Submitted by seanray (see all reviews from this person) on 5/8/2008

Where Purchased: Frank Neat

Year Purchased: 2008
Price Paid: 3500 ($US)

Sound

I'm a fan of the J.D. Crowe tone and Frank's banjos sound as close as I'm ever going to get to that tone.

The banjo is very open sounding with a wide sonic range. The low end is tubby and the highs have a really sweet metallic shimmer to them. It's difficult to describe in words but this is a very classic (classy) sounding banjo.

Sound Rating: 10

Setup

I received the banjo with a setup that was just about as good as you can get. The head was right between a G & G# so I tuned it up just a hair so that it's on the flat side of A

Setup Rating: 10

Appearance

The fit and finish are what you would expect from Frank. In addition Jimmy Cox and Bill Blaylock's efforts are equally impressive. The Mahogany on both the neck and resonator is as good as I've seen. The Brazilian rosewood finger board is nice and dark and the ebony headstock overlay is pitch black with only the slightest dark brown in one small spot.

The resonator has concentric rings and double binding. The inlay is exactly what I've been after with flying eagle inlays along with a style 4 headstock inlay. The inlay is insanely accurate with no visible fill whatsoever. The nickel hardware is shiny, spotless and just gives this banjo a great look without being way over the top.

Appearance Rating: 10

Reliability

This banjo will outlive me so I have no worries about it falling apart. I have complete confidence in it so I have no plans to carry around a backup to shows.

Reliability Rating: 10

Customer Service

Frank and his son Leon were so great to deal with that I didn't even ask about a warranty. On the slim chance that there is a hidden flaw in the craftsmanship I have no doubt Frank will fix it.

Customer Service: 10

Components

Frank Neat builds the neck, does the inlay work and fits and finishes everything.

Jimmy Cox builds the rim, resonator and supplies the hardware.

Bill Blaylock builds the tone ring.

Components Rating: 10

Overall Comments

There are plenty of great banjo builders in the world today but for my personal tastes there are really only 3-4 options depending on how you count them. So my short list is:

Frank Neat
Osborne Chief
Huber
Gibson

Since the Chief is basically the same as the Neat I'm not sure why the Neat is about $1k less so that made that decision easy.

The Hubers are really nice banjos but the necks are a little thinner than I like, they cost more and everybody and their brother is playing them these days. In addition to that I really wanted the FE inlay with the style 4 headstock and again a Lancaster is about $500 more.

The last contender was Gibson. Love them or hate them they are still the benchmark in the world of bluegrass banjos however the main deterrent I have with new Gibsons is that their cost vs. quality control seems a bit out of balance.

So after shopping for over a year I went with Frank Neat and I'm very happy I did. Had a good deal on a used banjo, by any of the makers listed above, come my way things may have turned out different.

I've played this banjo next to Hubers, Gibsons and stellings and they all sound great but to my ears the Neat sounds the closest to the Crowe tone and that's the tone I favor.

Overall Rating: 10