Deering John Hartford #1 submitted 7/25/2004 Submitter Muttcaster Where Purchased Direct at Winfield Year Purchased 2003 Price Paid 2000 ($US) Sound Full and rich. You can really hear the wood in the tone ring. Being primarily a guitar and mandolin player, I wanted something a little different than your typical bluegrass banjo. I've had a friend's Gibson Granada in the house for several months and I almost never play it. Everyone here prefers the Hartford's tone. Sound Rating 9 Setup Excellent. I do lutherie work and setups for a living and the only thing I've done to the Hartford is decrease the neck relief a little. I let a friend of mine swap bridges and he ended up with the stock bridge. I'm still using light strings on it, too. I just like the Setup Rating 9 Appearance This is a gorgeous banjo, IMHO. The inlays are different and the brown stained maple is really sharp looking. Appearance Rating 10 Reliability No real comment. I've had it a year and it hasn't broken down and left me stranded on a dark dirt road yet. Just looking at it and applying my lutherie experience, it's a well-built instrument. Not going to give me any problems. Reliability Rating 9 Customer Service I bought the banjo at Winfield and Barry was really helpful and patient. I've had supper with Janet and Greg Deering well before I was even remotely interested in banjos and feel sure they'll back up their instrument. Customer Service 9 Components I haven't changed a thing and don't see any reason to. If I were going to fool with something, it would be the tailpiece and I might try and adjustable tension t/p, but I'm in no hurry to do so. Everything else is just fine. Components Rating 9 Overall Comments I really like this banjo. I had been playing an OB-250 for a few months and decided to look at higher-end banjos at Winfield. I went down the line of Ome and liked them, but nothing grabbed me. Got to the Deerings and liked them. The instant I pulled the Hartford off the shelf, the lighter weight got my attention. The neck felt instantly comfortable. I sat down and played my beginning version of Cripple Creek and thought Hey, this banjo sounds GOOD!!! At this point I knew nothing about the Hartford- this was the first I'd ever heard or seen of the thing. I went back several times over the next day and finally the next morning I dragged my friend Keith Yoder down to the booth. We jammed for about an hour with him on banjo and me on guitar. Hearing the Hartford from out front and getting Keith's opinion was the clincher. I bought it. It's way more banjo than I need but I've never regretted it for an instant. What I notice when A/B'ing it against my friend's Granada (which I've had for several months) is that the Hartford's tone changes more as the right hand moves around. The deep notes are deep but not muddy, and the highs are high but not shrill. The overall tone is just more musical- less bell-brass ringing and more fundamental notes. Yeah....I'd say that I like this banjo! Overall Rating 9