Regal Harmony made Bakelite w/ Resonator submitted 4/7/2008 Submitter dhoenisch Where Purchased Purchased from BHO member Year Purchased 2008 Price Paid Don't Remember (bought USED) historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound First off, I just want to note that this is a mid-1960's U.S.A. Harmony made banjo with a bakelite rim and resonator banjo. It sounds fantastic. I have a thin calf skin head mounted on it with a homemade ebony topped maple bridge and it has a nice punch to it. Much louder than other wood rimed student banjos that are infesting the market these days. Bright, not too much bass, but sounds fine. The resonator projects the sound beautifully. I feel that this banjo can definately hold it's own in a bluegrass setting as long as I'm not standing next to the fiddle player. Sound Rating 9 Setup Well, I was given this banjo for the price of shipping, and purchased the resonator separately, than traded for a different one. I'll explain in appearances section. Anyhow, this banjo was unplayable when sent to me, though I knew that already. After I cleaned it up, mounted a new skin head, carved out a bridge for it, and everything else, it's set up nicely. Easy to play, except for the skin head being so slick. I tried to sand a little of it where I plant my fingers. It helps, but still slick. I'll get used to it though. Not rating this since I'm the one who did the setup on it. Also, the neck is a bit narrower than I am used to, but it doesn't bother me. Setup Rating not rated Appearance This bakelite banjo has a black rim and resonator. Actually, I purchased a resonator on eBay before I even knew this banjo existed. I was looking for a Harmony bakelite banjo since I like the sound of them, and since many of them don't have resonators, and since the resonators are usually hard to come by, I purchased it in hopes of finding a bakelite banjo. Well, not too long after, a BHO member saw a want ad of mine, and sent me his Harmony made Regal banjo for the cost of shipping and packaging. Well, when I received the dirty, grungy banjo, I noticed it had a black rim and neck, but my resonator was brown. Yikes. After taking the banjo apart, and scrubbing it all, the rim was really black, and I know that having a brown resonator would bug me. So, I posted a swap ad here, and a member here who wanted a brown resonator, but had a black one traded resonators with me. Now we're both happy. Anyhow, back to this, the black rim, resonator and neck look really nice with the nickel/chrome hardware. The fingerboard has a mahogany color, but a rock maple wood grain. Being Harmony, who knows what kind of wood it really is. The fretboard sports brass frets and real mother of pearl square inlays. It looks beautiful now that the fingerboard is cleaned up and frets and inlays are dressed and polished. The all metal guitar style tuning machines are a little ugly, but they work well, so I'll keep them on there for a while. The peghead overlay is B-W-B cellulous with Regal carved into it, and it buffed out nicely. The translucent calf skin head looks really cool on this banjo. All in all, it looks really nice. Appearance Rating 9 Reliability Well, the tuning machines are original from the 60's, and are still smooth. I replaced the non-original friction 5th peg with a geared machine. The button doesn't match, but I am going more for functionality than anything. I put on a Waverly style tailpiece which is made of thick metal, and looks good. The original brackets are rusted a bit, so I may replace them. 6 of them were missing, and I found really good replacements, so I may just replace the other 24. All in all, as long as I take care of it, and with the hardware it now has, I think it'll last. I'm not rating this category since some of the hardware is new.. Reliability Rating not rated Customer Service Customer Service not rated Components I found a replacement tailpiece that matched the original, but once I held it in my hand, I realized that it would annoy me, so I found a Waverly style that I really like. I would eventually like planetary tuning pegs, but the guitar tuners are working just fine. All the other parts on this banjo seem fine. The 5th string pip is a flathead screw. I was going to make a bone pip, but than, I realized that this would be done more for looks than functionality. The screwhead is very functional, so I'm going to leave it as is. Besides, it gives this banjo a little more character. Again, I'm not going to rate this since I made some upgrades. Components Rating not rated Overall Comments Overall, this is a great banjo. I have wanted a Harmony made bakelite banjo for a couple of years now. It was also fun getting this banjo playable too. Locating parts and all for it was fun, and tearing it all down and reassembling it was fun. This is the first time I have ever mounted a skin head, and it was so much easier than I ever expected it to be. The banjo sounds good, and is easy to play. Much lighter than my bluegrass machine, so I can play it longer. This banjo will be played in a bluegrass setting from time to time as I feel it'll sound good on certain songs, maybe even better than my 15lb bell brass tone ring banjo. I would be upset if this banjo walked away. Yeah, I could locate another Harmony bakelite banjo, but this one is a rare bird as the brown Harmonys are all over the place, but this is the first Harmony made Regal I've ever seen, and the black with nickel/chrome looks really good. Who would have ever expected that? This definately will not be my main banjo, but it will be played a lot, I'm sure. For what this banjo is, and for the fun I've already had with it, I am going to give it the highest rating. I am not comparing it to a $10k Gibson, I am rating it on it's own. Overall Rating 10

