Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)

Subject: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 12:22 AM

Currently looking at banjos available from Elderly Instruments. Considering the Blueridge (Student banjo) open back, the Saga SS-10 "Old Time" Model and the Deering Goodtime (Student banjo) open back. These are priced at $215.00, $325.00 and $295.00, respectively. Any informed opinions?

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 12:26 AM

Have heard several Goodtimes played by their newly-playing owners-- and seen good, experienced players pick them up to try too. They sound really good, especially for the price. The good players seemed very pleasantly surprised.

~S~

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST,--seed
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 12:45 AM

Another excellent banjo for the price is the Gold Tone Cripple Creek, about $250 street price, $300 with hardshell case. Check out www.janetdavismusic.com for quick time files on the sound of the instrument. Although Gold Tones are built in Korea, Gold Tone is an American company that sets up each instrument here; Janet Davis' shop does a further setup before they sell the banjos.

The Goodtime is a great inexpesive banjo, too, if only it didn't have that stupid windswept peg head...

--seed

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 02:00 AM

Hi Seed. Couldn't agree with you more about that awful peghead. I have no idea what market they're trying to go after. Perhaps kids who find a traditional peghead "nurdy" or something.

From what I've seen the Saga 'open back' is the best around in that price range. Up until I saw it, I recommended the Deering, but not anymore.

Rick

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Banjer
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 05:50 AM

I recall asking for advice on selecting a banjo a few years ago myself. I still remember Rick Fielding's comment on the Goodtime...."What were they thinking?'...I finally wound up spending about 75 dollars at a local pawn shop and still use the banjo I found there. It took a set of strings and a little cosmetic work, but to me sounds as good as a more expensive piece.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 06:59 AM

Seed (Hi Charles) and Rick make a lot of sense here.

Another banjo to consider is the Ramsey(Chanterelle) student model. Excellent starter banjo. I think it is in the $300 US range and Elderly carries it periodically. Easy to play, sounds great, quality components, a good price for its value.

I bought a Goodtime and looking back now it was not the best choice. There is no truss rod in the neck so when the wood eventually warps, I won't be able to readjust the neck. Plus the 5th string does not have a nut, it only has a guider which deadens the sound of that particular string. I actually liked the windswept peg head. It was great for packing when travelling. It didn't take long until the Goodtime became my spare banjo, and I now use it for canoe tripping as an extra paddle (just kidding).

Miss Bonnie

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: DonMeixner
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 07:31 AM

When I needed a student prince banjo years ago I built one from parts I found. FrankenBanjo is still alive and still plays.

Is that an option for you? If not The Saga is a really good deal. Its the best of the student beginners I've seen. I tried an Oscar Schmidt, used it twice and traded it for a nice Korg tuner. Don

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 09:17 AM

The Saga-10 is supposedly modeled after the classic S.S. Stewart banjos from the 1890's. That perked my interest, owning an antique Stewart and having perused the reprinted Stewart catalog from 1896 (now available on E-Bay). The Saga-10 is modestly priced and I too am curious how well made it is, and what if any characteristics it shares with the old Stewarts. The inlay pattern looks familar on the peghead but that's all I can tell from the picture in the Elderly catalog.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: SharonA
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 01:28 PM

Wow! Everybody really IS being nice! I'm impressed! :^)

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Dead Horse
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 02:01 PM

Yes please, more banjo players. It gives something for the bohdran bashers to take the p*ss out of ;-)

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 03:22 PM

Is it true that you can tell that the stage is level, if the bohdran player drools out of both sides of his mouth at the same time??

Jock ( Learning banjo )

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: SINSULL
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 03:41 PM

Banjo players are sexier than guitarists.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST,Chip A.
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 04:11 PM

What style are you going to play? This has everything to do with your choice of instruments. "You get what you pay for" is true here as in most things, so do try to spend as much as it takes to buy the right instrument. "A great deal" isn't always a great deal! Get thee to a music store and play as many different banjos as you can. If you can't yet play, get someone who plays the style you've chosen to play them for you. Look for quality in construction and look for sound. It's a pretty easy thing to correct poor setup on a banjo. Good luck and let us know what you choose.

