Tranjo: Standard Maple

Submitted by joebok on 11/30/2006

Where Purchased: From www.tranjo.com

Year Purchased: 2004
Price Paid: 550 (?) ($US)

Sound

For a travel banjo with a 6 inch head and a PVC tone ring, it sounds great! It's on the quiet side but still has good sustain. I replaced the regular old bridge that comes with it - makes a very noticeable difference.

I use it just as often to practice with at home as I do my "regular" banjo - a pleasure to play all the time.

Sound Rating: 8

Setup

Banjo came ready to play, action fine. It's designed differently than a regular banjo - the fretboard arrives about 1/4 inch higher than the rim. That leaves the action low and easy to fret (with no buzzing) but plenty of room for the fingers and picks of the right hand. It has a 2-way adjustable truss rod as well. The ingenious take-part design is great - just takes a few seconds to take apart and assemble - and your setup is just the way it was before. Mine came with 5th string spikes at 5, 7, 9, & 10.

Compared to a standard banjo, I find it a little hard to tune. It uses guitar tuners - they don't have the same gear ratio as I'm used to - a string winder is a must. However - this is a small price to pay for the convenience.

Setup Rating: 9

Appearance

Looks weird, but very cool if you are not hung up on the whole pre-war gibson business. I put a Lamson Balanced Bridge on it - it sounds great and also really goes with the futuristic feel of the Tranjo.

Appearance Rating: 9

Reliability

I have Tranjo #2 and had a couple bugs that are not in later Tranjos. The slots where the strings head down & under to the tuners were not quite in the right position and I had a little trouble with on of the bars that holds the tuners. All issues were quickly resolved and should not be an issue in the new Tranjos. Very reliable.

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

Sam Ferris has been excellent - quick replies to questions and he made sure I was happy with the instrument.

Customer Service: 10

Components

The Tranjo is tougher than any other banjo I've seen. It's solid wood, nice rosewood fretboard and 3-piece laminated neck. There isn't much hardware to it, what there is is good quality. The design is where the Tranjo stands out - looks weird when you first see it, but it fills it's role as a travel banjo excellently.

The neck removal is fantastic. You get a real banjo with a full scale, full size neck that will fit inside a backpack. It's tough and durable - I've taken mine on many trips - it's been knocked around a lot in airports and cars and where ever else - but it sounds and plays great all the time.

Components Rating: 10

Overall Comments

For somebody looking for a banjo to take with them on the road or camping I would highly recommend this banjo. It's durable, packable, easy to play and sounds great. I love mine - if lost or stolen I would call Sam right away and get another.

It will go where you are going and let you amuse & entertain yourself and your family/friends at your destination.

Overall Rating: 9