A Resounding Success - Nechville Musical Products

Nechville News
For Banjo Players Everywhere!
9700 Humboldt Avenue South, Bloomington, Minnesota 55431
A Field Trip to Nechville
Summer 2009
In This Issue
A Field Trip to Nechville
1
A Resounding Success
1
Nechville Players: International
2-3
Helimount Setup tips
4
Helimount Banjo Reference Chart
5
The Janna Kim Banjo Fund
6
Calendar of Events
7
Classifieds
7
Price List
8
supervisor Keith Johnson, “That was so
much fun. It was seriously approaching
too much fun, although we know this is
hardly possible, … I can't imagine Bela
Fleck or any other banjo gods being
treated any better than we were during
“The trip was a great success, and could our visit.”
become an annual tradition.” Said staff
sufficient. My personal preference is
to stop finishing before it begins to
build up on the surface of the wood
and becomes too shiny. I have recently begun to use this method on
Nechville banjos. An overly finished
resonator interior could produce a
distracting array of unwanted overtones.
Tom’s Corner:
If you have a Pre 2009 Nechville, It is
likely to have a non-finished interior.
Bloomington Kennedy High’s Guitar
Club visited the Nechville shop recently.
There they met Tom Nechville and saw
how his banjos are designed, assembled and played.
A Resounding Success
For many years I was so preoccupied with the design of the banjo's
tension and tone ring system that I
almost ignored the impact of a good
resonator. Since resonators are easily removable, it's interesting to do
trials with different ones and note the
effect of several variants.
My conclusion is that the reflected
portion of the sound colors the tone
with a slight echo from the aged and
hardened wood. Wondering how to
artificially age the interior surface of a
resonator got me thinking about types
of finishes that soak in and harden in
the wood. I've recently found that a
thin application of a quick drying finAfter testing banjos with Pre-War Gibish, such as shellac, on the inside of
son resonators, I noticed that the inthe resonator tends to give the banjo
side of those resonators were not
a touch more presence and brilliance.
bare wood, but stained and probably
sealed with a a coat of shellac, or
If you try this, Be sure to use a very
possibly oil finish.
thin "cut" of shellac, and one coat is
(Continued on page 4)
Summer 2009
Nechville News
Nechville Players Around the World
Our last issue featured players in the US
who are playing Nechville banjos these
days. This issue takes a look at a few of
those outside the US.
Lluis Gomez- Spain
www.myspace.com/lluisgomez
Lluis Gomez has studied in the USA and
Ireland with Bill Keith, Tony Trishcka, Pete
Wernick, Noam Pikelny, Jayme Stone and
with Jean Marie Redon in France and with
Ricky Araiza & Sedo Garcia in Spain.
Lluis is a frequent contributor to this publication, offering playing tips and tabs/ He is
a regular contributor to European magazines and American journals. He is the
main organizer of the Al Ras Festival in
Barcelona,hich has clocked up a successful seven-year track record, and is generally considered to be one of the original
champions of Bluegrass music in Spain.
With 10 years experience teaching banjo,
he has run regular workshops in the USA
and each year, tours the States.
Lluis plays a Vintage with Cascade inlay.
Lubos Malina–
Czech Republic
www.druhatrava.com
In 1992, Lubos Malina (1991-present)
was named overall "Best Banjo Player" at
the 20 plus year old Banjo Jamboree Festival. This was after being voted "Banjo
Player of the Year" annually since 1986.
Along with Robert Krestan, he recorded
six albums with the band Poutnici. Both in
1989 and 1990, Poutnici received the So-
ciety for the Preservation of Bluegrass
Music award for Best Non-American Recording of the Year. His first solo recording, Naper se a Pukni! (All You Can
Eat) was released in 1996 and his second
project, A Piece of Cake, including guest
artists Davy Spillane, Peter Rowan, Bela
Fleck, Tony Trischka, and Druha Trava,
and was released in August, 1998.
