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banjohut.com
submitted 11/19/2009

Submitter

Zosobonzo44 (see all reviews from this person)

Overall Comments


I've rarely had an experience this good with a retailer. I bought a banjo from them a few months back, and recently one of the tuners broke. I called and explained I did not want to deal with sending it back, so they immediately sent me a new tuner, no questions asked.

Overall Rating

10


Dogwood Designs banjo strap Blackberry blossom strap
submitted 11/19/2009

Submitter

Pablo9364 (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

JH

Overall Comments


This is the real deal, quality strap.

Overall Rating

10


Chris Cioffi
submitted 11/19/2009

Submitter

bowfinger (see all reviews from this person)

Overall Comments


(kinda like coffee) anyway! Chris did a magnificent job on my parts banjo. Installed frets perfectly. Did a neck reset/recut. filled and re-set the co-rods. Buffed out the new lacquer for me. Made sure every thing fit rightl, set it up and sent it back in record time. Chris used to work for Huber and knows what he is doing. He can really do a great job. I'm sold. Chris is the man to go to. He's in middle Tenn. if that matters to you.

Overall Rating

10


Dam Spillway bridge dam spillway bridge
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

bangee boy (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

stringbean45 BHO member

Overall Comments


Tried this Spillway bridge on my Earl Scruggs Gibson which had a Snuffy Smith bridge on it. I was very impressed with the overall tone it produced. Very clear and distinct notes at both high and low ends.This Dam Spillway was the model that was one piece ...no ebony or other wood across the top. It's staying on my Gibson! I'll be picking up a few more. The seller is a Five Star gentleman. Great to do business with.

Overall Rating

10


Mike's Mute  Mike's Mute
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

douric (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

website/online

Overall Comments


Mike Stidd's banjo mute arrived yesterday. My wife is smiling and the dog is out from under the couch. Tried it on my Gibson-Alvarez resonator which ordinarily has the volume of a .50 cal machine gun and this morning my neighbor two houses down asked me if I'd given my banjo away. Simple to use. Muffles the sound but preserves enough tonal quality to keep my ear in touch with what my fingers are doing. Thanks, Mike!

Overall Rating

10


Deering Goodtime
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

Rick McKeon (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Janet Davis Music Company

Year Purchased

2009

Price Paid

379 ($US)

Sound


Great sound and volume for an open-back banjo. I have another banjo with a heavy brass tone ring. It has great sound, but is very heavy. I am not dissapointed in the sound of the Goodtime.

Sound Rating

8

Setup


JDMC did a great job on the setup. I had them put a Bart Veerman bridge on it.

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


I love the look - bright and light.

Appearance Rating

8

Reliability


The dove-tail head joint scares me a little bit, but as long as it doesn't come off, I'm happy.

Reliability Rating

8

Customer Service


JDMC is great to deal with. They are always friendly and helpful.

Customer Service

10

Components


Good quality parts.

Components Rating

8

Overall Comments


Just got my Goodtime banjo yesterday, and I am lovin' it. Great sound and volume. I especially like the weight. At 4 lbs. I can pick it up with one hand without effort. It makes banjo playing fun.

Overall Rating

9


Rickard Dobson
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

mandohead (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

From builder

Year Purchased

2009

Price Paid

Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound


Not really loud but had a nice mellow sound -- from what I could hear
With the problems of set up I could not play it

Sound Rating

8

Setup


After some initial problems on my end, I got the intonation set- where it was marked on head. The 3rd and 2nd strings would not play true around the nut > sent back to builder

Setup Rating

6

Appearance


Nice dark brown tone wood with oxidized brass hardware that was very attractive.
Couple minor finish problems- A pea sized discoloration on the fret board just under 5th fret 1st string, and on the neck a couple 3cm by 1/2 cm sections where the stain didn't seem to coat homogeniosly

Appearance Rating

9

Reliability


Hard to tell

Reliability Rating

not rated

Customer Service


Builder paid for return shipping - nice/appropriate
His initial inspection of it "my initial opinion is that reducing the nut slot height will probably solve the problem that you described"
He was receptive but defensive discussing banjo set-up challenges.

