asilanne

That's weird, the banjo and the mandolin have very little in common, other than the fact that they're stringed & fretted instruments that are played by plucking the strings. The banjo is of African descent, while the mandolin has evolved from the European lute family.

Strange, I googled "banjo" and didn't get anything like "banjo/mandolin"... but with a bit more searching I did find both the banjo mandolin, which is a mandolin with a banjo's distinctive drum head soundtable (or face), as well as the banjolin which is pretty similar, but only has four strings instead of eight.

mandolin banjo


banjolin


There's also the banjo ukulele, which has the nylon strings and tuning of a ukulele, but with the drum head soundtable of a banjo:



For guitarists who want the tone and loud unamplified acoustic volume of a banjo, but don't want to lose IQ points by actually learning to play the banjo, there's the banjitar:




Here's a joke:

Q: What's the difference between a banjo and an onion?
A: Nobody cries when you cut up a banjo.

best commenter (oh, its a word!!!) EVER..... <pats Asilanne on the back>