Tubaphone Long Neck Acquisition

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Long Neck Banjo

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... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!

273 Members, Created 1/30/2011 -

Administrators: TonyS (owner) , Gary Blanchard , pastorharry , vega long neck

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From LA JONES on 5/27/2014 11:39:01 PM

I recently picked up a Vega Folklore and have enjoyed it so much that I am now looking for a Long Neck Tubaphone. I was originally looking at the Deering Vega Long Neck and the Wildwood Troubadour Long Neck. After hearing some nice clips on Youtube I am now also considering the Gold Tone OT-800 LN. I was quite surprised by how nice the Gold Tone sounded... at least in the clips. I have read every posting I could find on these banjos... any new thoughts on these or other Long Neck Banjos?

11 Comments
	wesrichards says: 5/28/2014 2:36:11 AM I can't speak for the Gold Tone, but I have played the Deering and own a Wildwood. To my ear, they sound about the same. The Deering is mighty expensive. If you're going to spend that kind of money you might want to look for a pristine original Vega. The Wildwood neck markings (at least on mine) take some getting used to as they are placed at frets that don't make sense unless you're capo'd on the third fret or higher. Mine might be a one off. The Gold Tone is priced right for what you get.
	Dan Pennington says: 5/28/2014 5:13:15 AM LA Jones Your Folklore rim could be recut for a tubaphone tone ring.
	john bange says: 5/28/2014 6:05:27 AM there is a mint Deering long neck at Intermountain Banjo in Salt Lake, at a reasonable price.
	wbheilmann says: 5/28/2014 11:34:01 AM The Wildwood would be an excellent choice. It is priced well below the Deering, and it plays, sounds, and looks great. When shopping for a longneck a few years ago, the Wildwood would have definitely been my first choice, had it not been for lack of funds. I have owned my OT-800 LN for 4 years now, and have never regretted buying it. You really can't beat it for the money. It has endured many gigs, and has held up well (no problems so far). About the only "negative" thing I've heard about the Gold Tone banjos is that the components are "Asian." But make no mistake, the Gold Tones (especially the OT-800s) are really good banjos. I would have preferred to buy an American-made banjo, but I just couldn't afford to do so at the time. Hope this helps -- WB
	Jeff Brady says: 5/28/2014 7:29:23 PM I have decided to sell my original pattern headstock MM150 Ln.I just bought a brand new MM150 from the fiddle Road town of Abingdon,Virginia.It arrives friday.Do you or any of the longneck group want this before I post it on Bh classifieds?
	LA JONES says: 5/28/2014 7:33:37 PM Thanks but in my case... If I go with a Gold Tone it will be the OT-800 LN. Thanks.
	BobLusk says: 5/30/2014 11:57:06 AM I had a wildwood tubaphone some years ago. The tubaphone deseign was different than the original Vega's. Seemed very inferior.
	wesrichards says: 5/30/2014 12:15:49 PM Bob: inferior in what way and how would you suggest improving it?
	wbheilmann says: 6/3/2014 7:34:54 AM Holy crud! Upon my recent visit the Gold Tone website, I discovered that the MSRP of the OT800LN is now $1,879. I seem to recall that it was somewhere around $1,300 in 2010 when I got mine, and the street price was a bit lower than that. Needless to say, the GT banjo prices seem to have gone up significantly over the last couple of years.
	shaddart says: 8/2/2014 4:45:08 PM I don't know about their set ups but these guys quoted me $1109 when I emailed them . Paul instrumentalley.com/Gold-Tone-...800ln.htm
	LA JONES says: 8/2/2014 5:20:37 PM Good price but those folks have received a worrisome review or two: mandolincafe.com/forum/showthr...em-before
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