Customer Service

7

Components


Seem fine

Components Rating

9

Overall Comments


Builder told me that this was a prototype for a kit that would be selling for 900$ - I found out afterwards that it would be selling for 600$ > disappointing >> I cancelled the sale
I initially was not going to review but subsequent discussions with the builder and others led me to feel a responsibility to post

Overall Rating

7


Gibson RB3 Don Reno
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

tklassen (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Private

Year Purchased

2002

Price Paid

2500 (Canada) (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound


Even volume across the strings, full sound. Play it acoustic or plugged in with a fisher rare earth pickup, pre-amp, and a Marshall acoustic amp. Classic banjo tone. This is not a loud banjo.

Sound Rating

10

Setup


I use a 5 star unfrosted head, moon bridge, and Price tail piece. The head is medium tight, just tight enough that there is no sag under the bridge. I use a drum wrench to make sure it is even tension at all hooks. The action is set to low about 3/16 above the 12th fret. The tail piece is level with the head about 1/8 off the head surface. Installed rr spikes at 7, 9, and 10 frets. I use light strings. Everything stays in place and does not require further adjusting.

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


Flying eagle inlay, RB3 head stock inlay, classic Gibson banjo.

Appearance Rating

10

Reliability


The banjo stays in tune, does not require constant re-tuning, when using a capo. Looks as good as when I first purchased.

Reliability Rating

10

Customer Service


Not applicable

Customer Service

not rated

Components


This banjo has waverly tuners and only replaced the presto tailpiece.

Components Rating

10

Overall Comments


It is a keeper, and have no desire for another banjo.

Overall Rating

10


Deering Goodtime
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

tklassen (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Elderly Instruments

Year Purchased

2003

Price Paid

Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound


It is not a bluegrass banjo, a muted sound, keeps peace in the household by not over powering all other sounds. Stays in tune, and is accurate up the neck.

Sound Rating

5

Setup


String height set to 3/16 above the 12th fret, head is tight enough that there is no sag under the bridge, the tailpiece is not adjustable. Installed RR spikes at 7, 9, 10, and 12 fret. It is a very playable banjo with little adjustment.

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


Simple, it is not eye candy, you get what you pay for. I love it.

Appearance Rating

5

Reliability


Nothing much to go wrong, little hardware, guitar tuners, have carried and taken this banjo all over North America, very light it came with a fabric gig bag. Stays in tune, easy to play and will not cause the neighbours to complain.

Reliability Rating

not rated

Customer Service


Not applicable, nothing has gone wrong that would require service in 6 years

Customer Service

not rated

Components


Nothing it is cool in itself.

Components Rating

not rated

Overall Comments


Light, simple, playable, always have it at the ready. It is my main banjo inside the home and for personal travel. For the money invested it is a great value. I have never used it at a gig, but think about it once and awhile.

Overall Rating

10


Oscar Schmidt OB-5
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

Brady (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Amazon

Year Purchased

2007

Price Paid

140 ($US)

Sound


This is my first banjo and it is great for the price. as a beginning banjo its great, eventually though my teacher let me play her $1000+ banjo and I realized that I should upgrade. I would still recomend it for any beginner pickers.

Sound Rating

5

Setup


when i got the banjo is was in a box and i had to take it to get it set up since i didn't what I was doing. you have to be careful though, a friend of mine ordered the same banjo from the same place and it had a big crack on the back and couldn't be used.

Setup Rating

5

Appearance


it's a good looking banjo, no gold inlays or anything like that, but it looks prety good.

Appearance Rating

8

Reliability


this is a tough little banjo. my case broke and I didn't had the money to buy a new one so I just carry it around w/out a case and it's held up just fine.

Reliability Rating

10

Customer Service


Amazon always has prety good customer sevice.

Customer Service

8

Components


prety much this is a cheap good beginners banjo, the prodeucs used aren't the best but it's great to learn on.

Components Rating

6

Overall Comments


this is a great banjo for people who want to see if they like picking before they spend a lot of money on a high-class banjo. for beginners it's great but you will hear the lack of sound quality when you get better and try out some nicer ones.

