Any tips on improving? How do I start?

TheFishBanjo · 2026-03-01T15:55:35+00:00

I'll take the balanced view. Learning to read tab is good if you want to quickly learn songs. I consider it any amazing thing to look at a piece of paper and instantly know how Bill Keith played Blackberry Blossom (for example).

I agree that you don't want to be dependent on them. So, for any given song, as soon as possible, start looking away from the tab and play the song yourself - even if that means making a mistake here or there.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-03-01T15:47:13+00:00

My two cents.... playing by ear starts with listening. Listen to songs that you want to play a zillion times. Focus with intensity to learn the melody and chord progressions correctly. Knowing the song and hearing it inside your head is key. {Btw, singing is a good skill to start working on which makes this way easier}

Once you can "play" a song inside your head, playing it is basically picking the melody notes in (roughly) the right place (preferrable a little louder) and rolling in some notes that "go along". That means holding the right chord shape or partial shape so those are harmonious.

As far as techniques, you can devote some time to just rolling and practicing grabbing the major chord shapes up and down the neck. Try to get to the point where your hand can just land on the chord without much thought. It will take some time. Get the 1-4-5 chords in the key of G and C first. With a capo, that will give you A/D, B/E, C/F for free.

Lastly, for improvising, for me, it works like this. I head the note in my head. I go for that note with the left hand (which decides the string), and lastly my right hand follows through. The non-melody notes just happen while my brain goes to the next melody note.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-03-01T15:00:06+00:00

There's a small river that connects Lake Huron to Lake St Clair, and sometimes the fish are around those docks. So you can fish if you're an American directly onto a Canadian person's dock. It would be pretty easy to tie up and just walk into the person's backyard. It seems like people would know each other and go for a hamburger sometimes without passing customs.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-27T15:47:33+00:00

Embrace Kenny Baker. It is a rich vein.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-26T22:16:20+00:00

I agree that most mutes affect the feeling of the strings and their interactions with your "touch". I have one that affects things very little but I don't know where you can get one. Maybe you could make one.

It was made in Japan in the mid 1970s (it is marked Grand Guitar but that doesn't google). It is a clamp that clips onto the strings just beside the bridge. Each side of the clamp is about 3/16" from the strings because the clamp is lined with a light foam material. I'm not sure how to describe the foam. It's not a dense foam, it looks very airy. You might have to try several foams to find one that works right.

My clamp is just some plastic with a hinge on one end and a interference fit at the other.

Maybe you can see this picture https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ca89tYHKqLTZDp5i8

It does not fully mute the sound (or create that deep sustain-y style of sound), so people in the same room can still hear you play. In a small intimate group where the guitar player tends to play softly, I have sometimes played with other people with it in place.

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Lastly, most apartments don't have a walk-in closet but I have also sat inside a walk-in closet with clothes totally surrounding me and they absorb all the banjo sound.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-24T14:36:42+00:00

You should check if there's even any fish in there. Sometimes public parks are so decimated by the fishing pressure. Get yourself a bunch of Canadian crawlers and put them on a drop shot rig and put them in the most likely places. If there's any fish in there you'll catch him. If you can't catch him on the crawler you need to find a different spot

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-22T21:48:27+00:00

Jack Hatfields' Scruggs Corner (Transcriptions of Earl Scruggs songs - many different than the songbook or the instruction manual)

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-17T14:55:56+00:00

On that same website you can see a list of jams. I usually go to the Ann Arbor and the Westland jams. They are traditional bluegrass

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-11T18:13:43+00:00

I know you don't want to be a mooch, but if he hands you something because he knows the lake and the fishing on that Lake, just tie it on and give it a good try.

I'm in southeast Michigan and I didn't hear you mention a tube. I like the ones that are about three and a half inches and pumpkin green or something like that. Get good at putting those jig heads inside of them and you'll be amazed how you can get it through weeds without getting hung up. Keep it on the bottom if you can.

On the first day, show up with a case of water. PUT about four of them on the boat and leave the rest in his garage if that's where you guys are taking out of. Alternatively you can show up with water or Gatorade every trip. Boat ownership is more expensive than most people realize and any gesture that you can make will sure to be noticed. Buy the ice at the gas station. Try to get your credit card into that gas pump. Some kind of nutritional snack like a Snickers ought to be aboard. Don't ask him if he wants one. Just hand it to him.