Most recently his third solo project, Afterparty, was released on Good Day Records
in 2004. Multi-instrumentalist Lubos has
been performing on Irish whistle and clarinet as well as his banjos. The Bluegrass
Association of the Czech Republic
awarded him "Best Banjo Player" in 2005,
and in 2006 honored his "Dueling Fingers"
album as the "Album of the Year".
Leon Hunt-United Kingdom
www.leonhunt.com
refreshed enthusiasm. Seasons playing
with the Royal Shakespeare Company and
at The New Vic as well as composing the
soundtrack for a production of 'To Kill a
Mocking Bird', also at The New Vic have
kept Leon very busy, however he still managed to find the time to record his first solo
album, "Miles Apart".
"Miles Apart" is a true 'transatlantic session' with as much of the recording taking
place in Nashville, TN as in Leon's home
town of Bath, England. 'Miles Apart' features some of the best acoustic musicians
from both the US and the UK and effortlessly spans several musical disciplines.
Most noticeable are Bluegrass, Jazz and
Celtic music, styles that Leon describes as
being; "natural bed partners…whilst Bill
Monroe was embracing his Scottish heritage Earl Scruggs was busy re-working
New Orleans jazz tunes - bluegrass music
has always provided a strong connection
between traditional music and more improvisational forms of music like jazz".
Leon Hunt is
deservedly the
Leon plays a Phantom with a fifth string
UK's bestrolling nut .
known 5-string
banjo player. A
former student
of American
banjo virtuoso,
Bela Fleck, his
exploits with Daily Planet and Southern
Exposure have been making waves on
both sides of the Atlantic.
His trademark has always been a healthy
disregard for the banjo's traditional
boundaries, experimenting with techniques, sounds and technology and using
his earlier musical influences (both of
Leon's parents are jazz musicians) to ultimately make it a more versatile instrument.
In 1999 Leon decided to take a three-year
sabbatical from touring to take advantage
of an invitation to do a degree in music and
music technology in his home town of
Bath, since graduating he has returned to
his career as a professional musician with
2
Summer 2009
Nechville News
Hiro Arita– Japan
www.hiroarita.com
Hiro Arita was born in
Osaka, Japan in 1957.
At the age of 16, he
started playing bluegrass banjo. From
1984 through 1991,
Arita resided in the United States.
While studying at the Berklee College of
Music in Boston, he was active not only in
jazz and classical area but also other kinds
of music scenes, such as Irish, old time,
Klezmer.
Arita won the first place at the National
Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas in
1985, and Galax Fiddlers' Convention in
1997.
Arita formed a progressive acoustic group
"Off Center" with mandolin/guitar virtuoso,
John McGann. Also he played with a bluegrass band "Boston City Limits". As a part
of the group, he toured in Europe in 1985
and 1987. During his U.S. years, Arita performed with Bill Grant & Delia Bell, Bela
Fleck, David Grisman, and Fiddle Fever,
among others.
In 1992, after coming back to Japan, Arita
released his first solo CD "Whale Dance"
featuring eclectic original banjo and guitar
tunes.
Bluegrass
Band. From
1991 until
1995 Andy
played banjo
and guitar with
the country
and rockabilly
band Greenhorn and from 1992 until 2000 with the
bluegrass / swing trio Andy's Breakdown.
His current projects include several children programs in German and English and
the duo project Lady Sou & The Singing
Banjoman.
His newest project is a multi media show
with songs, stories and pictures about Australia. He supports the [Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA)]. who fight for the
preservation of several thousands more
than 30,000 years old petroglyphs in Western Australia.
He tours solo and with other musicians
through many European countries and the
USA. Andy released one single record and
8 CDs, two with the Fox Tower Bluegrass
Band, one each with Greenhorn, Andy's
Breakdown, and Lilly Drumeva, one children CD and 3 solo CDs, including his
newest album about Australia.
Nechville
Summer Sale on
Roland and Boss
Amps and Electronics
Prices too low
to advertise!
Limited supplies
Call or email us
for details
Andy plays a Nextar with Galaxy inlay,
which you can hear on our web site as
Andy plays his original composition, “The
Nechville Breakdown”, as well as a Banjovie.
