Bart Reiter Special  Reviews

Bart Reiter Special submitted 6/29/2007 Submitter ponty (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Elderly Year Purchased 2007 Price Paid 1065 ($US) Sound The sound is very pleasing! It is bright without being too bright. Minimal sustain from its simple brass ring ring. It is not loud or brassy, but nicley balanced. I have had it one week, and is set up as came Sound Rating 10 Setup Yes. Set up was good, action perfect. Though I would like to see what different heads, tails. strings, and bridges would do to the sound,I am very satisfied with stock set up. Setup Rating 10 Appearance Appearence is simple, but enhanced by ebony heel ad headstock plates. The finish is in satin, and the rosewood cap on the pot is very appealing Appearance Rating 10 Reliability Time will tell of course, but all looks very reliable. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service I have not dealt with Bart, but Elderly has always been first rate. Customer Service 10 Components It has a 5 tar head, and tuners. The tuners work very well and the buttons have a nice feel to them. All the metal work looks good quality, high standard components. Components Rating 10 Overall Comments Yes I would certainly recommend the Reiter banjo. The fit and finsh is of a very high standard. The neck is easy to play. I cant see my need for another banjo.......except the Regent, Galax and the White lady! Overall Rating 10

Bart Reiter Special submitted 6/20/2007 Submitter gurulou (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Elderly Year Purchased 2006 Price Paid 850 ($US) Sound I borrowed this banjo for 2 weeks to give it a spin but the purchasing information is accurate (I saw the receipt). I'm relatively new to banjo playing and have been playing clawhammer style for about a year on a Musicmaker's Cumberland banjo. So I don't have a lot to compare the sound to but I really liked it. The 4th string has a depth to it that often surprised me. The 5th string is very sweet and rich and will now be a benchmark for me to measure other banjos. Overall I found the tone to be very sweet and and rich with a certain degree of brightness. I imagine my ideal banjo will have a darker tone than this. But I could be very happy with this tone for years and years. Sound Rating 7 Setup The banjo was setup just fine and ready to play. If this were my banjo I might lower the action at the nut just a hair but I would not feel any urgency to do so. The frets could have been dressed a littled better at the edge of the fingerboard. You can feel too much of the edge of the frets as you slide your hand up and down the neck. Nothing to draw blood mind you but could be better. Setup Rating 7 Appearance I think this is a great looking banjo. Nothing fancy but nothing is overlooked either. I love the natural maple finish and the ebony strip down the middle of the neck is perfect. The rosewood cap on the bottom of the rim is gorgeous. Appearance Rating 8 Reliability I only played this banjo for 2 weeks but it is clearly a banjo that will last a lifetime. Very solid all the way around. I can't imagine having any problems with the wood or the hardware. Reliability Rating 8 Customer Service No experience here. Customer Service not rated Components I love the ebony pinstripe and the rosewood cap on the rim. Very nice touches. I imagine many experienced players would upgrade the bridge. Components Rating 7 Overall Comments I really enjoyed playing this banjo. It is a definate step up from my Musicmakers Cumberland banjo but that is to be expected because they are completely different instruments. I think this banjo is well worth the money that my friend paid for it and I certainly can't imagine being disappointed in this instrument if you bought it without playing it. Overall Rating 7

Bart Reiter Special submitted 3/7/2007 Submitter Lonesome Steve (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Ebay Year Purchased 2006 Price Paid 780 ($US) (bought USED) Sound I play old-time music, clawhammer style. Among old-time, open-back banjos, the Reiter Special has a brighter tone than a lot of others. Still, it works very well for old-time. I think it's a very good all-around tone that is neither too bright and ringy nor too dark and plunky. I stuff a sock in the back when I want a plunkier tone and that seems to work well. Sound Rating 9 Setup I can't comment on how the setup was when it was new since I bought it second hand. When I got it, it required a pretty low bridge to get the action low enough. I sent it to Bart and he set it up with low 1/8" action and a 5/8" bridge, free of charge! He also scooped out the fretboard for me for a very reasonable price. It plays beautifully now. The 10 rating is for after Bart worked on it. Before that I would have given it a 6 or 7, but there's no telling how much of that was the work of the previous owner. Setup Rating 10 Appearance I think it's a beautiful instrument in a simple, understated way. It has a single star inlay in the peghead and pearl dots for fret markers. Finish is flawless as far as I can tell. I'm giving it an 8 just because there's nothing about the appearance that stands out and says, "look at me" (which suits me just fine). Appearance Rating 8 Reliability This is a solid banjo that I expect will last a lifetime and then some. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service As I mentioned above, I sent the banjo back to Bart Reiter to have him scoop the fretboard and do a set up. He was very quick, sending it back the day after he received it. He did great work and was easy to communicate with throughout the process. He did the scoop for a very reasonable price and the setup and return shipping were free of charge. Great customer service all around! Customer Service 10 Components All of the parts are high quality and nothing really needs to be upgraded. However, I've made a couple of changes that are about personal preference rather than quality. I replaced the original tailpiece with a simple No Knot, and I replaced the original Fiberskyn head with a Renaissance head. These changes softened the tone some, but not radically. Bart is shipping new banjos with 5 star heads which he believes are an improvement over the Fiberskyn heads. Components Rating 8 Overall Comments For the price, this is an outstanding all-around banjo for old-time clawhammer playing. I hope to own this banjo for the rest of my life. If stolen, I'd try a lot of other banjos before I replaced it, but I think chances are good I'd end up with another Bart Reiter of some kind. Overall Rating 9

Bart Reiter Special submitted 4/2/2005 Submitter jbalch (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased ebaY Year Purchased 2005 Price Paid Don't Remember (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound This banjo has a very nice clawhammer sound. It has only a brass hoop ring on an 11" three-ply maple rim. It is resonant, rich and plenty bright. The 11" pot is more focused than the 12" banjos I have. It actually records very well. It is a bit more "woody" than a whyte laydie. It has a good bit less ringing sustain than the professional (Bacon tone ring) or tubaphone models. This banjo is really quite nice for old time music. Sound Rating 9 Setup I bought it used. It arrived poorly set up. I made the following changes. After trying several bridges, I settled on an 11/16" Moon (heavy). That bridge really opened the sound nicely. I installed GHS PF150 strings with a phosphor bronze 4th for richer bass. I set the tension of the stock Elite fiberskyn head using a drumtorque. I raised the tailpiece to open the sound. The sum of these changes is a responsive and lively clawhammer banjo. Setup Rating 10 Appearance Very simple classic Vega style design. This banjo was made in 1998. It has a gloss finish rather than the matte version Bart is now using. The wood is straight grained maple...but very nice. Appearance Rating 8 Reliability These are very reliable professional grade instruments! Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service I've owned several Reiter banjos. None have required any service. But Bart has responded well whenever I've contacted him. He builds a great banjo ... for that I'll give him a 10. Customer Service 10 Components Great wood and woodwork! Otherwise off-he-shelf parts. No weak spots...but nothing unique or outstanding. Components Rating 8 Overall Comments For the money these are fantastic banjos. very playable. great sounding and extremely reliable. Bart's necks are the best in my opinion. They are very consistant and excellent! You can spend a lot more on a custom open back banjo these days. But it is hard to beat these for sound, feel and appeal. Note: I like the Special model far better than the Standard....it is well worth the small difference. Overall Rating 9