I apologize if this has been asked before, but has anyone ever heard anything about the possibility of Deering making a long neck GoodTime? One answer I heard was that the extra neck length makes a truss rod essential and GoodTimes don't feature that. I would love to have such a long neck, as it would be so much lighter and easier to lug around than my beloved 1962 Vega Seeger model. It could never match the Seeger model for tone or projection, but it would be much better for hacking around.
Any chance this group could lobby Deering to make them, assuming there is interest? I would guess the real reason they have not been made it is that we long neck players make up miniscule and economically irrelevant market niche within the relatively tiny banjo instrument market (as compared to, say acoustic guitars and electric guitars. The fact that Gibson ceased make banjos still blows my mind.)
Thanks for your thoughts.
13 Comments |
 | banjo playing bison says:
8/19/2019 2:10:57 PM
I also have been wondering about this too!
I’ve been wanting a good affordable long neck too that’s new (the cheap old ones are probably often beaten up pretty good)
It seems like the Goodtime line has expanded so much in the past few years, that it seems possible they could add a long neck in the future.
Also I think I’ve heard that Greg Deering himself is a long neck player, so that might add to the
possibility of it happening.
I hope someone from Deering is hearing this!
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 | wizofos says:
8/19/2019 2:45:11 PM
Looking at the price of a the high end Goodtime's you can get a custom built long neck for about the same price or less.
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 | wesrichards says:
8/19/2019 2:50:39 PM
Don't "wonder." Join me in my years-long campaign of writing to various Deering big wheels. I badgered poor beleaguered Carolina Bridges for ages. Finally, after having to deal with me for years, she told me the reason they don't do Goodtime longnecks is that "there's no truss rod." Maybe by now, they've figured out they can put one in and not charge an arm and a leg to do it.
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 | Pauls Pretty Good Stuff says:
8/19/2019 3:10:42 PM
What about a Vega "Folklore"-lightweight, adjustable trussrod, and with its own nice sound. Correct, Folklore owners? I have a minty one for less than a Goodtime Artisan Special costs.
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| wizofos says:
8/19/2019 3:54:06 PM
There were a lot of long necks that were built with a steel reinforcing rod. The old bakelite rim Harmony's, Silvertone's, etc did not have truss rods, just a steel bar embedded in the neck.
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 | phdm says:
8/19/2019 4:39:01 PM
Thanks for folks’ thoughts – so the truss rod issue is still being raised as the barrier. Two further thoughts – a long neck is only three frets longer than a standard banjo. For a lightweight GoodTime banjo – does adding three frets really mean you absolutely need a truss rod?
Second thought - about five years ago, I was in a fantastic acoustic instrument shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia run by the owner for the past 30 to 40 years. He knows his banjos. He makes banjo necks. Hang on the wall was what looked to me to be a long neck banjo, but there was something a bit odd about it. He got it down and explained to me that it was a shorter scale long neck banjo that he had made for his wife, who had arthritis, and could not reach as far as a standard long neck banjo neck. The neck was longer than a standard banjo, but importantly shorter than a full-scale Seeger-type long neck banjo. It was tuned to open long neck tuning and was substantially lighter. Would a shorter scale long neck GoodTime banjo be possible without a trust right?
That banjo in the Halifax music shop has stuck with me all these years. The owner said he was reluctant to sell as his wife may want to keep it. And I was reluctant to buy it, as my travel companion, my wife, thinks that five banjos is enough. Didn’t want to ruin the vacation. Shorter scale long neck banjo – brilliant idea!
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 | John Gribble says:
8/19/2019 5:07:12 PM
I suspect that with as many nice older longnecks as there are floating around at good prices, there wouldn't be that big an incentive for Deering to bring a longneck Goodtime to market.
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| Pauls Pretty Good Stuff says:
8/20/2019 5:18:57 AM
What about a Vega "Folklore"-lightweight, adjustable trussrod, and with its own nice sound. Correct, Folklore owners? I have a minty one for less than a Goodtime Artisan Special costs.
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 | Shmockiebaby says:
8/21/2019 6:12:52 PM
Halifax Folklore Center! Great shop, I visit every time I’m in town. I was just wearing their t shirt yesterday.
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| phdm says:
8/21/2019 7:44:34 PM
Yep, that is the shop in Halifax! Great owners, great shop. So few like it anywhere.
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CleitusDELETED says:
8/21/2019 7:47:20 PM
1) 5 banjos are NEVER enough 2) I'd continue to nag Goodtime as it's their product your want - additional thought - In the last extremity you could get a Goodtime standard neck extended (lie Pete Seegar did) AND a truss rod installed.
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 | darwinyarwin says:
8/22/2019 12:01:27 PM
Re the truss rod issue: I have a couple of Ode long necks made in the early 60's with no truss rods, just 3-piece laminations of the wood. It is a very sturdy method. No warps or twists or anything some 50+ years later. This used to be the way several banjo makers made long necks. I don't see why Deering or others can't revert to this method for economy's sake
....
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 | boulderfolkie says:
8/23/2019 9:56:34 AM
I’ve been jamming & gigging for 8 years with an OME longneck; it’s on the heavy side, but I use a strap and switched over from the orig hardcase to a padded soft case some time ago. Did the same thing with my dread and that seems to have solved the weight problem...once I’m at the gig or jam, the straps take the strain.
I’ve tried a bunch of lightweight longnecks (Christy, Vega Folklore, etc) and was never satisfied with the tinny sound they produced.
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