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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!

7212 reviews in the archive.

Fender: FB-54

Submitted by Way Walker on 6/14/2007

Where Purchased: Bluegrass Music Shop

Year Purchased: 2006
Price Paid: <300 ($US) (bought USED)

Sound

The bad: This will not get you that crisp sound bluegrass folks expect from a banjo.

The ok: All of my friends (who aren't into bluegrass) think it sounds like a banjo and ask what I'm smoking when I say it doesn't have "that sound".

The good: I, personally, don't like "that sound" and find many "better" banjos to be too harsh. It has something of a sing-song voice that I kind of like.

Sound Rating: 6

Setup

Didn't know enough at the time to judge how it was when I purchased it. A little later I changed to a 5/8 bridge (from 1/2) and at the same time had it set up (the action was too high with the new bridge). Something in the new bridge/setup made a decent improvement in the sound (clearer, less muffled).

Setup Rating: 9

Appearance

I think the cream binding is gorgeous. The guitar tuners actually look all right with the chunky headstock. Nothing too fancy, but it does look like a cheap job on the inlays up close. Overall, I like it. One of the reasons I bought this model was that I knew I'd want to play it every time I looked at it.

Appearance Rating: 8

Reliability

The finish is beastly thick, so it won't be wearing off any time soon (but a thinner finish would be more attractive, looks cheap the way it is). The instrument won't be falling apart any time soon. If I ever find myself mobbed by a horde of adoring fans, I feel I could fend them off with the Fender and it'd still be playable when I reached safety.

Reliability Rating: 8

Customer Service

I haven't dealt with Fender. The story I bought it from, however, is great to work with.

Customer Service: not rated

Components

It has a single coordinator rod and it's the turnbuckle style, so you won't be doing much with that. The geared fifth string tuner feels solid, but the other four feel a little cheap (but they hold a tuning pretty well). Switching the bridge seemed to open the sound quite a bit.

Components Rating: 5

Overall Comments

I like it well enough for the price I paid. I don't think there's anything I could've bought for that price or less that I'd like any better. Most will tell you to save a bit more and get something like a Gold Tone CC-100R. They're probably right, but on my budget at the time I couldn't justify even that much more expense.

Knowing how the vast majority of people feel about this instrument I cannot in good faith recommend it. However, I'm happy with it.

Overall Rating: not rated

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