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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!
7232 reviews in the archive.
Where Purchased: Chico's Music thru ebay
Year Purchased: 2005
Price Paid: $525 ($US) (bought USED)
Has a nice full sound, even all the way up the neck. I wouldn't compare it to my Rich & Taylor but for the money, it does sound real good.
Sound Rating: 7
It had a new head installed recently, too tight, the tailpiece was crabked right down...ok, it appears as though someone took a crack at setting it up, but probably shouldn't have. I had to re-set pretty much everything, good action though, just the sound was choked off considerably.
Setup Rating: 5
Very pretty banjo, beautiful inlays, and the resonator looks real nice
Appearance Rating: 9
this thing is 25 + years old and looks like it hasn't been out of the case much, I'm taking care of that though.
Reliability Rating: 10
n/a, they stopped making these a long time ago.
Customer Service: not rated
Seems solid enough, great neck. Not as heavy as I anticipated, maybe due to a cheaper tone ring? Just a guess, I just bought this a couple weeks ago, I have yet to really tear it down and have a good look. I did replace the tailpiece,bridge, and strings for starters. I may be looking for a better tone ring/rim combo in the near future.
Components Rating: 6
For what I paid, I never thought I'd find a Leo deluxe, a regular leo, maybe. Very pretty, good sound. My main jo is an R&T, I've recently bought Roger Siminoff's book on setup, and I have Huber's, killer tone dvd, bought this one to experiment, tear down, replace some parts(I will keep the originals) and do stuff to it that I wouldn't want to do on my other, more expensive banjo.Should be fun!
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: Curtis McPeake
Year Purchased: 2004
Price Paid: 1750 ($US) (bought USED)
Incredible! Absolutely the nicest sounding banjo I've ever played. Tons of low end growl, even ,loud volume all the way up the neck.
Sound Rating: 10
Setup perfectly from Curtis, I did install GHS pf 150's on it, that was it!
Setup Rating: 10
NIce Neck! beautiful inlays, all around fine looking instrument. Not overly fancy.
Appearance Rating: 8
Just got it not too long ago, seems very solid.
Reliability Rating: not rated
N/A
Customer Service: not rated
It's a 1995 model with the Kulesh 10 hole ring, presto tailpiece, waverly tuners, and one of Curtis's bridges on it. I', leaving it just the way it is.
Components Rating: 10
If someone can get their hands on one, I would highly recommend it, I have tried a number of Gibson's, too dark fo my taste. They stopped making these back in the mid-90's from what I've heard, so I feel fortunate to have found such a nice one. This will be my banjo forever.
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: Mountain Music, Old Forge, NY
Year Purchased: 2003
Price Paid: Don't Remember
historic exchange rates / currency converter
sounds really nice. Definetely got my attanetion the minute I picked one up. I didn't realize how bright it was until I got it home though, not a bad thing just loud and bright. I prefer loud and a bit muddier, changed the stings to mediums and changed the head tension a bit, perfect now!
Sound Rating: 10
Action and playability is second to none in this price range. Al, the owner of Mountain music looks over each banjo he gets and sets them up.
Setup Rating: 10
Very nice instrument, not fancy at all but when I first picked it up- wow! It's heavy. Personally, I was looking at other qualities other than appearance. There are alot of prettier banjo's out there, I was looking for
Appearance Rating: 7
Seems very solid, everything's tight, nice neck.
Reliability Rating: 10
haven't needed to bring it back for anything. If I did, I wouldn't hesitate to bring it back to Al, very knowledgable
Customer Service: 10
The only thing I changed were the strings- sounds perfect.
Components Rating: 10
I looked all over before buying this, I really don't think there's a better banjo for the money. I really like it alot. Can't wait to get home and play!
Overall Rating: 10
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