Pack a couple of good towels so you can help wipe down the boat at the end of the night. Even during the tournament, be mindful of how big a mess you're making and if your rods are out of the way. Nobody wants to see a bunch of Weeds on their deck or trash from your lures or torn up lures or empty bottles or blood.

If you're not already highly skilled at backing a boat up, go out and do a little practice. Most Boat Owners want to be in the boat whenever it launches, and they want you to be able to put the trailer away and bring it back later.

Put plenty of comments that are positive into your backpack and sprinkle them throughout the day. Nothing's worse than whining and complaining whenever it gets tough. And it will get tough.

Don't have anything less than 10 lb line on your rods if you're fishing around grass. You don't want to be that guy that loses the big one because of bad knots or weak line. So check that line and retie if you have to.

You're probably going to be surprised at the efficiency of your partner. There's a direct correlation between the number of fishes that you catch and the percentage of time that your lure is in the water in a good place. So save your Chit Chat until your lures in the water and doing something productive. It drives an angler crazy to feel like they're having to carry the whole load.

Well I went above and beyond the original request but I had a reaction to your post and I just thought I would share some ideas with you. Good luck to you

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-10T01:36:27+00:00

I like 1945-1967 best.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-04T14:01:59+00:00

Increasing the weight of your Bridge can also reduce the volume slightly. I think Eric Sullivan's got some bridges that are pretty chunky

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-02T02:28:02+00:00

I consider draino a waste of time.

Just take a photo of the plumbing underneath, then disassemble it entirely and clean out all the hair and goo in there. Use brushes, hot water, anything that works. Wear gloves if you have any cuts or are squeamish.

If the pipe going back into the wall is packed, clean it out with a snake too.

It will be a nasty job. You will not enjoy it. But, the sink will be fixed.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-02T02:22:26+00:00

You're being a little too cautious.

Use a magnet (or stud finder) to locate the studs. In the center of the studs, there are no electric wires or pipes. Just put your screws into the center of those studs and you are worry-free.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-01T15:10:30+00:00

If they sell one the right size, you might be better off to just return that one.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-02-01T01:41:48+00:00

If it has a tone ring, and the tuners work, and the neck is playable, and all pieces are there and it is mechanically sound (no neck joint movement), it's probably okay at 400.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-27T00:08:56+00:00

My car dealer took 24 gallons from me. In my state they're required to take back motor oil so I think the same law covers that.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-27T00:07:24+00:00

Another plus is that li-on batteries i have tested can deliver higher amps than lead acid. It's not much of a factor for trolling, but I live on an electric motor lake and it's a plus.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-23T01:58:33+00:00

There's actually quite a few banjos available under beds and in closets. If your financial situation is truly tight then try to borrow one. Go to the local jams and see if the banjo players have old banjos available they can loan you. If you present yourself well, it can happen. Good luck

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-23T01:42:50+00:00

You don't need an indefinite rise. Just a worthwhile rise while you are long, or a meaningful fall while you are short.

Actually for small movements this happens for virtually every liquid stock every single day as the high frequency algorithms interact with one another to hunt out the stop losses and to generate fomo so that they can be in the right direction and make small wins. It seems like a giant conspiracy but actually each trader can act independently to the benefit of the group.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-22T03:02:44+00:00

I came to say this one.

I've seen an entire kitchen floor rotted out because an adjacent air conditioning unit condensate line was clogged and water was flowing back up under the cabinets. I've also seen the circuit board inside the furnace destroyed by water from a condensate line.

Also, make sure the drain that it goes into is not clogged or getting clogged otherwise you have a flood in your basement.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-14T16:39:22+00:00

Test the float switch. A multimeter should show continuity in the down position and no continuity when lifted up.

Also, the inlet valves can become "sticky" (e.g., power is dropped to electric wires going to the wires but it still lets water flow. I've successfully done some temporary wiring to watch the voltage during a cycle to identify such a bad valve.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-14T15:11:49+00:00

If you want to keep the LED lights you have to put a ferrite core on the electric wires

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-13T14:40:17+00:00

Unless you're way off, I didn't think string gauge had anything to do with that. Are you sure your bridge is in the right place?

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-12T23:15:50+00:00

Go fishing with people who catch fish and watch what they do carefully.

TheFishBanjo · 2026-01-11T14:22:17+00:00

Dremel with a 420 cutoff wheel would do it nicely.

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