Overall Comments

Eagle Music is, in my opinion THE best acoustic music store in the UK.

The largest Deering Banjo Co. dealer in the world. The first UK retailer to be selected by prolific luthier Patrick James Eggle. The only UK dealer to supply the awesome Czech made Prucha Bluegrass instruments. Top Tanglewood retailer. Premier distributor for "Perfect Touch" finger and thumb picks. The list is endless.

Eagle offer a FREE Premier set-up by one of their on-site experts on all instruments.

All staff at Eagle Music are passionate about music and are committed to supplying the very best service to every customer, whether they are buying a plectrum or several thousand pounds worth of professional quality instrument. All staff are more than capable to give personalised and high quality advice. A warm welcome awaits everyone who walks through the door.

Eagle music also supply a fantastic, safe and fast mail order service.

I certainly won't be using any other store from now on. Eagle Music have really pushed the boundaries as far as top quality Music Retail goes and still maintain rock bottom prices and the the absolute pinnacle of service.

Superb!

Overall Rating

10

Sound

The Huber Lancaster, In my opinion one of if not the best new mastertone style banjo available. I play hard driving Scruggs style bluegrass banjo and the Huber suits this perfectly. The banjo pops and cracks just the way I expect it to. The authentic full, rich tone cuts through the mix in a way I could only dream of before I had the Lancaster. The difference in tone between the x and y positions on the head is excellent.

In summary I think authentic is the only word that decribes the sound of the Huber. In fact I think authentic is the word to describe this banjo full stop.

I have included a link to a sample of the sound of my Banjo. http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/media-player/audio_player2.asp?musicid=13738

Sound Rating

10

Appearance

The Huber is fantasticly finished; flawless from snooter to tooter.

Various people have commented on the Lancaster's comparitably plain appearance, there is no highly polished laquer on the resonator, gold plated hardware etc however I quite like the understated beauty.

The neck and resonator are made from top quality mahogany with a vintage finish, the hardware has a vintage nickle plate finish, I believe Steve Huber uses the same plating proccedure that Gibson did before the war once again more authenticity.

The resonator has two concentric rings inlayed into the outside of centre, and a vintage binding on the leading edges.

The neck has the same vintage binding as the resonator's leading edge and has the same nitro-cellulose laquer that the pre-war Gibsons had, yet more authenticity!

The nitro-cellulose laquer on the neck is the one thing about this banjo that I would say is a detriment to its playability, it quickly becomes sticky as you play and becomes a bit of a pain after a while. Knit picking with that one though, keep the polish handy and it's really no problem. A speed neck option is also available on a new Huber which completely eradicates this issue, it is one of the options that I would reccomend.

The wood rim is made from 3 ply hardrock maple, just like the pre-war Gibson. It is glued together with hide glue just like the old Gibsons too, I did say the word with this banjo was authentic!
The fingerboard is a lovely piece of rosewood with a VERY VERY attracive old looking pearl inlay pattern, It seems reminisant of the pattern that can be seen on Terry Baucom's old Sullivan signature Banjo but its different and very nice.

Appearance Rating

9

Customer Service

Costomer service is absolutely non-existant, Huber as a company really let themselves down with poor costomer service. I dare say that Huber have lost more than a couple of sales through not responding quickly enough to costomer enquiries.

The Banjo comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

I sent two emails to Huber expressing my interest in purchacing a new Huber Banjo. Six months later I recieved an email in response to my enquiry but by that time I had already had my new Huber for two months after purchacing it from a dealer here in the UK.

I understand that Steve is a busy man but six months? especially as it concerned my giving him money. LOL

Customer Service

1

Overall Comments

For hard driving bluegrass with authentic attack and tone that matches the sounds you hear on your records, I've heard nothing short of good pre-war Gibsons, that come close to the Huber Lancaster.

Huber seriously need to work on their costomer service, it is a testiment to the quality of their banjo's that they have sold any at all!

The only thing I would have different about my Huber, looking back I would deffinately have the speed neck option. but a sticky neck is a small price to pay for a Banjo that sounds like this.

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

In my opinion quite simply the best.

When I rang Kieth Calton to place my order I was reassured by the ammount of measurements he required, that I was making the right decision. The case is tailored to fit the Banjo absolutely perfectly.

The interior is massively padded and then treated to some nice plush fluff. A generous pick box sits in the centre.

The 5 catches close with a gratifying SNAP! The hinges are solid as a rock. the handle is trustworthy and solid. The outer construction is as hard as nails with no joins in it; other than the one that lets you put your banjo in! the closing edges have a rubber seal all the way around that makes the fit when you close the lid that little more solid. There are 13 little plastic bumpers screwed to the outside of the case in all the places where it is likely to get bumped most frequently; which is another reassuring feature. The case also comes with two 'D' links to attatch a shoulder strap to. They are reassuringly heavy!

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

I bought this book with a veiw to learning to play Scruggs style Back-Up, I could already vamp and had good knowledge of chords. This Book and DVD combo completely confused me even as to what I was trying to achieve, additionally it frustrated me so much I actually gave up playing Banjo for about six months.

It is poorly presented, badly organised i.e the book is muddled with just collections of licks splattered all the way through it. The DVD has terrible picture quality and has an even more rushed feeling to it than the book.

I learned the sum total of nothing from this book and DVD. I found it completely impossible to learn from, and I have also seen a thread here on the hangout where someone else had asked "how do I learn from this?" The answer in my experience is, "you don't."

The whole product feels rushed, slapped together as quickly as possible, put on the market to make money, rather than put on the market to help aspiring musicians.

Overall Rating

1

Overall Comments

The work that John Lawless, Bill Evans and all the other guy's at Acutab put into their instructional material is truly staggering; it becomes obvious when you use any of their products, that they really beleive in what they are doing.



I have many of Acutab's products, Power Pickin' 1-4, (which really are worth their weight in gold, im sure anyone who has used them will agree that they are worth ten times the price tag), numerous artist DVD's (Jim Mills, Sammy Shelor, Ron Stewart, Ron Block) and a couple of the fully authorised wonderfully accurate tab books (Terry Baucom, Steve Dilling)

Everything is presented with a quality I've never seen before in similar products; a completely different attitude, it's like they have a self assumed (and very welcome) commitment to students of music.
A commitment to bringing the very best in instructional material to any aspiring bluegrass musician.

I've been using Acutab for about 3-4 months now and this commitment from the guy's at acutab is really inspiring it encourages a player to play more and more with the proggressive, structured lesson. Unlike most other DVD's whereby you would watch and take away with you the parts which seem of value (probably leaving a good 10-30% of the instruction on the disc)

With the help of Acutab I have with all sincerity become at least 10 times the Banjo player I was, I just wish i'd Known about them from day one!!!

www.acutab.com

Overall Rating

10

Overall Comments

When you speak of the hard driving sound of bluegrass banjo, Terry Baucom's name will soon be mentioned. This DVD gives a wonderfull insight into how to better get that awe inspiring sound that Bauc is famous for. Several tunes/songs are broken down into easily digestable sections, slowed down, broken down again, examining in detail almost every note. This DVD makes it easy to spot common things that terry does to make his sound so distinctive and then to apply them to your own playing. This is one of the best learning resourses I have found so far. Brilliant!!!!!!!!!

Overall Rating

8