Rounder Alison Krauss - Union Station Live submitted 2/4/2008 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased www.play.com Overall Comments All alone in a hotel room in Helsinki, Finland, I started up the old iBook and the DVD "Alison Krauss and Union Station Live" which I haven't seen before. What a great performance! This supergroup is great because there seems not be competition between the musicians, they are all contributing to the total musical experience. Jerry Douglas - "the world's greatest dobro player - ever". No need to say anything more. Dan Tyminsky - Great voice, great fun, "the one of the Soggy Mtn Boys with the soggiest bottom". Barry Bales the bass player - steady as a rock and great singing, too. BHO's own Ron Block, Not looking much at the audience, but communicating through really great playing on both banjo and guitar. And singing, too. And of course Alison with her natural down to earth ways of communicating with the audience. Great fiddle playing and the voice of an angel. The theatre is great, sound and pictures are great - this is just a very good music DVD. I think AKUS is doing a great job bringing bluegrass music to a new level. And there are no cowboy hats! Overall Rating 10

Nechville Comfort Bevel Armrest submitted 1/6/2008 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Janet Davis Overall Comments Take a look at the way your arm rests at the armrest. It is probably resting on the edge. The Nechville Comfort Bevel Armrest is beveled so your arm rests on a much larger surface. Very comfortable. In addition, the wood (oak) feels warm and there is no risk of nickel allergy. If you later want to sell your banjo, you can just remount the original armrest - which will still look like the day you took it off. The armrest is made for Nechville Helimount banjos, but it fits most banjos. On my Recording King banjo, I had to modify the armrest a little with a knife, because it touched the banjo head. I take off one point for that. Overall Rating 9

Gold Tone Banjo Mute Gold Tone Banjo Mute submitted 11/18/2007 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Janet Davis Overall Comments This mute works and is simple and inexpensive. I had to bend mine to make it fit to my Scorpion bridge. If it is too tight, you risk moving the bridge sideways when mounting it. It does not interfere with your right hand picking. The mute works by adding weight to the bridge, as most other mutes. The backside of this is that it increases sustain, so my banjo sounds more like a dobro. Conclusion: Not as good as playing without a mute, but much better than a divorce. Overall Rating 7

Neotech Super banjo strap submitted 11/18/2007 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Janet Davis Overall Comments If you feel that your resonator banjo is heavy, get the Neotech Super Strap. It is made of neoprene, which makes it soft and flexible. It is very comfortable, and your banjo feels a lot lighter. It is also very easy to detach from your banjo when putting the banjo into the banjo case. There is also the Mega strap which is longer. Unless you are exceptionally tall, get the Super. The only downside is that you dont get that natural leather look and feel. Overall Rating 9

Intelli MT500 submitted 11/18/2007 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Janet Davis Overall Comments The Intelli MT500 works great and is inexpensive. It works by contact, which makes it possible to tune in noisy environments. It is also backlit, so you can use it in the dark. Downsides: The buttons rattle, so I cannot keep it on my banjo while playing. It is not extremely precise, so I don´t use it for studio works. Also, it is not very quick. Great tuner for the money. Overall Rating 8

Tony Trischka All Star Bluegrass Jam Along - Banjo submitted 11/3/2007 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Amazon Overall Comments You get a TAB book with arrangements for 21 "essential" tunes. The song selection is very good, there are many nice songs with a good melody line. A lot of them use more than three chords. The songs are in different keys, and for many of them you have to use a capo. There are even three watzes. The TABs are first basic versions, then solo/up the neck versions. The up the neck versions are often in melodic style. The TABs are very good, and the banjo arrangements are a little different - better - from what I find in other books that I have. Then to the CD. There is one track for each song. Each track has bass, guitar and mandolin all the way through. First, the song is played with banjo in a basic version, then up the neck, then backup banjo (mostly pinch) and then without any banjo - you jam along yourself. Tempo is moderate to slow. Tony Trischka´s banjo playing is really beautiful. It is very clean and right on time all the way. You will enjoy just listening to the CD. His banjo sounds great! Sound quality is great, but you might like or dislike that the backup band is in the left channel and the banjo alone to the right. The benefit of this, is that you can listen to the left channel only to get the backing band playing without Tony Trischka. The really great new thing about this book/CD, is that there are versions for banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass. This must be the best way to start a bluegrass band. Let each band member rehearse with their own book. When you meet, you are all ready to jam! Overall Rating 10

Janet Davis Music submitted 9/22/2007 Submitter erstokke Overall Comments I sent them an email about a sub $1000 banjo and they never answered. I guess I could have phoned, but never did. All the banjo accessories I have ordered from them, has been completely satifactory. Overall Rating 9

The Mandolinstore submitted 9/22/2007 Submitter erstokke Overall Comments You will find the Mandolin Store at http://www.themandolinstore.com. As the name says, they are specialists on mandolins, but they have a couple of banjos as well. It is a small company, and they do everything they can to keep the customers satisfied. Dennis, who runs the store, answered my emails very quickly, and I once had a problem with the mic in a mandolin that they fixed to my complete satisfaction. Their slogan is nothing less than "The Most Helpful Store on the Planet" - and it's true! Prices are right, too. Overall Rating 10

Recording King RK-80 submitted 7/10/2007 Submitter erstokke Where Purchased Private Year Purchased 2007 Price Paid 790 ($US) (bought USED) Sound This is banjo has the "real" bluegrass sound. It can be tweaked by setup to suit your taste. It is very responsive. It is loud, so you can bring it to a jam-session. Sound Rating 10 Setup The banjo was bought used, and setup was just fine. The previous owner had installed a Scorpion bridge. Setup Rating 9 Appearance Some people think RKs are "loud" looking as well. I think it looks very nice. It does not look like every other banjo. Finish is glossy and perfect. The fretboad is real ebony, and mine has a brown beauty-spot between frets 18 and 21 which I just think adds personality. Appearance Rating 9 Reliability Hardware seems to be top quality. Build quality seems to be very high. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service You can meet the company´s representative Greg Rich and Scott Zimmerman right here at banjohangout. They are very serious about having satisfied customers. Mine was bought used, so the lifetime warranty does not apply. This doesn´t bother me at all - I don´t think I ever will need any warranty on this banjo. Customer Service 10 Components The banjo has excellent Gotoh tuners. There is no need to replace any components on this banjo. Components Rating 10 Overall Comments If you are looking for a banjo above "entry level", this is the one to get. At the price, it is a steal, and you will have to pay three times more for a better banjo. Overall Rating 10