Frank Neat Custom 'Kentucky' (Gold plated Walnut)
submitted 2/12/2013
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Submitter |
Banjojustin |
Where Purchased |
Directly from Frank (some metal parts from First Quality in Louisville) |
Year Purchased |
2012 |
Price Paid |
3700 ($US) |
Sound
|
The sound is marvellous. I play bluegrass and a bit of old time inspired picking in Double C tuning and it sounds wonderful. The walnut/gold gives it a real sweetness. Just what I was after! |
Sound Rating |
10 |
Setup
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Setup was perfect. I've recently changed the head from a smooth top 5 star (which I wanted when I bought it) to a frosted Remo with no trouble whatsoever. Action is just right. |
Setup Rating |
10 |
Appearance
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Flawless Flying Eagle inlay by Ricky Neat. The banjo is all walnut, cox walnut rim, cox burl walnut resonator and Frank Neat walnut neck. Finished in a beautiful 'golden' brown. Just perfect. |
Appearance Rating |
10 |
Reliability
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Hardware is top notch. Most gold plated parts came from First Quality with the tuners and flange being supplied by Frank. |
Reliability Rating |
10 |
Customer Service
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Very friendly and patient. I sent a lot of emails with a lot of questions and never felt unwelcome. Being in Australia, most communication was via email but I did make a couple of calls. I talked to both Frank and Ricky, great people. |
Customer Service |
10 |
Components
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Standout components would be the neck and the overall finish. Just beautiful and very easy to play. |
Components Rating |
10 |
Overall Comments
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I had one shot at buying my dream banjo and this was it. I always wanted a gold plated walnut banjo with a Frank Neat neck and a Sullivan tone ring and I got it (there is a story behind that but that's for another day!). Frank and Ricky built me exactly what I wanted and it is perfect! I got it shipped to Australia without any trouble. |
Overall Rating |
10 |
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Fender FB-59
submitted 9/9/2005
|
Submitter |
Banjojustin |
Where Purchased |
Allans Music Brisbane |
Year Purchased |
2005 |
Price Paid |
1440 (AUD)
historic exchange rates / currency converter
|
Sound
|
A nice warm yet bright tone. Came with a frosted Remo head. 1st string has minor intonation problems though, even though I'm now using a compensated bridge. Good volume, so everyone else says. I can't really judge it from behind. |
Sound Rating |
8 |
Setup
|
Setup was fine and action was good. I replaced the factory bridge with a Sampson submerged wood (walnut/ebony) which gave it a warmer tone. It has a 20 hole brass tone ring (I suspect Korean made). |
Setup Rating |
8 |
Appearance
|
It is a beautiful banjo. It has a walnut neck and resonator, gold plated hardware, mastertone style one piece flange, 24 bracket hooks. Looks like a more expensive model however, being Korean made the gold plating is cheap and already showing signs of wear. Neck and head have good, rather simple inlays which I like better than the fancy stuff anyway. |
Appearance Rating |
10 |
Reliability
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It is a very solid instrument. It will last as long as I do. Only drama is with the gold plating that is starting to rub off (nothing too major though). |
Reliability Rating |
8 |
Customer Service
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Haven't had to deal with anyone yet. |
Customer Service |
not rated |
Components
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Parts wise nothing too special. Geared tuners are standard, and I recommed the bridge be changed to something better than the factory issue. Other than that, standard Korean quality parts. May benefit from a tailpiece change but as yet I have not tried this. |
Components Rating |
7 |
Overall Comments
|
One of the better intermediate instruments available with realative ease in Australia. It is only the second banjo I've ever played, the first was a cheap Samick which I used for eight years before buying this one. It is good value for the price (in Australia, that is), and it looks and sounds nice. I recomed this banjo for intermediate players who are interested in a walnut, gold plated model as I was. Other banjos in a similar price range, although not walnut, were the Washburn B-16 and B-17 and some of the Martinez banjos with one of these being walnut, nickel plated.
* I've now had the banjo for over a year and it's still going as well as can be expexcted. The gold is tarnished but still mostly gold at least, although there are little spots starting to go green. One worthy mention, is that I normally use Gibson medium strings as I mainly play old time frailing banjo, but I'm now learning some of Tony Ellis' beautiful tunes and I'm going to learn some other bluegrass type music. As a consequence, I decided to use GHS light strings, angle up the talpiece (still factory issue at the moment) and tighten the head further. It now sounds the most beautiful I've ever heard it sound. Nice and kind of metallicly sweet (obviously the metal picks help there too!!) and with good volume. It really is a nice sounding banjo. |
Overall Rating |
9 |
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