ROGER'S NOTE: Ryan and Larry Cavanaugh once lived in Billings and attended the Lincoln Center jams. Go to U-Tube or Facebook to hear Ryan and his electric banjo. He has been influenced greatly by Bela Fleck another innovator on the banjo. It is much different than Scruggs style picking.
New bridge for electric banjo from Ryan Cavanaugh
It may have appeal for only a limited sector of the banjo world, but pro-picker Ryan Cavanaugh
has come up with a new bridge for use on electric banjos that
dramatically enhances the natural banjo tone. They will only work on
models with a bridge that sits on a banjo head like the Deering
Crossfire or Gold Tone EBM, not fully solid body instruments.The Cavanaugh bridge is made from metal, and it is designed to excite the magnetic field generated by the pickup installed under the head with greater intensity than a wooden bridge with metal inserts. Product testing indicates that an electric banjo using this bridge generates more volume and a far more natural banjo tone through the pickup.
The knock on these electric banjos has generally been that while they can function well in a high volume stage environment, they simply don’t sound like an acoustic banjo. It might seem initially counterintuitive that metal would offer a more transparent tone than wood, but consider that on a banjo like this, response is entirely determined by the reaction of the pickup. The more the magnetic field is disturbed, the more the pickup sends out.
Ryan
developed this new bridge with his dad, Larry, who makes them for him.
Since he performs often with Bill Evans’ Soulgrass show, which uses a
jazz/funk rhythm section, Cavanaugh has been eager to get a more banjo-y
sound from his electric banjo, and has been studying on the matter of
late.The Cavanaugh banjo bridge sells for $100, with $10 for shipping. They can be ordered online.
No comments:
Post a Comment