Overall Rating

7


Gold Tone Bluegrass Special BG-250F
submitted 11/18/2009

Submitter

thomass (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Banjoteacher.com

Year Purchased

2009

Price Paid

739 ($US)

Sound


Really sounds great. I'm a beginner, this should last me a long time

Sound Rating

9

Setup


Had some over tones. I took it to the local music store and they fixed it up....no problem.

Setup Rating

7

Appearance


Very nice...better than I expected. Looks more expensive than it was.

Appearance Rating

8

Reliability


Looks very sturdy and has a real "expensive" appearance

Reliability Rating

9

Customer Service


Great warranty...very nice people.

Customer Service

9

Components


No complaints.

Components Rating

9

Overall Comments


I'm very satisfied.....a real value for the money. A lot better than the guy playing it !! :-))

Overall Rating

9


Romero 09206
submitted 11/17/2009

Submitter

James McConnan (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Romero work shop

Year Purchased

2009

Price Paid

3050 ($US)

Sound


It does everything I want it to do and more.

Sound Rating

10

Setup


It was perfect as built.

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


It's the most beautiful thing I own. The instrument was custom made, the inlay is astonishing.

Appearance Rating

10

Reliability


Everything about the banjo would suggest that it would last for ever.

I have another Romero banjo. #08145

Reliability Rating

10

Customer Service


Jason and Pharis were helpful all along the way. When I picked up the new banjo Jason made some minor adjustments to #08145

Customer Service

10

Components


http://www.romerobanjos.com/09206/09206.html

a picture tells a thousand words

Components Rating

10

Overall Comments


I hope everyone gets to own a banjo of their dreams. I do.

Overall Rating

10


Cornhusker straps Hand made straps
submitted 11/17/2009

Submitter

jamie_t123 (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

direct from cornhusker

Overall Comments


A really well made strap made by some really nice folks. The quality is great and the price is fair. Hard to ask for much else...

Overall Rating

9


Don Bryant
submitted 11/17/2009

Submitter

ebowalker (see all reviews from this person)

Overall Comments


Don recently did some very delicate work on the neck of my '67 Baldwin Style D. The workmanship was superb. Beyond the repair work, he also re-setup the banjo and it is sounding better right now than it ever has.

For my Baldwin D, he: 1) repaired and replaced some binding; 2) re-set the neck to get rid of a buzz; 3) threw in a Snuffy Smith bridge.

The binding repair was the touchiest problem. But he matched the exact color and design of the original.

Besides being extraordinarily competent, he is a genuinely nice person. I highly recommend Don. Be sure and take him a couple of sacks of fresh-picked turnip greens when you stop by. You'll make a friend for life.

Ebo Walker, Ararat, NC

Overall Rating

10


Kateyz bridge McCormick "Spice"
submitted 11/16/2009

Submitter

doug.knecht (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Mike Smith

Overall Comments


This bridge is made of old flooring in the torn down original business for McCormick Spices, and the wood is from the early 1900's. Beautiful wood, excellent wood for bridges. Mike, as he always does, used the gram weight to gauge what kind of tone I needed to move toward. It really pops on the 1st and 2nd string, and the 3rd sounds very very prewar-ish. I'm very happy with this bridge. This model is the original Kat Eyz design.

Overall Rating

10


Rover RB-35
submitted 11/14/2009

Submitter

Brian Taylor (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Hex Hollow Music

Year Purchased

2008

Price Paid

Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound


Loud and bright sound. An excellent beginner's banjo.

Sound Rating

5

Setup


Setup Rating

5

Appearance


Bare minimum on the extra's but they almost went out of their way to make a butt-ugly headstock. Can't fix that as any work exceeds the cost of the banjo.

Appearance Rating

5

Reliability


I play almost daily, and the finish on the head came off fairly quickly. Everything else still seems OK

Reliability Rating

5

Customer Service


Never had to deal with them. I figured my instructor at the time would help me out, as he sells them and he recommended it.

