I want to start by saying that I am not walking back on the eventual stance I made in my debut thread that if I want a second banjo, I'll have to earn it, both in terms of money and through learning and getting reasonably good on the one I have.
That said, I still sometimes Iament the relative (an important adjective here) lack of banjos in stores to try out here in the Phoenix metro area. Most of our music stores that would carry them are pretty spread out in the valley, and in most of those stores you would be very lucky to find more than three banjos, if not more than one. And I'm just talking 5-string. Good luck finding any other type of banjo (unless you count banjoleles; you do see some of those here and there with the ukes).
But I shouldn't be surprised. Phoenix and its suburbs aren't really banjo country, and while we are musical, we aren't among the likes of Nashville, LA, etc. And I know that the guitar will continue to dominate the handheld string instrument space.
To finally get to the title of this thread, I have every reason to appreciate the in-person availability of banjos in my area, the two biggest ones being:
1. I can imagine tons of people in this world, which I'm sure includes some of you, who don't live anywhere near a shop that sells even one banjo, and ordering one online isn't so convenient compared to here. Online sales might not come with a test drive either way, but I cannot take for granted the relatively easy procurement and shipment of a banjo here in the lower 48.
2. What if it wasn't the banjo I wanted to try my hand at, but, say, the sitar or the bouzouki? I'm almost certain that there are zero stores here in the entire Phoenix metro area from which you could buy either one, except MAYBE by chance at a second-hand shop (yes, the same could be said for additional banjos).
I hate to sound preachy, especially when I'm in no position to preach whatsoever, but because this began as a self-realization, and because American Thanksgiving is coming up, I decided, "Why not?"
Edited by - WS_Dabbler on 11/04/2026 13:58:08
If you look at the percentage of banjos relative to guitars offered by Sweetwater or Musicians Friend it is probably about 1 percent. Either company would eagerly offer more choices if the market was bigger. A local/regional music store who had a staff member who played banjo and was known in the area could easily grab the entire banjo market for that region. May or may not be a good business decision to have banjos as a focus of a store's inventory. When I go in these general music stores with their three to five banjos, I thump on the heads. Rarely have the head tensions been adjusted properly. I bet the staff in these stores have never even heard of Earl Scruggs.
You’re fortunate too, I think, to have a fine luthier and banjo builder close by, in that Mark Hickler lives in Mesa, I believe. If in need of work done, or if/when you decide on a second banjo, he does beautiful work and builds beautiful banjos.
Over the years I've taken advantage of every opportunity to visit music shops in areas I've travelled to for work or other reasons and kept notes and pictures of instruments and set ups that have interested me. There are of course festivals that are worth travelling to where you might get to see, hear, and get to play a lot of banjos and get a feel for what you really like, in addition to all of the other nice things festivals and the towns that hold them have to offer.
Like sitars and bouzoukis, banjos are a cultural product, or a product of culture, like really good biryani, sometimes to get the thing you have to go to where the thing lives. Who knows, maybe exploring places where the banjos grow will lead you to find that you belong there better than where you are now?
This is coming from a banjo person in Houston, TX. There are no banjos here either.
We have two Deering Dealers in Wichita, Ks, great places to see and play banjos… but few “deals” or haggling. The local classifieds aren’t too bad. We also have the Winfield Bluegrass festival every September, about 45 minutes away, and the Deering’s are often there in person. But the banjos I own came from Guitar Center on line classifieds, BHO classifieds, and I found my old Goodtime at Goodwill.
Edited by - Dean T on 11/05/2026 05:55:19
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