It all comes down to the question: "Good for whom, and in what respect?"

If I want to take a banjo on a backpacking trip, a $3000 Gibson is not "good" for me. A $230 Deering Goodtime is the better bet for that use.

If I play old-timey clawhammer, (and I do) that $3000 Gibson is not "good" for me. My $840 Chanterelle (Ramsey) is perfect.

But if I want to "play like Earl" in Bluegrass, the finest of the antique 100-year-old Fairbanks banjos is not "good".

Dave Oesterreich