Price Price Straightline Tailpiece submitted 3/17/2008 Submitter dhoenisch Where Purchased Hatfield Music Overall Comments I purchased a gold Price Straightline tailpiece fr my Fender FB-59 banjo to replace the clamshell tailpiece my banjo came with since it rattled, and you needed three hands to change the strings. The Price is a nice, solid, heavy tailpiece which alligns itself with the notches on the bridge. I swear it gave me a little more volume to my banjo. Mainly though, I just love the ease of changing the strings. I was originally going to buy the Gold-Tone version of this tailpiece, but was deferred from them since I was told the metal was too thin. Anyhow, I do not regret the purchase of the real thing. Also, the gold plating is really thick on it. Overall Rating 10

Banjo-Tam 5-string with Jingles submitted 6/20/2007 Submitter dhoenisch Where Purchased eBay Year Purchased 2006 Price Paid 55 ($US) Sound For a banjo around $50, I can't complain about the sound, but I had to do a lot to get decent sound. It comes with a really soft bridge, weird type of strings, weird tailpiece and a sagging head. Not much can be done about the sagging head since the rim is so thin, but I tightened it as much as I could without breaking the rim, made a new bridge, added a no-knot tailpiece, and used nylon strings, and it sounds pretty good. I play Scruggs-style, and I play this one a lot without fingerpicks, and it sound okay for something to play around with. This is my recliner banjo. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Sound Rating 9 Setup As mentioned before, the banjo wasn't set up too well, but really couldn't be (I do understand that it is a novelty instrument). After the many modifications I did to it, it definately improved from something almost playable to something worth playing. In addition to the modifications mentioned above, I added side markers since this one didn't have any. Sometimes I'll lay in bed and play this thing, and without the side markers, I'd get lost playing Foggy Mt. Breakdown or other songs that go up the neck. The guitar tuners were installed weird. The bottom two were fine, but the top two were reversed. No problem, just reversed them, redrilled the screw holes, and problem solved. Frets had finish on them, but scraping with a fingernail fixed that. Action was also a bit high, but an adjustment of the neck, and that fixed that. Again, this is a novelty banjo, and I still got a playable instrument out of it. I am not at all complaining. Actually, performing all of these upgrades was a lot of fun, and a definate learning experience. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Setup Rating 6 Appearance Hey, for what it is, I have no complaints. Actually, I feel that it is better looking than the gumby styled GoodTimes banjo. Same color, better looking headstock. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Appearance Rating 10 Reliability Well, I've had it a little over a year now, and it's fine. The guitar tuners are guitar tuners, and hold their tuning very well. Also, on a very good note (no pun intended), it has a geared 5th string tuner that also holds tuning very well. No complaints whatsoever on the tuning machines. My upgrades have been holding beautifully now for over a year. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Reliability Rating 8 Customer Service Customer service is outstanding. The first banjo that was sent to me had a broken headstock. I e-mailed Frank Abrams at Banjo-Tam to tell him about the problem, and said that I could send pictures. He replied to me within an hour (if I remember correctly) and said not to worry about sending pictures, a new Banjo-Tam was on it's way. I got it within a few days, and this one was delivered in good condition. You just don't get customer service like this anymore. Customer Service 10 Components See my entry for Reliability. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Components Rating 8 Overall Comments Overall, I am glad I bought this banjo. Because of it's light weight (I think it's only 4 pounds) and it's nylon strings that I upgraded it with, I tend to play this more than my regular banjo. I can take it outside, and not have to worry about it, take it on trips and play it at rest stops, etc. I really enjoy this little banjo. I'd definately pay more, and was willing to, but then I saw Frank's Christmas special price on the eBay, and jumped on it. (I am rating this as a $50 banjo, not a $5K banjo) Overall Rating 8

