to its 25.5″ scale length, making it easy for guitarists to quickly adjust to this instrument and add banjo parts into their music. A heavy Terminator tailpiece accepts both ball- and loop-end strings.
Gold Tone’s Zero Glide Nut can significantly decrease string contact and noise levels while narrowing the sonic difference between fretted and open strings, improving sustain and intonation accuracy without compromising character or increasing string resonation for improved note definition and projection. Perfect for banjos, acoustic guitars and ukuleles alike – Gold Tone’s Zero Glide Nut upgrade should be an essential addition for all instruments!
The Dean EB-6
Dean created this banjo specifically to meet the demands of modern bass players. It features a 35″ scale length for optimal intonation and tension regulation and DMT Design pickups for ultimate tone control, along with basswood body construction with multi-ply neck. Furthermore, various transparent finishes are available, and it comes complete with its own soft padded gig bag for convenient transport.
A banjo and guitar may sound similar, yet each has their own distinct sounds. When strings vibrate, they create vibrations known as overtones which differ slightly from their “root” frequency and give instruments their distinct tones; higher overtones mean more distinctive sound from stringed instruments.
Banjos also tend to feature sharper overtones than guitars, providing it with more pronounced percussive tones. If you plan to use your banjo with amplified music, an upgrade instrument with built-in mag pickup may be more suitable as this allows plugging it in without feedback issues; otherwise a cheaper instrument should suffice – just be sure to visit an experienced technician to have them set it up first!
The Martin EB-6
In 1962, Gibson expanded their solidbody electric bass offering by unveiling an EB-6 model similar to their semi-hollowbody counterpart: an ES-335. Like its semi-hollowbody sibling, this instrument featured an extra-thin custom double cutaway body, thinline neck joined at 17th fret and rosewood fingerboard featuring 20 medium jumbo frets with pearl dot position markers; additionally both models featured combination bridge/tailpiece/truss rod setup with adjustable truss rod adjustments; however the newer model featured two humbucking pickups instead of one as stated in their 1963 catalog page description; Wes Montgomery was among the first players to adopting this instrument with Ben Orr debuting his white model during photo shoot for band’s platinum album Panorama photo shoot!
This example of the EB-6 in Cherry Red features a vintage PAF in its neck slot, an exceptional high-output humbucking pickup in its bridge position, and large-paddled Kluson tuners for tuning precision. Furthermore, this guitar stands out due to never having been professionally modified – remaining nearly mint condition throughout. Additionally, this instrument comes complete with its matching Sunn Solarus combo amp – featuring two EL34 tubes producing humbucking output with 40W of clean dynamic power through two 12″ speakers!
The Fender EB-6
At the close of the 1950s, Gibson and Fender battled it out for dominance of the high-end solidbody guitar market. While Gibson frequently fell short in this arena, one success they managed to score was with their Bass VI model which debuted as an alternative to thinline EB-2’s six strings tuned an octave below regular guitar tunings with only a single pickup and 30 1/2″ scale neck-to-body joint.
While the Bass VI became a session favorite, it never achieved mainstream popularity. Due to its narrow string spacing that wasn’t conducive for strumming, guitarists found other instruments more suitable. And its heavy flat-wound strings produced sound that did not mesh well with bassists’ needs.
Fender made changes to increase its profile for 1962. They included upgrades such as electric guitar pickups and improvements to their chassis design. The EB-6 featured three single-coil bass guitar pickups mounted to smooth chrome mounting rings, along with controls modeled after those found on its successor Jaguar: one volume control and tone control on a hexagonal chrome plate at the lower horn, as well as a three-position toggle switch for selecting between pickups. This instrument featured slide-up mutes beneath its one-piece bridge/tailpiece and hand rests. Early users included Jet Harris of The Shadows (“Besame Mucho” and the main title theme to The Man With the Golden Arm), Jack Bruce of Cream (“Several Hits from Fresh Cream”, Benjamin Orr of The Cars (“Photos for Panorama”, his customized white EB-6 featuring gold Grover Imperial tuners, mirrored pickguard and gold tailpiece.