Overall Comments

I have never seen Dr Ralph Stanley perform and only have a few recordings of his work but, after reading his book, "Man of Constant Sorrow", I feel like I have known him personally for years. He has made me feel like I know what it's like to tour the country, sing and play banjo professionally and to live with triumph and tragedy.

The book is an entertaining and educative read from cover to cover and is written in a style that makes you feel as though he's sitting in the room with you yarning away. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in Mr Stanley, the Stanley Brothers, the Clinch Mountain Boys, Old time music, Bluegrass or general folk culture.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

This is an App for iPhone. Despite the name it is not limited to guitars. It performs equally well with banjo, bass, mandolin, fiddle, uke, 12-string, etc,etc. There is a Tuner which is far more sensitive and smoother than a clip-on type.

It has a metronome with 13 sound effects and a full chord library (500,000 chords!) Chords sound realistically when screen is "strummed". Has left-handed feature to flip chords and scales around. Scales charts for each instrument in alt tunings. Has alternative tunings for each instrument. Very, very useful. Scored 4.5 / 5. Costs $12.99US. Only negative is it doesn't clip on and sense vibrations. (ie not too good in a noisy environment.)

Search iTunes App Store for "Guitar Toolkit"

Overall Rating

9

Overall Comments

After some difficulties with PayPal processing my order I finally received my 'Mike's Mute' and am very pleased with it. Nicely made, little velvet bag to keep it in, easy on/off the banjo, no interference with right hand, sound is definately muted but not too quiet. It sounds like a banjo. It allowed me to hear certain faults in my left hand technique of which I was unaware. Mike's Mute - It's Beaut ... mate!

Overall Rating

10

Sound

It just sounds beautiful. Clean, clear, sharp and balanced all the way up the neck. People said Stellings are "loud" but that certainly does not mean coarse or harsh. It plays beautfully at whatever volume you choose to pick it.

Sound Rating

10

Appearance

Flawless. I searched it meticulously trying to find some microscopic flaw and failed. It had obviosly been polished within an inch of it's life before packing and posting. Inlay is wonderful. The unstained walnut was a little lighter in colour than I expected but that's because I'm used to Queensland 'walnut' which is a much more chocolate brown. I bought the walnut for the sound, not the colour.

Appearance Rating

10

Customer Service

Very prompt until it got to Australia. The Australian delivery service was slow and frustrating and customs delayed it for days.

Customer Service

10

Overall Comments

Janet Davis has genuine sales every month. When I ordered my banjo the Master Flower on the web page disappeared. The price was $3,850 while Banjo.com and FQM and Stelling itself had it listed for $5,000. It feels great. It sounds great. and I think I'm a better player already as a result!!!

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

After writing my earlier review I disassembed the tuner, jiggled everything inside - nothing seemed obviously broken or loose. Reassembled it and VIOLA! it works. Now its as good as new. When it works it's very.very good.

Overall Rating

8

Overall Comments

Opened the packet, set it up. Nothing happened! Dead as a Dodo. Sent it back. Got a replacement quite quickly. Worked OK for 3 weeks, then began failing to register on the low D string. Replaced battery. Then it failed altogether. It lights up but the needle just sits there while I twang away in frustration. When it worked it seemed terrific. Now I just want my money back.

Overall Rating

1