A Cool Lick I Learned Today

Any musician knows that there are two essentials to playing great music, besides being quite familiar with what you're trying to play and having great tone. Those two things are: 1) building up your repertoire, 2) knowing where to use those things. A musician may know some awesome things to play, but if you don't utilize them at the proper place in a song, they won't be as effective, and might even sound bad. I ran across a lick today from Mike Hedding, that expanded my way of thinking on the banjo. Like most players, I easily fall into the habit of playing the same things over and over. So, I find it refreshing when I discover something new.

It's nothing fancy, but I had never thought of doing that before on the 7th fret until today. I always love learning new things on the banjo, because it increases my library of things to play.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

New Backing Track For “Cold Frosty Morning”

This song, “Cold Frosty Morning,” is a traditional Irish/American reel. The song is also known as, “Frosty Morn.” My favorite banjo artist Dave Hum recorded this song using the Sawmill Tuning (gDGCD), which is a minor chord tuning. For the second fret that would be (aEADE). I have made backing tracks for you with varying tempos, in both Keys of G and A. Dave plays the song in A, using a capo on the 2nd fret, and a 5th string capo on the 7th fret. Enjoy!

• Cold Frosty Morning (key of G, normal)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of G, slower)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of G, slow)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of G, woodshed)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of A, normal)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of A, slower)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of A, slow)
• Cold Frosty Morning (key of A, woodshed)
• Cold Frosty Morning Tabs (several tabs from BanjoHangout)

There are 41 of Dave Hum's tabs available from his family's website, including Cold Frosty Morning.

This backing track was easy but a bit tedious to make. I enjoy the work. I used a MIDI bass and MIDI piano. I used a Rhodes organ for the piano fills. I also included the piano solo that Dave Hum does toward the last part of the song. I tried to reproduce Dave's backing track the best I could. I am weak in my percussive skills, which is where Dave excels. I plan to revisit all my tracks in the future if I learn how to improve them over time. But for now I humbly think all the recent tracks I've made are very nice and beneficial to banjo enthusiasts to play along with. It is my privilege to do this for others, and I sincerely appreciate your continued interest in my banjo blog. Thank you friend.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

A New Backing Track For “Fireball Mail”

The song “Fireball Mail” is a Bluegrass classic that was popularized by legendary musician Roy Acuff. The song was written by Fred Rose, and was first recorded and released by Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys in 1942.

I used my Fender Mustang bass for this song, and also made another set of tracks with MIDI bass, so you can hear the difference and compare. I also made backing tracks for both keys of G and A. This is a great Bluegrass song! I played along with my Cort acoustic guitar for some padding, using just the chords of G and D. Enjoy...

• Fireball Mail (normal, real bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (slower, real bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (slow, real bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (woodshed, real bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (normal, real bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (slower, real bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (slow, real bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (woodshed, real bass, key of A)

And now MIDI bass...

• Fireball Mail (normal, MIDI bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (slower, MIDI bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (slow, MIDI bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (woodshed, MIDI bass, key of G)
• Fireball Mail (normal, MIDI bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (slower, MIDI bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (slow, MIDI bass, key of A)
• Fireball Mail (woodshed, MIDI bass, key of A)

Jim Pankey explains in this YouTube video how to play Fireball Mail. Here's some free tabs by Jack R. Baker in the BanjoHangout forum.

Also, Dave Hum created a pause for a couple second just before the end of the song, but after playing along with the track, I decided not to use the pause. If you don't anticipate and have a banjo fill that fits the pause, it's actually annoying. At least it was for me, so I removed it. Sean Ray doesn't use a pause on his Fireball Mail track either.

By the way, if anyone has a certain song that you need a backing track for, I won't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do. I don't want any money, I enjoy making backing tracks and sharing them. It would be helpful if you could send me a pre-existing copy (e.g., a YouTube video) of the song you want, so I can use it as a template. You can contact me in the Banjo Hangout, or direct (it's the same email). I've got quite a few popular folk and Bluegrass songs that I am planning to make backing tracks for, Lord willing. Just keep visiting regularly to see what's new. Thanks for reading my banjo blogs.

Me And Deering Golden Wreath
(September 1, 2024)

Some Tips On Installing Railroad Spikes

I have installed spikes on three banjos. So, although I don't claim to be an expert, I have learned many things so far. I went to HomeDepot and bought a small Dremel Stylo+ kit, and used a 1/32" drill bit to install the spike on my Deering Golden Wreath this week. It went very well. I took this photo just now of my Golden Wreath, showing the railroad spike that I installed. I play in the key of A most of the time, so I just wanted a spike on the 7th fret. I admit that I felt hesitant installing a spike on a $4,130 banjo. But from seeing the shady work done at Banjo.com and other stores, I trust myself more than I do them. Since I know exactly where I want the spike installed, it makes sense to just do it myself. ...

