Bacon (after Day) Belmont Belmont 5 string submitted 2/19/2004 Submitter mattiskim Where Purchased Janet Davis Music Year Purchased 2004 Price Paid 650.00 ($US) (bought USED) Sound Very bright loud sound. NO tone ring. Its just a wooden hoop ring with bolt on resonator. Thin/Old Timey [ sort of a frailing type sound]. Its not a Mastertone or tubaphone or other sound. It sounds like it does. Its not a bluegrass sound more like an old-time with resonator. Sound Rating 7 Setup Set up by Janet Davis. GREAT SETUP Setup Rating 10 Appearance Very nice banjo. A 1956 model in VERY GOOD/EXCELLENT condition. Looks almost new. Great MOTS [mother of toilet seat] plastic bound resonator. it looks OLD and NEW at the same time. Very RETRO. Appearance Rating 9 Reliability Seems like a good instrument. BUT it was made in 1956 by Gretsch [B&D owner then] and most Gretsch instruments seem to hold up. Only time will tell. Reliability Rating 6 Customer Service B&D and The Orginial Gretsch Co. are LONG GONE> NO C.S. . However, Janet Davis gave a small warrenty with it and she has answered all of my questions both on e-mail and on the phone Rating = B&D= 0 Janet Davis=10 Customer Service 5 Components Banjo is well made. Its very retro-formica/plastic of the era. I would not expect to see a 2001 model made like this. Some short cuts can be seen in manufacturing. Parts are weird even for 50's banjo. so exact replacement parts may be tough. It came 100% original [exc. new HSC] Components Rating 7 Overall Comments Nice, strange sounding, werid looking relic from banjo's Overall Rating 7

Vega Tubaphone Style M submitted 10/14/2002 Submitter mattiskim Where Purchased Nicks Music, Wheeling WV Year Purchased 1994 Price Paid 500.00 (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound Open-back Tenor with Tubaphone Tone ring [19 " neck] give this banjo a clear, distinct, but not very loud, sound. It sounds good for Irish music or plectrum style but regular dixieland tenor sounds thin and would NOT cut through in a band with horns. Sound Rating 6 Setup Set up for irish style [ this is a 1932 model] was remarkably good. Since this is what I wanted I was very pleased. Reg. tenor style would need a new bridge and setup work. This is not a Dixieland banjo. The action is much too high for fast tenor playing and neck adj. might compromise the entire setup. But for Irish or plectrum [19 Setup Rating 6 Appearance For an old guy not bad. Fit in finish are very good for being 60 years old and PLAYED [not stored]. Silver is worn, but still bright. It has the ORG. skin head [ stained but intact and good sounding] Old style vega inlay. Pearwood neck unbent and uncracked. Appearance Rating 8 Reliability Will it last? It was made in 1932 [according the the ser.#] and it's still 100% orig. Neck is good and straight, bright chrome [worn in spots] no rust, neck inlay intact and still tight. I plan to do little to this instrument and IT NEEDS very little to maintain it just as I got it. Reliability Rating 9 Customer Service Vega no longer in business. Deering still makes tubaphone vegas but the parts don't interchange. It has a 11 5/16 Customer Service 1 Components The workmanship is great. Internal tubaphone brass tone ring. Very heavy for a tenor without a resonator. Lots of metal and bolts. It has not been refinished [ just some adjustments due to wear] Its hard to get parts. The old style head and nuts are no longer made in these sizes. It came with the org. chipboard case [ in fair shape]. Friction tuners were shot and had to be replaced with new planetary. I'm not sure how they worked when they were new. Components Rating 9 Overall Comments This is a Style M Tubaphone Tenor [open back] made in 1932. I didn't know what to expect in a banjo [ at the time I did not play banjo, but did play mandolin and wanted another instrument to play without learning a new tuning]. This is a fine old instrument from the 'golden age'. Overall Rating 8

Deering Goodtime II submitted 9/23/2002 Submitter mattiskim Where Purchased Deering Year Purchased 2001 Price Paid 425.00 historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound Sound is very good for a non-tone ring instrument. Of course it is not LOUD, but very rich and full. A real beginners instrument [ which is what I wanted] Not loud enough to annoy friends and family, but rich enough to be heard by the user. Sound Rating 8 Setup Set-up out of the box was excellent.. I've used it roughly and taken it all over and the setup is still good. Ive put dots on the outside of the neck [ a personal thing] because i cant see my hand or remember what fret is what note with the 5 string capo. Setup Rating 10 Appearance It looks pretty good.. OK, it's not a pre-war Gibson, but it's pretty, All maple with a maple resonator, it looks better than the open back. neck is of 2 piece design but very attractive. Old style Vega armrest works well on this model. Appearance Rating 7 Reliability Very well made. I had a small problem on the resonator due to excessive heat this summer. But, I caused that. Hardware, GREAT, neck, VERY GOOD. playabilty : VERY GOOD. Guitar type tuners present no problems and help in tuning. Reliability Rating 8 Customer Service I have contaced Deering in the past and had GREAT response and help. Phone service=execllent/e-mail = excellent. Customer Service 10 Components 2 piece maple neck is rock solid despite the dovetailed connetion [very noticable near head]. Its straight and playable [kinda like an old Fender telecaster neck] NO fingerboard -just the finished maple. Metal parts are attractive and I think nickel plated. They wear well. Resonator is laminated maple and a bit thin on the back- its held on with 4 wood screws that screw into the resonator itself. Its not an item you want to take off all the time. This is a weak point. Black painted dots on neck -BUT NOT ON THE SIDE OF THE NECK. so it is somewhat difficult to see what you are playing without rubbernecking over your hand. Ive used magic marker to mark the outside dots. These wear off, but are easy to remove or replace without damaging the neck. Also I added a 5th string capo. [ no installation problems] spikes work well, but the maple is so hard they sometimes come out and need to be super-glued in. Components Rating 7 Overall Comments Excellent beginners or travel banjo. However, I dont recommend IT, buy the GOODTIME special - [with the tone ring @$495.00] Lots of bang for the buck but Deering can't retrofit a tone ring into the GT2. The GT-Sp. HAS lots of guts for jam playing and shares all parts. Overall Rating 8