Deering: Goodtime

Submitted by Buzzard on 4/27/2003

Where Purchased: mucisians friend-mailorder

Year Purchased: 2001
Price Paid: 200.00 ($US)

Sound

surprisingly loud for an openback & to my uneducated ear a bit tinny i bought it to learn basics & some clawhammer. I like the tone of it better when i plunk & strum over the last few frets. when i use picks & attempt some rolls it really has snap & rings well picked in a more conventional spot

Sound Rating: 7

Setup

the banjo was well set up to be a cheesegrater out of the box. wouldent play in tune very high action (but thats what i get for buying mailorder from a guitar shop i guess) Jerry from the Prescott Folklore Center ajusted the action, tightened the neck, set the bridge properly, trimmed the fret ends, & installed a couple of spikes for me. very easy to finger now

Setup Rating: 2

Appearance

personally it beats the tar out of my old harmony as far as looks goes. i like the look of raw wood. the grain pattern is easy for me to see & it looks like decent quality maple. there really is no finish to speak of so therefor no flaws in that & the hardware is in very good shape, no rust or pitting. it dosent feel cheap.

Appearance Rating: 8

Reliability

there is a bit of slop in the 5th string tuner & im not wild about the guitar tuners but they do operate smoothly on the whole & do stay in tune. i like the feel of the satin finish on the neck & now that its properly set up i wouldent be afraid to play on it anytime anywhere

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

warrenty was good for a year from the factory & it was past that when i moved to Prescott & found my banjo guru

Customer Service: not rated

Components

at this price for the quality i got (other than the set-up which i believe now was a fluke) i think its more than a good deal. i would upgrade the tuners eventually

Components Rating: 9

Overall Comments

i wouldent hesitate to recommend this banjo to anyone looking for a starter. altho i must say that where i used to live there wasnt much in the way of quality student type openback banjos to choose from (Phoenix). now that ive had an oppertunity to plunk on plenty of other banjos, my big hands might choose something with a fatter neck.

Overall Rating: 7