Help: FIESTA banjos

Subject: FIESTA banjos
From: Jimmy C
Date: 12 Sep 02 - 12:50 PM

Hi all, Anybody heard of a FIESTA BANJO,(5 string) I noticed one in a second hand store, but the store was closed and I had no chance of looking at the instrument. It has a nice design with lots of inlay etc. I will be back in the particular town again next week , hope it's still there. Comments welcome.

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 12 Sep 02 - 01:06 PM

Jimmy - somewhere on the web - and Google would be a good searcher - there's a site that lists all the names of banjos made in Korea/China, etc. I suspect Fiesta is one of them. It might be the Mugwumps site.

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Sep 02 - 06:38 PM

Here's the site Les B. spoke of. However, no Fiesta brand listed. But check it out anyway - and not just the Asian banjo pages. He's got ton's of cool banjo stuff there.

Most Asian-made instruments are made in one of just a handful of factories (Sammick is a major one) and marketed under whatever brand name the person placing the order chooses. You could place an order for 500 banjoes from Sammick and have them branded "The Jimmy C. Banjo Co.". In other words, Fiesta didn't make the banjo. It's just a name stuck on it at a factory like Sammick. It could be identical to a Dixon or any number of other brands. Some of those types of brands don't stay on the market very long.

Bruce

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: Jimmy C
Date: 13 Sep 02 - 05:34 PM

Les. B and Bee-dubya-ell, thanks for the links to the banjo sites. I suspect that this banjo is indeed Asian made. I will have a real close look at it, when the store is open. Theprice tag is $189.00 (canadian)? so it may be worth it just to have an extra one to mess around with.

Thanks again

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: Les B
Date: 14 Sep 02 - 12:30 AM

It never hurts to have too many banjos, good luck.

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 10 - 11:42 AM

I just bought one of these banjos for my Grandson at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. They are boxed & distributed by www.fiestatoys.com. Not a good investment though.

Subject: RE: Help: FIESTA banjos
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 07 Dec 10 - 11:50 AM

Fiesta banjo from Cracker Barrel? Not what it's cracked up to be, most likely. It's obvious from the name that the maker has no idea that a banjo isn't a Hispanic instrument. With that much cultural myopia, I'd bet strongly against it being a quality instrument. If it were $89 instead of $189, it might be worth the hassle of setting it up to play properly (if it can be set up, that is), but I, for one, would pass on it.

When people used to ask me for advice on instruments, I'd always say, 'get as good as you can afford.' "Entry level" instruments mean the entrance is in the sub-basement.

Bob