Bean Blossom BB-100 Reviews

Bean Blossom BB-100 submitted 3/13/2007 Submitter banjojoo (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased banjohut.com Year Purchased 2007 Price Paid 259 ($US) Sound I wanted a bluegrass banjo and this is fine for that. This is my first banjo, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I don't have any complaints. There is a quality that a lot of the banjos I hear in recordings have which this does not possess, so I figure that as I progress I will want to upgrade, or maybe I just need heavier strings. Sound Rating 5 Setup Based on problems I have heard other people have with new banjos, this one was set up well. I haven't had any problems with it as far as setup. The only thing I've done to it is tune it and tighten the screws on the tuners. Setup Rating 7 Appearance This is a basic basic banjo as far as inlay. I don't really care if a banjo is flashy or not. I like the deep mahogany finish. It doesn't have any extras as far as appearance, but what it has is well done. Appearance Rating 5 Reliability One of the brackets had a scratch on it when I got the banjo, and I probably should have sent it back, but it wasn't bad enough for me to bother with it. That scratch leads me to believe it is probably easy to scratch. The hardware isn't what you'd find on a more expensive banjo, but I'm not at all worried about this one falling apart or anything. Reliability Rating 7 Customer Service I ordered the banjo and received it promptly. That's all the dealings I've had with banjohut.com. For me, an order that doesn't require any additional calling or emailing is great service. Customer Service 9 Components Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either. This is a starter banjo for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot. I've had this banjo for a few months, and I haven't had any components fail. I play at least an hour a day. Components Rating 5 Overall Comments This instrument has done all I have asked of it. If it were stolen, I'd probably buy something nicer and more expensive, but that's only because I've played long enough to know that this is something I'm going to do for the rest of my life. I wouldn't say I love it, but I really really like it. It's been reliable and been my introduction to playing the banjo, and you always remember your first. This is a beginner banjo, and I'm rating it in terms of its standing amongst beginner banjos. I'm rating it a 7 because to me that's better than good but less than the best. Overall Rating 7

Bean Blossom BB-100 submitted 7/21/2006 Submitter carbon_elf (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Folk of the Wood Year Purchased 2006 Price Paid 219 ($US) Sound I'm a relatively new banjo player, playing the scruggs 3-finger style. The BB-100 has a nice but thin sound for a cheap banjo. I'm not sure how the sound would develop over time from this banjo as I had some major problems with it and had to return it. Sound Rating 5 Setup The banjo was perfectly in tune when I got it. Folk of the Wood did a good job in checking and tuning it before sending it. Though it seemed to loose tune pretty quickly (after about 2 hrs of play). Setup Rating 6 Appearance Ok, its a cheap banjo (in both senses of the word). Very little inlay work, but for about $200 what would you expect. The major problems mentioned above though were the fault of the banjo and not the seller. After about 4 days of having it I began to notice a shear fracture on neck below the nut, then two days later I noticed one on the other side of the neck same location! Then the 5th string tuner cracked in half! So I sent it back and got a Gold Tone CC-100 RP (I'm extremely happy with it)!!!! Appearance Rating 2 Reliability Every thing on this banjo seemed really light weight and not too good. Again the $200 banjo thing. Reliability Rating not rated Customer Service Folk of the Wood was great. Never dealt with Morgan Monroe/Bean Blossom, and probably won't ever. Customer Service not rated Components No stand out components. Pleanty of weak components. Components Rating not rated Overall Comments Ok so I only ended up writing this review for others. When I was looking for my first banjo I looked into this one and thought ok $200 how bad could it be? Well after seeing the other review (Bean Blossom Delux) I know how bad it could be. I ended up getting a Gold Tone CC-100 RP and so far have been loving it. Also after register it I got a personal thanks email from Roger the Founder/President of Gold Tone. A really nice touch. Overall Rating 3