Fender Fender Banjo FB - 59 submitted 4/28/2006 Submitter dhoenisch Where Purchased Guitar Center Year Purchased 2006 Price Paid $750 historic exchange rates / currency converter Sound Bright and LOUD. When I saw it at Guitar Center, I hesitated since I don't like Fender acoustic instruments, but I tried it out, and couldn't put it down. It had the sound I was looking for with the feel that I had hoped for. A manager came by and did the whole sales routine with me, and I somehow haggled him down from $899 to $750 after sales tax for it. Sound Rating 10 Setup Setup was perfect, though I changed out the bridge and tailpiece. I hated the cheapo bridge it came with, so I purchased Grover compensated bridge, which fixed the tone problem. Switched that out again with a Bart Veerman bridge, strait, mystery wood, ebony topped, and tone was perfect, and sounded really bright and loud. I also did not like the tailpiece it came with. It was one of those thin clamshell tailpieces that vibrated, so I had to put them self adheisive felt circles on the clamshell hood to stop the vibration. I eventually swapped it out with a Price Straitline tailpiece, which seemed to help with the volume (making it louder) and makes it easier to install the strings. I was also shocked that the banjo came with a BONE nut. Setup Rating 9 Appearance Beautiful finish. Shade of brown stain that I have never seen on a banjo before. It really compliments the gold plated hardware. Inlays are all beautiful. I always get compliments when I take it out of the case. Banjo was flawless when I bought it. Appearance Rating 10 Reliability The hardware on the banjo seems of high quality, all except for the armrest. The gold plating started coming off after the first month of playing it. Now, after 5 months of playing it, the arm rest is half gold, half nickel. Looks kind of cool though with the "patina" look. I may swap it out with a polished brass one, but for now, I don't care. While I'm playing, nobody's going to see it anyhow. Everything else on the banjo (after my upgrades) seem like they'll last forever. No other complaints. Reliability Rating 9 Customer Service Guitar Center is like any other chain music store. They sell stuff, without very good customer service, though the manager I dealt with was okay. Can't complain. As for Fender, they are arrogent, and won't respond to e-mails, so I pretty much write them off as being crappy. This rating is for Guitar Center, and not for Fender. Customer Service 6 Components As I mentioned, the tailpiece vibrates, so either stick some self adheisive felt tabs on the under side of the clamshell, or replace it all together. Also, spend the $20 to buy a Bert Veerman bridge, you won't be sorry. I would buy directly from him though because if you don't like it, he won't cash your check. He only cashes is once you tell him that you are happy with your bridge. I don't know of anyone else who offers that. (No, I don't work for him, I was just really impressed with his product). Also, the plating on the arm rest is really really thin, so expect to deal with it, or replace it. The nut is bone, which shocked me that Fender found it in their hearts to use something other than plastic for a change. Inlays are beautiful and flawless. Finish on wood is quite different, but compliments the gold hardware beautifully. Components Rating 8 Overall Comments For the asking price of $899, this banjo is a really good deal. Haggle them down to $750 after taxes and such, and it is an awesome deal. It also comes with a nice hardshell case. Unfortunately, the word Fender is across it. Nice thing is, a car bumper sticker covers it perfectly :). I don't like advertising something for someone after I have payed for it. Some folks call it an intermediate level banjo, but spend a few dollars on some upgrades, and it's a nice professional banjo, even said so by my banjo instructor. Overall Rating 9

Carlo Robelli BJ001 submitted 6/6/2005 Submitter dhoenisch Where Purchased www.samash.com Year Purchased 2004 Price Paid 99 ($US) Sound I am a beginner, but this banjo sound really nice for a $100 banjo. My music teacher has the Johnson JB-80 (his beater banjo), and mine sounds much better than his, after a lot of adjustments. Rather bright sounds, for not having a tone-ring. Sound Rating 8 Setup The banjo was not set up at all, but than, according to some Banjo folks, you are supposed to send the banjo with everything loosened. I tightened the head, positioned the bridge, adjusted the strings... After about an hour or so of set up and fine tuning, I had it sounding rather good. I'm not rating because I don't mind setting mine up, where other's do, so I am leaving this open. Setup Rating not rated Appearance The finish on this banjo is beautiful. Mahogany I believe? Nice wet look. Really thick varnish. Nice diamond inlay. Definately a really nice looking banjo. The chrome isn't as nice as Nickel plating, but will definately hold it's shine longer without constant polishing. Appearance Rating 9 Reliability I think this banjo will last a few years. I can't depend on the fifth string peg since you have to tune it, hold it, and tighten it with a screwdriver, and hope it stays. Reliability Rating 7 Customer Service Never had to call, but the people who work at my local Sam Ash store are very nice. Seems to be rare these days. Customer Service not rated Components The fifth string friction peg is a piece of garbage. Have to adjust the string with a screwdriver in one hand, the tuner head in the other. Not an easy task. I ordered a geared fifth string tuning peg, so will replace it once I get it. The open geared guitar tuners hold the strings in tune nicely. The 18 bracket hooks are a bit on the cheap side, but seem to hold the tention hoop on rather tight. Components Rating 7 Overall Comments If you are a beginner, and don't want to spend too much for a banjo because you don't know if you will continue on with it, I would definately suggest this as a beginner instrument, especially if you can find it on sale for $100 like I did. If it got stolen, I would just simply go out and buy a Gold Tone CC-100R since it is set up just like this, but I want a better quality instrument. I will actually be upgrading to that soon anyhow, and give this one to my little sister who wants to learn the banjo. Overall Rating 8