Get the Recording King RK-35. It punches above its cost and got good banjo looks. The goodtime stuff does not have a truss rod. I'd stay away. 

I had an RK-35, a professional quality bluegrass banjo. Just not fancy. I had the same choices you list, and I had no hesitation buying the RK. Eventually I replaced it with a Huber that came at an exceptional price, but still twice the cost of the RK. So I agree with Rick. I think it’s an easy choice.

RK35

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Originally posted by RDP

Get the Recording King RK-35. It punches above its cost and got good banjo looks. The goodtime stuff does not have a truss rod. I'd stay away. 

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Thank you, it seems everyone is voting for the RK35! Unfortunately, I've just had another look and it seems as though the only site that had them in stock has ran out! Might be a couple of months but it sounds like it's worth waiting for. Thanks again to you and everyone else for the advice!

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Originally posted by Garnjo

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Originally posted by RDP

Get the Recording King RK-35. It punches above its cost and got good banjo looks. The goodtime stuff does not have a truss rod. I'd stay away. 

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Thank you, it seems everyone is voting for the RK35! Unfortunately, I've just had another look and it seems as though the only site that had them in stock has ran out! Might be a couple of months but it sounds like it's worth waiting for. Thanks again to you and everyone else for the advice!

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Have you considered the RK-R36 Recording King. It's the mahogany version of the R-35 and has a very smooh sound. After playing both the 35 and 36 I found the R-36 sound to be more to my liking and have been very happy with it for the five years I have owned it. Maybe it's a good option for you if you can't get a R-35. 

I find the RK-R36 to be less sterile with much more “growl” than the R-35. The R-36 has a nice gloss finish while the R-35 has a flat finish, otherwise they are pretty much the same components. Here are a couple of comparison videos for your consideration:

youtube.com/watch?v=W7QG2--rnhg

youtube.com/watch?v=JwYP8UGlwoE

Thanks very much for your response. The RK36 does indeed sound very nice. Unfortunately, again, it's a case of the RK36 only being stocked by one outlet and it's currently out of stock.

I will give this place a call and ask about the availability of these banjos in the future! I have something to keep me busy with for now, I will just have to weigh up my options!

I have an RK36, It's a great instrument for the price point... loud, sweet and plays wonderfully . All I did to it was a set of Gotoh tuners and a new bridge.

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Originally posted by Garnjo

Thanks very much for your response. The RK36 does indeed sound very nice. Unfortunately, again, it's a case of the RK36 only being stocked by one outlet and it's currently out of stock.

I will give this place a call and ask about the availability of these banjos in the future! I have something to keep me busy with for now, I will just have to weigh up my options!

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It looks like Elderly has both models in stock, as well as a used RK36 - they do ship worldwide, although not sure what the shipping fee would be.

https://www.elderly.com/pages/search-results?q=recording%20king%20madison%20resonator&variant=26854534053952

Another vote for the Recording King RK-35 or 36. I personally prefer the looks of the gloss-finished mahogany of the 36 over the matte maple of the 35. But ever since Recording King changed the 35 to a dark brown, it's looked better than the original.

The similarly priced Gold Tone OB-150 is comparable in features. It plays and sounds good. It has a medium brown matte finish, so I don't think it looks quite as good. Its inlay copies Gibson RB-3 or 75, while the RK-35 is a modified version of the older Gibson RB-1 seagulls.

RK-35/36 have the same sound-producing pot assembly (rim, tone ring, flange, hardware) as the higher-up RK Elite banjos. Their hardware is US threaded. To the best of my knowledge, Gold Tone has never made a similar claim about the the pot (in particular the tone ring) of the OB-150 being the same as on its more expensive banjos. The OB-150 pre-dated the higher up OB-3 Twanger, Bluegrass Heart, Grandee and Gold Tone's other pricier banjos.

Still: If the Recording Kings remain unavailable for too many months, the Gold Tone OB-150 can serve you well.

The Deering Goodtime Artisan -- including the Special -- is a dressed up beginner's banjo that does not compete at all with the RK-35/36 or OB-150.  Its tone ring is steel. It has only 16 hooks instead of 24. It has rim shoes and a decorative, non-structural, flange plate instead of a cast flange that actually holds the pot together. And as mentioned earlier, there's no truss rod in the neck, which means no adjusting, controlling, or correcting relief (up-bow) of the neck.

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Originally posted by RDP

Get the Recording King RK-35. It punches above its cost and got good banjo looks. The goodtime stuff does not have a truss rod. I'd stay away. 

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Thanks for this. I've heard a lot of talk about truss rods and honestly I still don't really understand the benefits of them. What is a truss rod adding to the overall build quality of a banjo?

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Originally posted by Keith Billik

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Originally posted by Garnjo

Thanks very much for your response. The RK36 does indeed sound very nice. Unfortunately, again, it's a case of the RK36 only being stocked by one outlet and it's currently out of stock.

I will give this place a call and ask about the availability of these banjos in the future! I have something to keep me busy with for now, I will just have to weigh up my options!

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It looks like Elderly has both models in stock, as well as a used RK36 - they do ship worldwide, although not sure what the shipping fee would be.

https://www.elderly.com/pages/search-results?q=recording%20king%20madison%20resonator&variant=26854534053952

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Thanks for checking this! I just had a look and shipping would be $300, so unfortunately not viable.

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Originally posted by Garnjo

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Originally posted by RDP

Get the Recording King RK-35. It punches above its cost and got good banjo looks. The goodtime stuff does not have a truss rod. I'd stay away. 

