Hey everybody,
i guess most of you are aware of the fact that deering goodtime banjos don't offer an adjustable truss rod. Now i found an article on the deering website with a really weird argument why their banjos allegedly don't need it. (It can be read here: blog.deeringbanjos.com/where-i...ime-banjo)
The author claims neck bow is caused by the different swelling and shrinkage of neck and fingerboard. They say a one piece maple neck is stiffer!
As a woodworker and luthier i have to disagree. A fingerboard glued to the neck has the same effect like a more-piece-laminated neck. It becomes much stiffer, because of the glued connection. Secondly in a correct constructed neck you have standing annual growth rings in neck and fingerboard. The average swelling and shrinkage in axial direction is between 0,1-0,3%. This is by far not enough to cause any problems like neck bow. Even with different woods used, that have a different swelling and shrinkage rate.
Seems to me like a badly argued marketing trick. Nevertheless i am aware deering banjos are pretty good instruments with long durability.
What are your thoughts on this?
I suspect if they are paying attention to the grain, it might be okay.
I think laminations such as a fingerboard and/or fingerboard veneer underlayment along with a neck with center laminations and opposing grain on the neck wood might be quite stable with no rod.
Basically, I agree with your thoughts on this.
tom in maine
I’ve owned 4 Goodtimes, including two original Gumby’s, and never had issues with the neck. I did however have one multiply rim from one of those originals, warp out of round, from nearly 30 years of string pressure. From my personal experience, I’d be more concerned with the single co-rod, and upper rim distortion, than the neck warping.
I recently bought a Goodtime 11" open back. The neck is slightly bent and I will only put nylon strings on it for as long as I own it. I think they should sell replacement necks but they don't.
I’d just like to point out that Fender maple necks are one-piece maple. Early on, they had no truss rods. Don Randall finally convinced Leo to add a rod because they were getting too many warped necks.
Marketing talk.
Several of the comments at the bottom of that Deering web page claim they have Goodtimes with bowed necks.
The compressive force applied to a neck as a result of the tension forces in the strings is the primary cause of "neck bow". Also, anyone who has attempted to find a straight piece of wood at a lumber store is aware that a piece of wood can change shape without any forces being applied to it.
Edited by - RB3 on 10/18/2025 07:22:30
I dislike Deering a lot
That article is pure horse hooey the brown stuff
The bad part is, it isn't much to add a trussrod in the manufacturing process. My $89 Chinese bass has a trussrod. But they've made a statement and now they have to live with it. A politician can just change it's mind. The sales department in my old job was always kicking my @ss. Over promising. Underpromising. But I won! I retired.
You'd think someone (Gold Tone?) would be offering a basic Chinese-made neck with the right heel cut and lag screws pre-installed to exactly fit the Goodtime rim.
Here in New Zealand we have Deering outlets so have played many of the Goodtimes and other models.
I had a young lady return from a visit to the US where she purchased new a Goodtime. She came to me because the neck had a back bow which caused the strings to sit too low for playing and they were buzzing on the frets. I contacted Deering the explained the situation. They suggested the neck be returned to them because it was still under warranty. I suggested that, given the high cost of shipping, it would be better to let the string tensions pull the neck back into line, which as it turned out was the correct move. In a reasonably short period time it did in fact straighten up.
The unfortunate reason I can't bring myself to consider the Zombie Killer. If it were not for the neck lottery I'd be slaying zombies with every pluck and roll. Most necks probably last, but as I already found out once with a goodtime... not everyone wins that lottery.