Customer Service

not rated

Components


Lose the head stock and install something more traditional, without maxing out the price..

Components Rating

5

Overall Comments


You can't beat it for a beginner instrument. I suppose as a backup it would work too.

Overall Rating

5


Mike's Mute Mike's Mute
submitted 11/12/2009

Submitter

EddieZ (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

http://www.mikesbanjomute.com/

Overall Comments


Works great. I'd order another one! Only concern, wish a little time had been spent removing burs and metal flakes from around drilled and tapped holes.

Overall Rating

9


Zoom Hard Disk Recorder Zoom H2
submitted 11/12/2009

Submitter

revellfa (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

Best Buy

Overall Comments


A SUPRURB device. Easy to use, can handle a lot of memory, easy to carry, durable.

Overall Rating

10


Vega SR II Earl Scruggs Model
submitted 11/12/2009

Submitter

revellfa (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

eBay

Year Purchased

2006

Price Paid

1500 ($US)

Sound


It has a very loud, tubaphone sound. Lots of volume, cuts through a mic and records extremely well. A very, very quick decay. Awesome and unique sound. More of a Deering sound than a Gibson sound.

Sound Rating

8

Setup


I was trying to get a pre-war sound out of this banjo so I experimented a lot with it over the few years that I owned it. I made the action a bit lower, added a banjomate tone enhancer and used an Emerson Sweet Power II bridge. I used a thick-frosted five-star head which I kept pretty tight. With this setup I was able to get the most out of this banjo. I have some soundclips on my homepage.

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


This was a beautiful banjo. Flamed maple, ebony peghead with Gold MOP on the headstock. "Earl Scruggs Model" in red on the truss rod cover. MOP trapezoid (kind of like a cross between traditional Vega crown and Mastertone Bow-Tie) inlay.

Appearance Rating

9

Reliability


The finish is famous for wearing on the Vega's of this era (1969) but this one held up pretty well. It was a sturdy banjo.

Reliability Rating

9

Customer Service


no longer in business as this was one of the last Vega's made in Boston before selling out to Martin.

Customer Service

not rated

Components


Kind of bare minimum. Multi-ply (9) rim, three-piece neck, four-piece flange. The tuners were pretty good, as well as the tone ring which was entirely unique. Vega used the Auto-Sonic (or some would say modified Tubaphone) tone ring on these banjos and they are HIGHLY underrated! That is the reason that this banjo gets a 7 and not a 6 in this area.

Components Rating

7

Overall Comments


This banjo was very adaptable, it was equally happy with bluegrass or with clawhammer and also was not bad for melodic/chromatic picking. Not a bad banjo, but I don't regret selling it as I am more of a traditional, hard-driving banjo player.

Overall Rating

7


Gold Tone Ot-800 long neck
submitted 11/11/2009

Submitter

john bange (see all reviews from this person)

Where Purchased

The Folk Shop

Year Purchased

2009

Price Paid

900 ($US)

Sound


suits a poor old folksinger as perfect as possible...set up just right, very rich and loud...lotta sustain

Sound Rating

10

Setup


set up fine as recieved...I made some changes that I needed to do myself...dealer was very helpful and the banjo is very, very easy to set up to any playing style

Setup Rating

10

Appearance


very pretty with a high gloss finish...I don't know!(panda wood?)...the inlays were really done nice

Appearance Rating

10

Reliability


seems like it is well made...never had any problems with Gold Tone products though having read some of the other reviews, I will keep an eye on the tuners and knobs...very good so far. will I use it at a gig without back up? I had 2 Vegas so I bought 2 of these...I like back up

Reliability Rating

9

Customer Service


read my review of The Folk Shop...Easily one of the best sales experiences I have had...just great people
Gold Tones warranty reputation is excellent

Customer Service

10

Components


I don't see any weak parts. I would point out the excellent tailpiece...you know the case is not an American Vintage but it is fine for now.

Components Rating

9

Overall Comments


for folk music, vocal back up and playing around the campfire, I do not see how you could beat these banjos...if your looking for a long neck, you gotta try the OT-800

Overall Rating

10


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