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The banjo reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!

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Zachary Hoyt Cherry 5-string openback Banjo Reviews

Submitted by banjobrewer (see all reviews from this person) on 3/23/2014

Where Purchased:

Year Purchased: 2014
Price Paid: 650 ($US)

Sound

The sound and tone of this banjo is what I love most about it. It has a warm tone that is much more mellow than my goodtimes. I had intentions of changing the head to a renaisance, but after playing as is I decided to keep the head it came with for now. I did try a renaisance and the a John Balch skin head. The skin head stayed and really adds to the tone.

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

My biggest concern was is did not come st up well. I went over the entire banjo after receiving it and tightened everything. I eventually put a 1/2 inch bridge on which brought the action down and improved the tone up the neck.

Setup Rating: 5

Appearance

It is a very simple banjo. Which is what I like about it. I wanted a plain old time looking banjo without a lot of fancy decor. This banjo really fit my personalty. Nice quality wood, hardware, and finish. To me the banjo is a peice of folk art as well as an instrument.

Appearance Rating: 8

Reliability

Good quality hardware was used. The finish looks tough. Time will tell.

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

So far every time I asked a question or tried contacting Zach he returned a responce very quickly. After dealing with zach on another purchase I have to say he is very easy to deal with.

Customer Service: 9

Components

Nothing I would upgrade now. 5 star planetary tuners seem durable.

Components Rating: 9

Overall Comments

Overall a positive purchase. Any negatives are easily solved. I can only see the products that Zachory Hoyt puts out getting better. The price was fair and with fine detailing could easily be worth more.

Overall Rating: 8