Chip A.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 04:37 PM

Hear, hear Sinsull!

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Banjer
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 06:32 PM

OK, so you buy this $300 banjo, a beginner model. After 6 months you decide that this is not for you. Now what? If you go with the pawn shop idea, spend as little as 50 bucks in some cases, you are not out that much....

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: RangerSteve
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 06:39 PM

I have a Saga and a Deering, I'm pleased with both, but the Saga seems to be the better built of the two.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST,Chip A.
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 06:45 PM

Banjer's right. So,as I said, listen to the thing first. You can always sell it or trade it later. That'll likely happen a lot anyway. Half the fun of being a banjo picker is swapping them around. Kinda like pocket knives. Now, Banjer,I want to go to the same pawn shops you go to! I'd love to find even a junker for 50 bucks.

Chip A. :)

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 11:00 PM

Thanks, all of you. I'm going to try a sweep of nearby pawn shops, but keeping the Saga SS-10 "Old Time" model in mind.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: 53
Date: 24 Oct 01 - 11:07 PM

you can play like grandpa jones did.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Margo
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 01:09 AM

My first banjo was a Deering Goodtime. Loved it. Grew out of it by a years time. It is such a good banjo it is easy to resell. I sold mine when I got my "new" banjo.

A word about Ramsey - Good quality banjos. I can't play one because my hands are small and I can't get my hand all the way around the neck. I tried the student model and found that out right away.

If you buy via catalogue, be sure to know what the return policy is. You need to be able to send it back if it isn't the right instrument for you.

Have fun! Margo

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Charcloth
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 01:32 AM

I am intrigued about these saga open back do tell more. I have an older Aria Pro model (bluegrass) banjo I had planned on selling to get another decent open back (I have a Chanterelle - good banjo)I had planned on the Deering (it has a little more sustain than the Chaterelle- good for airs ya know)But this Saga perks my interest.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Dead Horse
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 07:32 AM

As for banjo players being sexier than guitarists, our banjo player has two instruments (don't ask!) and one has a see-through skin. If it was a magnifying lens, then he would definately be sexier. Anyway, a banjo is just a bohdran with a handle.

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 07:59 AM

Margo, I understand what you are sayng about the Ramsey. The neck on the student model is signicantly wider. My fingers are fairly long so I have no problem there and I found being that the neck is not as rounded as some of the traditional necks, it felt much more comfortable to work with. Different 'strokes' for different folks.

Dead Horse, I had a clear plastic head but changed mine to mylar because I felt so exposed. It reminded me of those See-Through Plastic Umbrellas that came down low covering a woman's chest they had in the 60's

Miss Bonnie

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST,Claymore
Date: 25 Oct 01 - 10:55 AM

As most of the others had intimated, getting out to a banjo store and playing a few is the best bet, because whatever banjo you get will only be your first one. As you begin to develop a picking style, whether clawhammer, folk, bluegrass, or even plectrum, you will determine the course of your second banjo purchase, (or third).

I current have a Vega Folk Ranger (long neck) which eventually hooked me into an Aria bluegrass model, into a Vega Mando-banjo, into a Gibson tenor, and then a GoldTone 6 string. All have their place and were the result of informed self interest, yet the long neck remains my first choice, since it can do almost anything the others can. I always say "You will know as you go," when it comes to picking your next instrument.

As for the sexy banjo/guitar tiff, I play both, but truth to tell, my autoharp has gotten me more places than either of the others (been playing for some 30 years on each). But speaking of the longneck, a couple of weeks ago in Doolin, some Irishman hollered out "Why's the neck on your banjo so long? To which I replied "I guess it's because I play with it alot"

Try that with a guitar...

Subject: RE: Help: Seeking banjo advice (be kind)
From: GUEST,Arnie
Date: 26 Oct 01 - 10:22 AM

Banjo buyers might want to check out Donald Zepp's store. He's a know it all about banjos and a heck of a nice guy too (who's business has suffered somewhat since Sept. 11). He has a website at http://zeppmusic.com/ and an email address at [e-mail] He loves to talk about all things banjo and has an assortment of instruments available from cheap to overly expensive.