I've only ever been a part-time 5 string player and had to swap with other instruments and play in a huge variety of keys. The Kalamazoo Epiphone I used to play in the 70's was ideal in many ways. The extra frets gave tremendous versatility in changing key quickly and it was extremely stable for such a long thin neck. That meant that swapping instruments and changing key during a tightly scripted bracket necessitated a changeover within (say) 30 seconds. If you've got all the time in the world there are lots of other banjos, but for a working muso playing lots of different genres and wishing to be slick on stage then I'd recommend a good stable long neck every time. Regards, John