"Banjoline," as well as being the instrument described below, is the (French) name often used to refer to the mandolin-banjo

Mandolin-banjo

The mandolin-banjo should not be mistaken for the banjolin , though their names are sometime interchanged. The mandolin-banjo is also known by its French name, "banjoline", but should not be confused with the Banjoline designed by Peabody. The manjo is also a popular nickname for the...

. It should also not be confused with the banjolin

Banjolin

The three instruments described below are named "banjolin". It should not be mistaken for the mandolin-banjo, nor is it to be confused with the Banjoline.The Banjolin is a name applied to several different types of stringed instruments:...

.

The Banjoline is a type of electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 developed by Eddie Peabody

Eddie Peabody

Captain Edwin Ellsworth Peabody was an American musical entertainer. His career spanned five decades and he was perhaps the most famous plectrum banjo player ever...

 in conjunction with Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

. Although its name suggests a combination of banjo and mandolin, it is technically considered to be a type of plectrum guitar, a variant of the electric guitar, resembling the banjo and mandolin only in terms of its four course stringing.

The Banjoline has six strings arranged in four courses and it has a scale length similar to that of a plectrum banjo. The two lowest courses consist of pairs of two strings and the two highest courses consist of two single strings. The Banjoline was intended to be tuned like a plectrum banjo (from low to high, CGBD).

The pair of strings on the lowest course consists of one low C and another C an octave above it. The strings in the next highest course are tuned to the same G. The next two courses consist of single strings tuned to B and D. This makes for a tuning of CcGGBD. Eddie Peabody recorded two LPs playing his banjo classics on the Banjoline for the Dot label which still exist today. They are entitled Eddie Plays Smoothies and Eddie Plays More Smoothies.