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Thanks for this. I've heard a lot of talk about truss rods and honestly I still don't really understand the benefits of them. What is a truss rod adding to the overall build quality of a banjo?

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With a truss rod you can adjust the action (string height above the fretboard)  A must-have for a quality banjo. The lower the action, the easier and faster you can fret the string. 

With time and the pull of the strings on the neck, the neck can develop a bow. An adjustable truss rod allows you to help offset the string pressure and usually straighten the neck, if working properly. A one way rod will raise the center of the neck only. A two way rod will also help correct an upward bow in the middle. This can affect string height, but that is not the true purpose of truss rods.

Understood, thanks very much!

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Originally posted by lightgauge

A one way rod will raise the center of the neck only. A two way rod will also help correct an upward bow in the middle. This can affect string height, but that is not the true purpose of truss rods.

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Does it raise the center or lower the headstock end? I think it does the latter. String tension pulls up on the  headstock, increasing up-bow. Tightening the truss rod brings the neck back into flatness

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

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Originally posted by lightgauge

A one way rod will raise the center of the neck only. A two way rod will also help correct an upward bow in the middle. This can affect string height, but that is not the true purpose of truss rods.

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Does it raise the center or lower the headstock end? I think it does the latter. String tension pulls up on the  headstock, increasing up-bow. Tightening the truss rod brings the neck back into flatness

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What's the difference between raising the center and lowering the ends?  A truss rod isn't a complicated device, it just curves (more or less) along its length.

Thank you kindly.

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Originally posted by Corwyn

What's the difference between raising the center and lowering the ends?  A truss rod isn't a complicated device, it just curves (more or less) along its length.

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The difference is the elevation of the nut relative to the heel. The difference is which part of the neck is moving.

Based on my assumption that up-bow results from the strings pulling up on the headstock (not depressing the center), I assume that correcting this requires bringing the headstock back down.

I could be wrong.

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

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Originally posted by lightgauge

A one way rod will raise the center of the neck only. A two way rod will also help correct an upward bow in the middle. This can affect string height, but that is not the true purpose of truss rods.

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Does it raise the center or lower the headstock end? I think it does the latter. String tension pulls up on the  headstock, increasing up-bow. Tightening the truss rod brings the neck back into flatness

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Maybe it's all an illusion; with the peg head and neck remaining static while the pot assembly is actually the component that moves higher or lower. Or maybe the peg head and the pot assembly move up and down in unison while the middle of the neck remains static. 

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Originally posted by Pick-A-Lick

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

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Originally posted by lightgauge

A one way rod will raise the center of the neck only. A two way rod will also help correct an upward bow in the middle. This can affect string height, but that is not the true purpose of truss rods.

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Does it raise the center or lower the headstock end? I think it does the latter. String tension pulls up on the  headstock, increasing up-bow. Tightening the truss rod brings the neck back into flatness

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Maybe it's all an illusion; with the peg head and neck remaining static while the pot assembly is actually the component that moves higher or lower.

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The only way to know for sure is to remove the resonator to see if the cat's alive or dead.

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

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Originally posted by Corwyn

What's the difference between raising the center and lowering the ends?  A truss rod isn't a complicated device, it just curves (more or less) along its length.

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The difference is the elevation of the nut relative to the heel. The difference is which part of the neck is moving.

Based on my assumption that up-bow results from the strings pulling up on the headstock (not depressing the center), I assume that correcting this requires bringing the headstock back down.

I could be wrong.

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I'm still confused by what you are saying.  The whole neck is presumably curving in response to the truss rod.  If one uses the fixed reference of the the heel, then tightening the truss rod is going to lower the center and lower the headstock (more).  And vice versa, loosening it is going to bring both the center and the headstock up (again with the latter moving more).  Moving the center up and the headstock down, compared to the heel, is going to put a kink in the neck somewhere.  And I don't know where the forces would come from to do that.

Thank you kindly.

youtube.com/watch?v=z-8xn3BOew4

youtube.com/watch?v=dL6kJ6iAGpg

youtube.com/watch?v=bS01lmn87yE

I would say both.......... if it matters........but it doesn't.

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Originally posted by Corwyn

 

I'm still confused by what you are saying.  The whole neck is presumably curving in response to the truss rod. 

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Not if the truss rod ends at the 17th or 18th fret, as two-way rods tend to. More to the point, I don't think the whole neck moves in response to the strings. Tension from the strings pulls the headstock end up. It does not push the center down. So the headstock end has to come back down closer to -- but still above -- the level of the center. That's  relief.

In my understanding of the geometry, the more important movement is of the nut in relation to the heel, head and bridge.

How does the neck know when it should stop moving in response to the strings?

17th fret is about where the the heel starts, and the peghead is isolated by the nut, so let's ignore them, and talk about the playing part of the neck. There is tension on the nut from the strings, which is causing a bending moment on the neck, trying to bend it in the upward direction. The neck considered as a beam, compresses on the fretboard side and stretches on the back side. Yes? That means from the standpoint of a fixed in place heel, that the entirety of the neck that we are concerned with arcs upward, a tiny bit just past the heel, a bit more at the center, and still more at the nut. The truss rod acts along this same length of neck, using essentially the same mechanism, tightening the truss rod, shortens the rod on the back side, putting tension on the rod and arcing the whole thing in the opposite direction to the strings. A tiny bit past the heel goes down a smidge, the center goes down a bit more, and the nut goes down still more. An exact reverse of the action caused by the string. Which makes sense IMO. Are we in agreement?

We then stop adjusting when there is a bit of bow left in the neck, and we have our relief.

Thank you kindly.