He was invited as a faculty member to
"Tennessee Banjo Institute 1992", the world Jean-Marie Redon– France
-largest banjo summit. Presently he has
been actively involved in studio recording
www.myspace.com/jeanmarieredon
projects and live performances around Tokyo.
Jean-Marie Redon is considered one of
the pioneers of the European bluegrass
Hiro Arita plays a Nechville Vintage banjo.
music. His interest in the banjo began in
the late 1960s. He has enjoyed a longtime
Andy Glandt– Germany
association with banjo great Bill Keith and
their friendship has been largely responsiwww.andyglandt.com
ble for the spread of Bluegrass in France..
Andy was born in north eastern Germany,
Redon was listed in the book, Master of the
in a small town called Demmin. At the age
Five String Banjo. and was profiled in the
of 12 he learned to play the clarinet, later
July 2005 issue of Banjo Newsletter. His
the guitar, and finally he picked up the
musical repertoire is wide ranging in scope
banjo. In 1984 he founded the Fox Tower
working with various bands and as a solo
artist.
Jean-Marie is a highly acclaimed instructor
who is in high demand for banjo camps and
workshops. He has several French banjo
instructional projects under his belt and
underway. The tireless Jean-Marie plays a
Nechville Meteor electric banjo.
3
Summer 2009
Nechville News
(Continued from page 1)
Nechville will treat the inside of your
resonator for free if you pay the shipping to and from the Nechville shop.
Resonator Construction
Laminated plywood resonators are
usually bent into a bowl shape, and
solid wood resonators are usually flat
on the inside and fairly thick in the
middle.
Let's consider the 3 variables of the
inner shape, material composition
and texture of the resonator's reflective inner surface. Solid wood resonators that are found on certain top tension banjos tend to reflect sound right
back at you. I perceive a slightly more
"In-your-Face direct quality to the
sound.
I attribute this to the heaviness and
mass of the solid wood back, in combination with its flat reflective surface. I think a bowl shape deflects
sound in numerous directions diffusing the sound somewhat, but giving a
bit of a surrounding type of warmth.
An interesting thing happens when
you combine the mass of sold wood
with the bowl shape common to most
banjos.
If you are designing a new banjo,
consult with head designer Tom
Nechville about options that are available in custom resonators. The right
resonator just might be the one ingredient you need to take your banjo into
the arena super premium sound.
-Tom
Banjo Setup Tips
Especially for Helimount players
By Tom Nechville
Set up tip #1- Check bow, by holding one of your strings down at the
first and last fret. There should be a
small relief in the neck showing a
gap between the string and the center frets of .01-.02". Too much bow
can make notes go sharp when noting or capoing, Too little bow will
make for rattling strings.
a block, with the banjo face down on
a padded table, Then simply loosen
the neck anchor screw and push
down on the back of the resonator,
and retighten the neck screw. Micro
adjustments can then be done by
slow loosening until neck just begins
to move, and re tightening. Redo the
previous step if needed.
Set up Tip #2 - Tighten Head for
more volume and punch. The Helimount operates in a unique way, You
use 2 hands and rotate the wrenches
provided counter-clockwise to tighten
entire head at once. Considerable
force may be used as long as
wrenches are placed all the way
down into their anchoring holes.
Tigher heads also raise action so
consider also making a neck adjustment to retain optimum playability.
Setup Tip #4 -How is your intonation? Check the intonation and
bridge placement by making a harmonic chime at the 19th fret, Listen
to the note fretted at the 19th and
see if the chime is equal in pitch to
the fretted note on each string. If fretted note is sharp, Move bridge back
toward tailpiece, If it's flat to the harmonic, move the bridge toward neck.