Some things to keep in mind if you install your own railroad spike. I don't claim to be an expert, but these are some things that I have learned on my own about installing spikes. I bought my banjo spikes from Stew Mac:

1. DON'T drill the hole where the location marker exists in your neck (that's the little cosmetic circle on the side of your neck between the frets). If you drill over this marker, it might break the marker and cause it to come out of the neck.
2. Drill your hole TOWARD the bridge, not the nut. This will prevent buzzing when done. Plus it just feels like the proper place to install a spike, making it easy to slip the fifth string under the spike with your finger.
3. Drill your hole roughly about 1/4" away from the fret marker (the dot on the side of your neck). Again, drill the hole toward the bridge. There's no specific exact place to drill the hole, so you have some leeway. Just don't drill right over the position marker (or it might work it's way out if you break it), and don't get to close to the fret (or you'll have more difficulty trying to slip the string under the spike). In general, for installing a spike on the 7th fret, I like to drill the hole closer to the position marker than I do the 8th fret. See the photos I took for reference.
4. Drill the hole at a slight angle inward. Since your neck is angled inward, it makes sense to drill parallel with the neck's angle.
5. Don't drill too deep! Use your eyes to look at the length of your spike, and see how much of the drill bit has gone into the neck. You just need to drill deep enough for the spike to fit.
6. Drill the hole at the string (perpendicular to the string), or just the tiniest but inward (toward the first string). You don't want to drill too close to the neck's edge, to prevent cracking. Nor do you want to drill the hole too much inward, which will give you way too little string spacing. You want to have the same string spacing when you're done, as all the other strings have. When I ordered a Deering Sierra from Banjo.com, they installed the spikes halfway toward the fourth string. I hated what they did! Your string spacing between the 4th and 5th string when hooked on the spike, shouldn't be 50% of what the spacing is on all the other strings. The string spacing between the 4th and 5th string should be no less than 90% of the spacing between the other banjo strings. I don't know what is wrong with them at Banjo.com, but they did  terrible job! I returned their banjo.
7. Always take side cutters and cut off some of the railroad spike's tip, in effect blunting it to prevent cracking your neck. A sharp spike can split the wood.
8. Use a 1/32" drill bit width. This will give you a perfect tight fit. If for any reason you're hole is ever too big, you can use Super Glue and let it dry overnight to hold it in the neck.
9. I use two business cards, placed under the head of the railroad spike, while gently pounding the spike into the neck to prevent going too far.
10. Make sure you have plenty of light while working, so you can see what you're doing.
11. You can use needle-nose pliers to rotate the railroad spike's head if you need to turn it in the neck after installed.
12. If this is your first time installing a spike, you can practice on a piece of wood a couple times to get the feel for it, and see how it goes.
13. The spike should be tapped into the neck as far as possible, with just enough room left to easily slide the string under it.
14. I used a 1/4" socket extension as a drift to gently tap in the spike. You don't need hardly any pressure, so be careful not to use force.
15. Say a prayer before you begin for God to help you not mess up. Hey, it can't hurt.
16. The main thing is to GO SLOW before you drill. Don't just start drilling, take your time. PLAN your work, and then WORK your plan. Before you start to drill, you should already know exactly where you want the spike. You should know what angle you're going to drill at. I just drilled slightly angled in toward the center of the neck. You should know how deep you plan to go. You can always drill deeper if you need to. I pulled the drill bit out a couple times to see how deep it went, and compared it to the length of the spike. You want to drill just a little bit deeper than the length of the spike. If you use a 1/32" drill bit, it will be a nice tight fit. NEVER FORCE ANYTHING! If the spike seems to be too tight to go in, drill the hole again and it will expand a bit. DON'T use a bigger drill bit size.
17. Worse case scenario, if you drill in the wrong place, you can fill the hole with colored wood filler and drill another hole elsewhere. I've never had to do this. If you take your time, and have a solid plan before you start, knowing exactly what your objective is, you should have good success. Ultimately your goal is to be able to capo the fifth string at the 7th fret. So, even if you drill a little too far in, or too far out, or whatever, as long as you can capo the string, you've succeeded.
18. You should install the spike when you're alone; not when you have company, kids running through the house, dogs under your feet, a cat in your face, your wife nagging at you, the phone ringing, et cetera. Haste makes waste.
19. In summary: Press gently with the drill. Don't go too deep. Stay away from the edge of the neck. Avoid drilling directly over the position marker. Don't drill to close to the fret, because if you do it will make it harder to slip the string under the spike. Use a new sharp drill bit, not a worn or broken one. I have learned that not using any string thickness above .010" works best on the fifth string. Dave Hum actually used a .012" on his Gibson ESS for the fifth string, but when I used size 0.11" gauge on my Deering Calico, it deadened my tone on the fifth string. Dave used a .010" gauge for the fifth string on his Baldwin Ode and Epiphone banjos. To each his own. I'm using a .010" now.

Here's another photo I just took of my Deering Golden Wreath, showing the spike I installed this week. ...

My Deering Golden Wreath Banjo

You can do it my friend!