Joel Sweeney, the famous Virginia banjoist and mistrel show perfomer of the 1800's, did not 'invent' the shorter 5th string on the banjo as was commonly thought prior to the discovery of a particular picture.

This picture is called the 'old plantation' and shows that when painted, in the 18th century, displaying a scene outside Charleston, S.C., well before the Sweeney era, there was a shorter string already on the banjo. It is possible that Sweeney added another string, but, who knows for sure at this point?

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Updated July 8, 2007

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