Ramsey student submitted 11/14/2007 Submitter Lonesome Steve Where Purchased BHO Classifieds Year Purchased 2007 Price Paid 800 ($US) (bought USED) Sound I’ve only owned one other “serious” banjo (a Bart Reiter Special), so I’m going to be comparing my new Ramsey Student to my Reiter Special a lot in this review. The Ramsey has a 12” rim, which gives this banjo a much boomier, fuller tone than the 11” Reiter Special. Right away I noticed a “kick in the gut” when playing the fourth string that the Reiter just doesn’t have. The Ramsey is loud and very solid sounding. It's not terribly plunky, but it’s also not as bright and crisp as the Reiter Special. The Reiter sounds a bit thin in comparison. Neither of these banjos has a problem being heard when playing with others, but I suspect the Ramsey would drown out the Reiter if I could figure out a way to play them both at the same time. Sound Rating 10 Setup I purchased my Ramsey Student second hand and it was setup with nylon strings when I got it. I changed it back to steel strings, so the setup obviously needed some tweaking. As a result I’m not going to give a rating for setup. However, it’s a well-made banjo with an adjustable truss rod, so I’m sure a competent luthier can make any Ramsey Student play well unless it’s been severely mistreated. I’m not sure this belongs in the setup category, but since I don’t know where else to put it I’ll mention here that the neck on the Ramsey is my favorite banjo neck I’ve ever played. This neck is no wimp. It’s a .45 magnum, Clint Eastwood, “make-my-day” sort of neck. The Reiter neck is very nice, but feels slim in comparison. Setup Rating not rated Appearance My Ramsey Student is cosmetically a little different than the standard Student model. It has a reddish brown stain on the pot and neck (blonde finish is standard), ebony fretboard and peghead overlay (rosewood is standard), and no inlays at all (star on the peghead and pearl dots on the fretboard are standard). It also has a three-piece neck like the more expensive Ramsey models rather than the typical one-piece neck. Otherwise it matches the current specs for this model. I love the look of this banjo. It’s pure and simple, but with a little more elegance than something like an Enoch Tradesman. I occasionally miss the dots on the fretboard, but I’ve only been playing it for a short time so I suspect I’ll get used to that. The Ramsey is a beautiful instrument, however if you start comparing cosmetic details, the Reiter excels. The Ramsey is nice, but the Reiter is cosmetically nearly perfect. The wood isn’t quite as pretty on the Ramsey, and there are details in the way it’s put together that just aren’t quite as nice as the Reiter. I’m talking about pure cosmetics here, and personally I like the overall look of the Ramsey better, but when you’re really studying the details, the Reiter is the clear winner. Appearance Rating 8 Reliability The Ramsey Student is a well-made banjo that should last a lifetime or two. That said I wouldn’t expect it to be completely trouble-free. I had to fiddle a bit with tuners that had loosened up, and the fifth string tuner fell out when I changed strings. I don’t see these as major issues. After all, this is a used instrument and these issues are easy to fix. However, my Reiter is about the same age as the Ramsey and everything about it is still tight and rock-solid, like the day it left Bart’s shop. So, the Ramsey is fine but the Reiter is better. Reliability Rating 7 Customer Service No basis for comment Customer Service not rated Components The components used on the Ramsey are all good. The tuners feel a little rough at times but they keep the strings in tune well and basically do what they’re supposed to. I prefer some of Ramsey’s component choices (like the Renaissance head and the No Knot tailpiece) to the components Reiter chooses for his banjos, but that’s purely a personal preference thing. The tuners on the Reiter are smoother than the ones on the Ramsey, but both do the job just fine. Components Rating 8 Overall Comments The Ramsey Student is an incredible banjo. It's cheap enough that I could add, "...for the money," but at any price it's a very good banjo. The sound is big and solid without being brash, exactly the sound I was looking for. I mentioned several ways above in which the Ramsey is not quite as well built as my Reiter. For me these are niggling details (mostly easily correctable) that are outweighed by the tone, character and overall feel that the Ramsey offers. You also have to consider that the list price of the Reiter Special is about $250 more than the Ramsey Student. I love my Reiter Special. It’s a great all-around old-time banjo. But the Ramsey Student has a unique personality that makes the Reiter seem a little boring in comparison. If these two banjos were Gilligan’s Island’s Mary Anne and Ginger, the Ramsey would be the one in the leopard print cocktail dress hitting on the professor. Overall Rating 9

Bart Reiter Special submitted 3/7/2007 Submitter Lonesome Steve 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