Setup Tip #5 Nuance tuning- If you
pluck the string on the tailpiece side
Set up Tip #3- Action too high?
of the bridge, You'll get a high
There are several ways to lower ac- pitched note. Tune that note by movtion. Most obvious is a lower bridge, ing the small set screws on your
But if you want to keep your bridge,
Nechville tailpiece in or out. ( only
First make sure the bow is not expossible if you have a Nechville
cessive, as that will make strings
Bridge) This only works if the bridge
higher than they need to be. A clock- is placed perfectly according to setup
wise twist of the truss rod might be
tip #4. I usually tune the note you get
enough to lower action into perfecon the tailpiece side of the bridge to
tion, if not, moving the neck down
an octave interval of the string's secinto the resonator slot will increase
ond harmonic, or up a major fifth
the neck angle and lower action.
from the fundamental note. (A on 1st,
You'll have to slightly loosen strings F# on 2nd, D on 3rd, A on 4th and A
before moving the neck back. It is
on 5th. )
best accomplished with the neck on
Nechville News is a quarterly newsletter published by
Banjo
Nechville Musical Products ©2009 NMP Inc
Revolution
9700 Humboldt Ave S. Bloomington, MN 55431
Sales Office: 253-670-3208 Shop: 952-888-9710 Fax: 952-884-4500
www.nechville.com www.banjorev.com
Rev it UP!
Tom Nechville, Editor (tom@nechville.com)
Al Price, Associate Editor (alprice@nechville.com)
4
Nechville News
Summer 2009
5
Summer 2009
Nechville News
The Janna Kim Banjo Fund
(Paul Roberts, Elation Center for the Arts)
cal Products, a
leading banjo
manufacturer in
Bloomington,
Minnesota. Tom
Nechville,
whose worldclass banjos are
highly revered
by musicians
throughout the
world, provided
a matching opportunity to obtain one of his
instruments in
support of the
philanthropic
endeavor.
“What I like
about the bluegrass, old-time and acoustic music community,” says Nechville, “is that it is international. That fact gives us common ground
upon which we can form the foundation of
friendship.”
Elation Center for the Arts has launched a
fund to send a banjo to a gifted young musician in Uzbekistan.
Jack Clift, an American music producer,
generously offered to transport the instrument and present it to Kim on his next visit
to Uzbekistan. Clift owns a recording company called Effigy Records. He is the founder of a music ensemble in Uzbekistan that
merges American roots music with traditional music of Central Asia. Clift’s coproducer is John Carter Cash, the son of
Johnny Cash and June Carter.
Other sponsors of the project include Pat
Toomay, author and former pro football
Not exactly known as being a venue for
American banjo music, Uzbekistan has one player; Mimi Roberts, Director of Media
Projects with the New Mexico Dept of Culbanjo player in the entire country.
tural Affairs; and BanjoCrazy.com.
Her name is Janna Kim.
Contributions have been received from
Kim, a talented 25-year-old professional
banjoists in the US, Russia, Japan, France
singer, taught herself how to play banjo
and England who became acquainted with
over the Internet using a makeshift instruKim and her music through the Banjo
ment. Now she brings the happy sounds of Hangout, an online forum for banjo enthusiAmerican bluegrass to a part of the world
asts. “For many folks in other parts of the
that, for the most part, has never heard this world, the sound of the banjo is the sound
music. She plans on continuing to develop of freedom,” remarked one contributor.
her expertise on the banjo and hopes to
someday perform her music internationally. ECA is encouraging others to join a coalition of philanthropists in promoting the
To assist this brilliant young artist with
“sound of freedom,” by sending a banjo to
achieving her creative goals, Elation Center Janna Kim in Uzbekistan. Designated dofor the Arts partnered with Nechville Musi- nations can be made online at elation-
arts.org or by calling 970-731-3117.
Copies of the CD, “Pale Imperfect Diamond” - a melding of American roots and
Central Asian music - have been donated
by Effigy Records in support of the fund
and can be purchased online through elationarts.org or by calling 970-731-3117.
Multi-instrumentalists Paul and Carla Roberts are supporting the project through
house concerts in Colorado and New Mexico. Contact them through above website
and phone number if you would like to inquire about sponsoring such an event.
