Submitted by newpicker95 (see all reviews from this person) on 3/4/2014

Where Purchased: Ebay

Year Purchased: 2014
Price Paid: 250 ($US)

Sound

I play Scrugg/bluegrass style, and it seems to be made exactly for that. It has a crisp, bright tone yet mellow for having a resonator. Nonetheless still has plenty of volume to stick out in a jam.

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

The neck and coordinator rod were very loose when arrived, to the point that I moved the neck drastically by just lifting it, but i have a feeling this was to prevent damage in shipping. I took it too a local music store to have it set up and they did a great job, except for setting the action way too high for my liking (I'm used to a Deering Goodtime). I easily fixed this (with no luthiery experience at all) by unscrewing the resonator and tightening the coordinator rod and end bolts with a small adjustable wrench.

Setup Rating: 6

Appearance

Its a very beautiful banjo, in the "Johnny Cash" kind of way. Its almost completely black (Black REMO head, black chrome hardware, black satin finished wood) except for the dot inlays on the frets, the pearloid tuner pegs,and the inlays in the headstock. It has a quite striking appearance overall. The video posted by Morgan Monroe of this banjo says its completely maple with a rosewood fingerboard, but it seems to have more of a mahogany tone to it.

Appearance Rating: 9

Reliability

The black-chrome Ashton Bailey die-cast guitar-style tuners seem very sturdy and seem to hold a tune exceptionally well. the 5th string tuner had a slight slip of gears making the 5th string rapidly unwind, but i just tightened the string back up and it has been just fine ever since. The black satin finish seems very thick and durable enough to withstand scratching. I have a feeling i will be usng this banjo for quite a long time.

Reliability Rating: 8

Customer Service

N/a

Customer Service: not rated

Components

Nothing seems to be weak about this banjo at all. Everything seems very sturdy and reliable. If I were a traditionalist i might replace the tuners with planetary one, but also I think if I were a traditionalist I wouldn't have bought an all jet black banjo. :)

Components Rating: 9

Overall Comments

First off, everything above that's rated a 9 is in my opinion a 10, but is rated a 9 because of my lack of experience. I am familiar with the Deering brand which are considered the premier American-made banjo, and I am just as impressed with my Morgan Monroe as I am with my Deering and I ever have been with other banjos I've seen/played. This banjo is no Pre-war Gibson (as if anyone on here would even try to compare), but for anyone beginner-intermediate, I have no idea why it would not be highly suited to handle whatever you have to throw at it. It's an awesome piece of musical craftsmanship, and set up properly can sound as good as a banjo four times its cost. You might not be the envy of the traditionalist old timers at the local jam by walking in with a blacked-out banjo, but if you're like me and want an instrument that is highly affordable, looks like nothing else on the market, and sounds fantastic, this is the "jo" for you!

Overall Rating: 10