Hi, I hope someone can help me on my way in the Netherlands.
A year ago I started the adventure of being able to play the Banjo in the blue grass style. Bought a Harley Benton via Thoman and from the first moment I have not let go of the instrument. I am completely sold on playing and learning.
There is still a long way to go but I am going for it and have set my mind on buying a Recording King br35. This is currently quite difficult to find in the shops in the Leiden region (South Holland) to try out. (nowhere).
Do you perhaps have any advice or tips about dealers that I can perhaps approach. Or should I take the chance and order the instrument online? For example at Music All In, in Noordwijk.
I hope to hear from you
MAny thanks and Kind regards, Martijn
Leiderdorp, the Netherlands
This is my first post so I hope it is in the right place, I still have to figure out how it works here :-)
Recording King banjos rarely turn up in instrument shops in Europe so trying one beforehand is not easy. Typically Europeans get theirs through Thomann or Moloney Music in Ireland. But if the shop you mentioned can get them then yes go for it. However stocks seem to be in short supply at present. Thomann have removed it from their listings and Moloney are out of stock so you may have to wait some time.
Recording King banjos show up regularly on the German online fleamarket kleinanzeigen.de/ in decent condition. I have seen the BR35 in the range of 300 - 500 Euros there, which is a bargain. Seems that this banjo is often used as a starter banjo, and when people quit it ends up there online.
Get in touch with Wim v/d Weg, he can hook you up with all kinds of banjos:
groetjes uit Canada.
Hello, I highly recommend The Fellowship of Acoustics. They should have Banjos in Stock to try out and surly can help you with ordering and setting up Banjos. Excellent luthiers like Adrian Farmer used to work there.
Perhaps Hangout member RB-1 (Bruno Van Hoek) who lives near Amsterdam can offer some insight. He might know of sources of used banjos that could meet your needs.
Thomann used to be a source for the RK-35 (or the Europe-only RK-37 gloss-finish maple Madison banjo). Maybe the current absence of the Madison bluegrass banjo from the Thomann site is only temporary.
Hello Martijn,
I live in Breda and I have an Epiphone/Gibson gold plated MB350 for sale. Contact me if you are interested (in Dutch ;-) )
quote:
Originally posted by dutchtenorHello Martijn,
I live in Breda and I have an Epiphone/Gibson gold plated MB350 for sale. Contact me if you are interested (in Dutch ;-) )
And, of course, you can try it out!
Thank you all so much for all the info and tips!! Much appreciated
Martijn, I am familiar with the Epiphone/Gibson MB 350. Same as the MB 250 except gold plated and ornate. I’ve owned and sold quite a few banjos and the only one I really regret selling was the Epiphone MB250. With a proper set up they are great player banjos. Look up videos of former member Dave Hum. He played the hell out of one and it sounded amazing!!!
Slammer!!!
Edited by - slammer on 01/12/2025 13:02:39
quote:
Originally posted by Old HickoryPerhaps Hangout member RB-1 (Bruno Van Hoek) who lives near Amsterdam can offer some insight. He might know of sources of used banjos that could meet your needs.
Thomann used to be a source for the RK-35 (or the Europe-only RK-37 gloss-finish maple Madison banjo). Maybe the current absence of the Madison bluegrass banjo from the Thomann site is only temporary.
I too could even do it in Dutch, if you'd prefer...
All good advice so far.
I've still to sneak in a date and visit Wouter (Dutchtenor) to see ( & hear) his banjos.
My first question to Martijn would be "what makes you think you need a 'better'banjo right now?"
The second: "Who is your favorite banjo player and what do you like about his/her tone?
This would, in a bigger sense, determine in what direction I'd steer you for a new instrument.
Indeed, the RK has a good name ( my back-up banjo is a RK-75). But like any mass produced instrument they can do with a little tweaking before putting out their full potential.
I never was very much impressed by the Epiphone banjos, but I never tried a more recent one, so I might have to drastically change my opinion on those.
To find out, trying the one offered here would be a good opportunity, unless someone already snatched that one before me seeing it...
In general I found that banjos made in China or Korea can be surprisingly good, provided the production has been under supervision of (mostly) American experts. Recording King, Gold Star and Gold Tone are brands that would fit the description.
Maybe Epiphone ( don't fall for the 'Gibson' tag as it's only a business association) falls in the same category, I don't know. The MB 250 that the late Dave Hum played sounded more than acceptable to me.
In that sense I've high expectations about the MB-350 in this thread.
Still it's hard -if not impossible- to judge an instrument from a recording alone.
To me a banjo 'has it' when, apart from smooth playability, a clear tone and good sustain, I can literally feel the open 4th string vibrate in the whole instrument.
Remember though that set up makes or breaks all this.
Most of my students' banjos were lacking one or two points in the set up, go figure....
Leiderdorp...
funny... 
my sister lives there..... 
Hi all,
Thank you so much for all the feedback and tips. Lots of info and I really appreciate it.
Bruno's last post really got me thinking. Why do I think I need a new banjo after a year of playing? No idea :-) I still play the Harley Benton every day with great pleasure. But of course I am very curious. Is it true what they say that the playability is a "lot" better with this upgrade? Really no idea but we will see. the RK br35 is on backorder so I hope to be able to try it out sometime in February.
But I do know one thing. What a super cool and diverse instrument the Banjo is ( okay from what i hear en see, still learning the rolls ) But I am very driven to discover it the best I can... So.. I hope Bruno is still available for another student :-)
Thanks again!
That would not be a problem.
Send me a PM and I'll help you out.
