International Jazz Banjo Newsletter

When I revived Clifford Essex Music Co last year I knew I had a very daunting task ahead of me. Up to and including AP Sharp Clifford Essex was run by very highly skilled and dedicated people. The company became a shrine - a sort of British Institution for Fretted Instruments, with standards second to none. I had taken on a lot and I knew it. To date I have talented people composing and arranging music for banjo, mandolin, guitar and ukulele not to mention a brand new banjo tutor in the pipe line by David Miles. Our craftsmen have come up with a brand new classical guitar and a great sounding plectrum guitar. They are also working on a new mandolin called “The Clifford Essex Crooner” and a reasonably priced but nevertheless great sounding banjo called “The Clifford Essex Gambler”. The importers of so called musical instruments from the “Far East” will be in for a nasty shock when we hit the market.

That said I thought I would do the easy bit first and put together our string selection, that was 12 months ago. Using the correct and best sounding strings is of paramount importance to us all. When strings go dead we lose our inspiration to play. We all want our instruments to sound superb and without the very best strings I am afraid we are all on to a non starter. Having worked with AP Sharp in the sixties I thought I knew all about strings. I was wrong, very wrong, times have changed drastically. Nearly forty years on there are so many different types of strings out there that if you are not careful it takes you into a world of complete and utter confusion.

I have experimented with tape wound, flat wound, silver wound, stainless steel wound, metal and plain steel, silk, silver and nickel on nylon, phosphor bronze and nickel wound strings on steel. Gut, clear nylon, ground nylon, carbon fibre and combinations of gut and nylon together. Not to mention so called rust proof strings coated with substances like polyweb, nylon, nanoweb, polytetrafluoroethylene and even varnish. I have ordered and tried all these strings to the extent that my geared pegs are almost worn out. I was not impressed with some of the newer innovations. To be fair I do not doubt that many of these strings are well suited for electric fretted instruments but on an acoustic instrument they leave much to be desired. Since Clifford Essex has and always will [ as long as I am around ] specialise in acoustic fretted instruments I had to think again.

The early banjo players used gut strings, a material that combines excellent promptness of attack with brilliance of timbre. Problem was, in no time they would fray and they had a very limited duration plus a high instability under a varying climate. It is very important to me that Clifford Essex caters for all styles no matter how small that market may be. During my research I came across a company in Italy claiming they made a string with all the fine qualities of gut but without the downside. The string is made from a substance called Polyacetal. On further investigation I found this company was extremely highly rated and providing strings for lute, cellos, violins, basses and guitars all over the world. To cut a long story short their strings do have all the fine quality of gut and they give a very distinct aggressive sound. They now make strings for us and once again players will be able to recreate the sound of the early minstrel, classical and fretless banjos. The rest of our strings are hand made to our specifications here in the UK. Apart from the company in Italy we do not purchase strings from outside string providers.

I have almost completed our range of banjo strings and I have completed our mandolin family range in readiness for our launching next year. I am now starting work on the classical, plectrum and steel guitar range. We will not only have the most comprehensive range of strings in the world but also the best sounding strings money can buy. Our banjo range consists of strings for plectrum, tenor and Irish tenor. Classical strings for the 5 string, seven string, minstrel and fretless banjo also Piccolo-Banjo, Ukulele-Banjo, Banjeurine, Banjolin, Mandolin-Banjo, Cello-Banjo, Bass-Banjo, Guitar-Banjo, Bluegrass and Zither-Banjos.

Clem Vickery - 2008.