So, having never myself played a banjo (but having strummed about everything else out there), please speak on the following:
Is it possible to shred on banjo?
Yes. And the notes don't carry the sustain that a guitar note does, so I would say that one would have to shred even HARDER.
Is it possible to even bend a string?
Yes. But it doesn't sound cool like on a guitar.
Who's the current EVH of the instrument?
I had to think about this, before I realized that you were talking about Eddie Van Halen. Anyways, I would say Buddy Wachter or Tim Allan for 4 string, and I don't know for 5 string, I don't really listen to 5 string banjo music.
Is 5 string better than 4?
HELL NO. Unless you play the 5 string. But here is Bix's banjo player playing a 5-string...
You'll notice that he took the 5th string off, which was common back then. If you wanted to use a pick (or "plectrum" as they called it) the 5th string would get in the way. Using a pick would make the banjo loud enough to not get drowned out in the band. So some jazz banjo players would get rid of the 5th sting. Banjo companies eventually would just make the banjo without the first string in the first place and called it a "Plectrum Banjo".
Gut strings were replaced with steel strings a the neck was shorted (all of this was done to back the banjo louder) and the Tenor Banjo was born. Thats what I play. After the banjo fell out of style in jazz, and the guitar became popular, some guitar companys made a "tenor guitar" which was basically a guitar with a tenor banjo neck so that banjo players wouldn't have to learn a new intstrument.
Some musicians started out as guitar players and when they made the switch to banjo they tuned it to what's called "Chicago Tuning" which is the same as a guitar tuning.
or... some people, like Danny Barker, just played a 6 string banjo instead:
You see the neck on his banjo? Looks like a guitar, right?
By the 40s banjo was out of style. There were no American companies even making banjos anymore.
Both tenor and plectum banjos are still popular with Trad Jazz and so-called "Dixieland" style players.
With the "folk revival" of the 60s the 5 string banjo and hillbilly music started to come back in style. and after the Beverly Hillbillies, Bonnie and Clyde, and especially Deliverance, the banjo is now permanantly associated with Hillbillies and Bluegrass music. Most people have no idea that the banjo used to be a jazz instrument, and that plenty of black musicians played the banjo.
But H.E. Minor would disagree with that:
It exists. So does cello banjo and ukelele banjo (banjolele) and all sorts of other banjos.
Is Gibson the main maker? What is the most revered brand?
No. I would say Deering banjos are the most popular. They are made here in San Diego, and the "budget" models sound really good. The most "revered" banjos aren't necissarily by "Brand" but by when they were made. "Pre-war" banjos are those made before WWII, and they supposedly sound the best. Bacon and Day and Vega Little Wonders are 2 popular sought after models. I would like to own one of those but I don't have the money to buy one or restore one. One of these days, maybe. These days Deering owns the Vega name and makes Little Wonder "re-issues".
How much is a top end banjo these days?
3-4 thousand.
Lastly: fingernails or plectrii?
I use a .73 dunlop pick. I need to go buy some more. Although I will strum with my thumb when the baby is sleeping.
