Play a lot of banjos. Buy the one that suits you best. Be less concerned about how much it cost and who made it that you are about how it sound and feels to you. But also remember that the better the banjo the more likely you can modify set up and fix an sound discrepancies thatn you can on a less expensive banjo.

   My brother owned a Bart Reiter banjo I loved to play. I have a friend who had a Chanterelle he couldn't wait to get rid of. I heard Grandpa Jones and String Bean play old time music on resonator pot banjos. I've seen and heard Mike Seegar play ass kickin bluegrass on an old Whyte Lady. And everyone who has played my old Bacon (Not Bacon and Day) banjo wants to own it.

Play many and buy one you like to play. But play a lot of them.

Don