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The banjo reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
7233 reviews in the archive.
Where Purchased: Elderly Music
Year Purchased: 2004
Price Paid: 0 ($US)
Bright sound. Fairly loud.
Sound Rating: 7
Head tension nuts loose (falling off). Nut on coordinator rod falling off.
Setup Rating: 4
Pretty plain. Ivoroid binding on resonator and fretboard. Nickel hardware. Dots.
Appearance Rating: 5
Probably will need new tuners. Nut for resonator hardware is not assembled correctly.
Reliability Rating: 5
Who knows.
Customer Service: 5
3rd string tuner binding up badly. Rest of components seem to be servicable. Not fancy but they'll do the job.
Components Rating: 7
OK. Here's the deal. I won this banjo in a drawing from Elderly. These folks have been awesome. It came with a Superior gig bag. It is obvious that this banjo had a few issues which made it difficult for them to sell it. However, it plays pretty well and actually sounds pretty good. I'm certainly not going to complain! It would make a nice starter or back-up (travel) banjo. Thanks again Jerry/Kay. Based on the price, I'll give it an overall rating of.....
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: Advance Music
Year Purchased: 2003
Price Paid: $379 ($US)
Initially it was very clunky and dull (I was just starting out and didn't know any better). With a few adjustments it started to brighten up. As it is now, it sounds OK for my level of experience. Hope to improve on it.
Sound Rating: 7
The clunkiness was due to the fact that the tension nuts were about to fall off in a few spots. I tightened the head and it sounds much improved. I will be replacing the bridge, tailpiece and strings. That's probably all I will put into it at this time. Someday I'll upgrade (when I can justify it with my skill). Intonation and string height isn't bad.
Setup Rating: 6
I picked this one over the Oscar Schmidt because of it's looks. Not fancy wood, but fit and finish is nice, bindings are done well, snowflake inlays are nice.
Appearance Rating: 8
I'm not rough on my instruments so it should last.
Reliability Rating: 8
No opinion. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
Customer Service: 9
No metal tone ring here, just a laminated wood rim. Could have better tuners. I'm sure the new SS bridge and Straightline tailpiece will help.
Components Rating: 6
I think that this is a good banjo for the price, especially for a beginner. I would recommend purchasing from someone who knows how to set it up properly and upgrade a few of the components. Someday this will be my back-up and I'll have a nice one. Don't tell my wife.
Overall Rating: 8
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