Elation Center for the Arts is 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
You can contribute to a banjo for Janna,
you may do so through one of the following
outlets:
Checks:
Elation Center for the Arts
353 Dutton Dr
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Online Donations/Info:
http://www.banjocrazy.com/articles/
jannadonate.shtml
http://www.banjocrazy.com/articles/
janna1.shtml
http://www.banjocrazy.com/articles/
janna2.shtml
6
Summer 2009
Nechville News
Banjovie
Calendar Of Events
Nechville is a part of the following
events:
$159
Gig Bag $20
June 16
Jam at the Foxtower Jena
Germany
Telluride, CO
June 18-21
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 17-19
Wenatchee River Bluegrass
Festival
Wenatchee, WA
June 17
New Acoustic Gallery
Solingen, Germany
June 27
Leslie Nechville’s wedding
Pfaltzweyer France with Jefferson and Steve Louvant
Performing
June 30
Musikhaus Saitensburg
Schaffhaussen, Switzerland
July 2
Eagle Music Banjo Workshop
Huddersfield England
July 3-5
North Wales Bluegrass Festival Conwy, Wales, UK
July 13
Lluis Gomez Banjo Workshop
Barcelona, Spain
July 24-26
Rockygrass
Lyons, CO
August 6-9
MBOTMA Festival
Richmond, MN
Aug 21-23
Enumclaw Bluegrass Festival
Enumclaw, WA
Sept 29-Oct 4
IBMA World of Bluegrass
www.nechville.com
Classifieds
For info or to place an ad, contact
Nechville Sales Office 253-670-3208, or e– mail alprice@nechville.com
The World Famous Enterprise
Bridge is the best bridge in the
Universe!
The Bridge is made from select
maple and ebony, and dimensioned for optimum stability, and
easy playability. The string scale
is perfectly compensated for
medium to light gauge 5 string
banjo strings with correct mass
for the best tonality. It is precision
weighed and marked, and comes
with instructions and a full guarantee. Retail $30
We now have in stock our beautiful and exotic wood Comfort
Bevel Armrests- A new dimension in comfort! Add hours to
your practice time with
no irritation or blocked blood circulation from cold, hard traditional nickel armrests. Available
in a variety of woods and laminations. Priced from $69-$89
ATTENTION
OWNERS of old
Banjos
Looking for the ultimate
neck for your prewar masterpiece that will attach
without modification?
Be a part of an exciting
new project! The Flux Capacitor is Guaranteed to
make your banjo better.
Contact Tom Nechville for
details, (952)888-9710,
tom@nechville.com
“The Dynamics of Banjo
Sound” by Tom Nechville,
has common sense ideas and
solutions to banjo problems.
Learn how banjos work and to
adjust them for best sound.
Appropriate for conventional
and Helimount banjos. $15
plus postage.
Nechville
Musical Products
952-888-9710
www.nechville.com
7
9700 Humboldt Ave S.
Bloomington MN 55431
Sales: 253-670-3208
Shop: 952-888-9710
Fax: 952-884-4500
Nechville News
Summer 2009
E-mail sales@nechville.com
PRICE LIST : June 2009 Subject to change
Electric Banjos
Acoustic Banjos
Geometric
Classic
Phantom
LC
2870
2795
STD
3500
LC
2350
Universal
4500
STD
2995
Cosmos
4500
DLX
3750
LC
2250
STD
Walnut
Turbo Module
650
Piezo Pickup
99
4700
Walnut Galaxy
5100
Midnight Galaxy
4100
Midnight
3700
Vintage
4950
Nextar
4500
Accessories
Hard Shell Case
189
Dynamics of
Banjo Sound
Book
15
Enterprise Bridge
30
Comfort Beveled
Armrest
69-89
Banjovie Gig Bag
20
Banjo Revolution
T-Shirt
20
6000
Nuvo
Atlas
Meteor
STD
1495
DLX
1995
Saturn
2880
Zeus
2980
Orion
4700
Athena
3990
Banjovie
159
Visit Us Online:
www.nechville.com
www.banjorev.com
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