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What would be a good banjo for beginners?

We need more information. what specific music or styles do you wish to play? Old time, bluegrass, irish, blues, jazz, etc.; also, what is the budget? any other pertinent information feel free to share or post. with a bigger "database" of info about you and what you need or want your banjo to do, the readers here will be happy to make good suggestions!

Either one that you have will be okay to learn on, but you will outgrow both of them sooner or later. Then you'll be looking for a better banjo.

LOL  I have been trying to do that since 1998/  The only problem is that you can go far down the road before you realize what you need..  I was lucky that I actually knew people who were expert banjoists of both old time and bluegrass decades before I bought one and could ask people I trusted about what banjo to get.   

The number one rule that some people forget when this is posed online, is the best banjo is a banjo that you can afford. I have seen people respond to questions like this with suggestions of banjos that cost more than most cars I have owned and more even than some places I lived in.  There are a lot of cheap pieces of junk that are BSO/s banjo shaped objects that will discourage anyone from wanting to learn banjo.  There are also inexpensive banjos that re completely fine.  When I came along looking for banjos,  I got good advice from local banjoists and banjoists back in my old home town.  

I would advise someone seeking banjos to seek out if there is a local old time music jam or even better probably local bluegrass association.  I would have done a lot of dumb things when I first wanted a banjo if I did not know several old time banjo players and a local bluegrass players. 

One thing I found  27 years ago when I wanted to get my first banjo is that banjo players are pretty protective, friendly and trustworthy especially when it involves recruiting a new member of the tribe.  I got steered past worthless junk toward banjos I could afford and helped me start both by banjoists I had known for decades, and people I met an hour after I decided to buy a banjo.  More than that, I got steered to what not to buy.

On the other hand,  I have had people I know who have been full time professional musicians with music degrees who have worked in other branches of music ask me about buying pure and simple expensive junk.

If I met someone who wanted to buy a banjo, the best thing I would advocate is find someone local who plays banjo, even if it is not the stye you wish to play.  If there is a bluegrass jam or old time jam, or a place where performers play even if it is not the type of music that you aim at, you will get help.  Find someone in your local area. 

Where I live in W Palm beach, for example this is a great music store called the AMP shop, that has many used instruments, most being sold by musicians, that they will give you a better deal on or that a musician selling it will want to give someone starting out buying it a better deal than someone on Amazon or the Internet will.

Another thing that I would advocate is to try to find some way to take lessons to learn to play.  Again, get in touch with banjo people, because I have to say that I was 53 or 54 when I started playing and had been playing folk, old time, and bluegrass on and off since I was 15 on guitars, but I have been genuinely shocked at how helpful, caring and positive banjoists of all types I ran into were when I came along with all the wrong ideas guitar players have about the banjo.  

There are lists somewhere here about prople who give lessons somewhere on this site.  Again, go to where banjo players are and you wil find no matter who you are, they will want to help you.   I am not putting down what people here can help you with, but I remain touched decades later about how much banjo players were open and positive to me when I first came along.

Even though I was a guitar player only from 15 to 53.  (I will be 78 next month), I cannot say how good banjoists have been to me especialy when I started out.  Don't be shy.  If there is some local folk, old time, or bluegrass club or a place where people pick,  going and finding a real banjo player might get you better help than people typing on the internet

Welcome to the best club on earth

Congratulations on retirement! The banjos you have are strung and tuned the same as a professional level banjo. You can learn just fine on them. I still do much of my learning and practicing on a very old beginner Goodtime banjo. I also stuff a towel in the back of it, so I can practice without driving everyone crazy. Especially if you’re retired, if you stick with it, you will find out how nice and light the beginner banjos are. More expensive, higher level banjos can be really heavy… and do a number on your aching back!

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Originally posted by GStump

We need more information. what specific music or styles do you wish to play? Old time, bluegrass, irish, blues, jazz, etc.; also, what is the budget? any other pertinent information feel free to share or post. with a bigger "database" of info about you and what you need or want your banjo to do, the readers here will be happy to make good suggestions!

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I would be most interested in playing bluegrass gospel or old hymns such as "Come Thou Fount" just plucking for own enjoyment maybe if ever get good enough in Church. Course be great to be able play dueling banjos. 

This may be a little bit helpful. If not, I apologize.
youtu.be/TqrdwLVVkkw

Assuming you’re able to go beyond the typicslal low-end entry-level banjo, buy the best one you can afford/are willing to afford. That would all but certainly be a used one.

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Originally posted by Dew5537

What would be a good banjo for beginners?

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Plenty of people have started on the two banjos you own. Of course, we can't see them, so we don't know what condition they're in or if they have any issues that would cause them to hinder your progress rather than help you learn. At a minimum, everything adjustable probably needs looking at as part of a set-up.

If you're going to take in-person lessons from a teacher, they should be able to check out these banjos and do some basic adjusting if needed. They should know who does banjo setups in your region.

So it's hard to say whether you need something different or better.

I agree with the general sentiment of getting the best you can afford. But that could mean spending anywhere from $1300 to over $3000, which is the range for professional quality lifetime bluegrass banjos. I don't think you necessarily need one of those. I also don't think you need one of the other, though potentially better, beginner instruments such as a Deering Goodtime or Gold Tone Cripple Creek.

I'd suggest giving serious consideration to the Recording King RK-20 "Songster."  It's a genuinely higher level of beginner instrument, with some of the same components as their banjos costing twice as much and more. Of course, it doesn't sound the same as they do. It's not the same level instrument. But I think at $629 new, shipped, and with some extras thrown in (at the link above), it can be a truly enjoyable instrument for the goals you described.

And if you get really good in a few years, that's when you can look to get something great, new or used.

Whatever you do, have fun shopping.

Many of us began our banjo journey playing beginners instruments comparable to the two you already own. Mine was an inexpensive Kay. Others might have played a Harmony. I was lucky having a next door neighbor who knew something about setup and helped make sure the action was playable, the head properly snug, and the bridge correctly positioned. I played that instrument for many years, always lusting after something fancier (mainly because that neighbor owned a presentation-grade Tubaphone No. 9), but never really needing anything better. As others have suggested, have your teacher, a banjo-playing friend, or a cooperative music store staffer check your banjos for setup and playability. That should get you going until you have an idea what kind of sound you like and what attributes you seek in a banjo.