Transform your electric guitar into a banjo with Guitar-Jo
Ingenious accessory is surprisingly convincing
Like it or not, the nu-folk revolution of the early 2010s has led to a surge in interest in banjo, but if you’re a guitarist who seeks that elusive twang from your own instrument, you’ve been out of luck… until now, courtesy of the Guitar-Jo.
Just launched on Kickstarter, the Guitar-Jo attaches to electric guitars beneath the strings, with six damping pads gently touching each string to produce a banjo-like attack.
The device is designed to work with electric guitars that have a flat surface beneath the strings, which is all fine and dandy for Strats, Teles and SGs, but Les Paul players seeking banjo tones are out of luck.
Nonetheless, it sounds pretty convincing to our ears, especially for those occasions where the singer forces you to bust out a Mumford & Sons cover.
Pledging $45 gets you your very own Guitar-Jo - head over to Kickstarter for more info.
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
