Cheap banjo for beginner ?

AlbertC

A friend wants to buy a banjo for her husband for Christmas. He's a complete beginner.
Her budget is £100 - £150 which isn't a lot but is it enough get something okay to start on?
Anyone got a recommendation or suggestion in this budget? 
Thanks in advance for any advice (and for not making any really hilarious banjo jokes)

Jfingers

My best mate is a real Banjo aficionado, I'll ask him when we next speak. I've been toying with the idea of an Ozark 5 string which I've seen for around your price range, or within 30 quid of it.

I have a wood bodied resonator by them, my only real complaint for the price is that one screw holding the cover plate on was all chewed up and seemingly made of cheese. I got it to add a little colour to recordings, which it does very well.

It holds it's tuning well and is tolerant of a wide range of tunings. I hope the banjos are as good, because I want more variety to my recordings, and my mate is a purist who lives over 100 miles from me.

Mellish

A five-string Deering Goodtime is a good beginner banjo  

Mellish

Sorry, missed the budget! What style is the player interested in? Bluegrass? Clawhammer? The former has a resonator, the latter is openback and considerably lighter in weight  

Mellish

Given the budget, I'd advise s/h. That should bring a Deering Goodtime within range. This is a good banjo, available in resonator and openback. It's decent, plays well and would still be okay even at intermediate level , 

AlbertC

Cheers, although I think even a used Deering Goodtime is going to be outside of my friends budget, even if you can find one.

My general impression is that all new banjos in the £150 area will be Chinese made, built in the same factories and just branded with all the various names brand names out there.
I'm therefore thinking that unless buying used (which for a gift she naturally doesn't really want to do), then new, they're all going to be much of a muchness. It'll probably be a bit of a lottery - you may get one that's been assembled okay but if you're unlucky, you won't! Without trying out first, it's impossible to know.

more

All of the well know brands . Gold Tone , Deering, Ozark, barns & mulleins  and the like will start at about £ 200 and move on up .  So if it's a new one your after, you will struggle . There are  cheaper ones you can buy on sites like Amazon, but it is hard to recommend them .   That's not  say they are not suitable , but you will need to read the reviews. There are  always some second hand ones on places like eBay . However , it might still be hard to get a bargain and some of the old ones on offer are  not that good  . I would suggest you up your budget. A beginner  Ozark or a  Barns & Mullen's can be bought  just over   £200  

Mellish

Upping the budget will make sense, if she can. I'd also buy from a shop, and I'd get them to do a setup and mark correct bridge position on the head, as newbies can struggle with that. I know who I would get up north but down south I've no idea  

Jfingers

Just to add, my mate also suggested the Deering Goodtime, as it will be good enough for a while should the guy stick with it. Fair bit over budget though. Said mate will have a couple on ebay, didn't say what, unfortunately they won't be on until January though. I'll try and remember once he lists them.

Mellish

An aid invaluable to a banjo newbie is a Drum Dial - lets him/her get head tension in the ballpark. Heads stretch (like new strings) until they settle, and a Drum Dial enables the player to accurately bring tension back up. £70-£80. There *is* a torque wrench for cheaper, designed for banjo head adjustment, but it isn't as good IMO. It's the Regal Tip Torque Wrench  

instrumentful

I second the comment about the drum dial as it will help you feel your instrument's tone without getting frustrated with it not sounding up to standards. For the beginner banjos, I would stick with the Deering Goodtime or a name brand like GoldTone, Ibanez, and Recording King. All of these brands have excellent beginner choices. Anything that costs less money than entry-level beginner banjos offered by these brands might be too cheap and could hurt your progress in learning the instrument. 

This is just one man's personal opinion but I would say that you should not plan on spending less than $300 on a beginner banjo as the quality will not match up to helping with progression and feeling confident with the playing. 

JanekLubanski

A banjo will never be cheap enough for me to buy one. (Offer me a free one and I will still say no). A mandolin on the other hand...................

Mellish

@instrumentful ; - welcome to the FB.

If you get stuck and need help, Admins/Mods are listed in New Members  

bertie

I bought an Ashbury (Hobgoblin own brand IIRC)  cost me <£200

Mellish

@bertie ; - and you found it difficult?

My guess is you tried to fingerpick it bluegrass style. Not easy to master. Clawhammer is the style I'd recommend   

bertie

Mellish said:

@bertie ; - and you found it difficult?

My guess is you tried to fingerpick it bluegrass style. Not easy to master. Clawhammer is the style I'd recommend   

yeah I had mentioned it recently on another thread - "clawhammer" wasnt the issue it was the "roll"

Mellish

Well there are lots of rolls in bluegrass like forward/backward rolls but  in clawhammer there is no roll  

Mellish

@bertie ; - explanatiion:

Forward roll = going down, eg 5, 2,1. Backward roll coming up as in 1,2,5.

Clawhammer is. Index or middle (your choice) plucks the 3rf string then brushes down across the bottom 2 or 3, followed by the thumb plucking the 5th or drone string. This style is older than bluegrass  

bertie

Mellish said:

@bertie ; - explanatiion:

Forward roll = going down, eg 5,1, 2. Backward roll coming up as in 1,2,5.

Clawhammer is. Index or middle (your choice) plucks the 3rf string then brushes down across the bottom 2 or 3, followed by the thumb plucking the 5th or drone string. This style is older than bluegrass  

yeah - I know the technique  -  its just hard to transition from  clawhammer / alternate thumb  which one has been naturally "unconsciously"  (ie I dont even have to think about it) playing for 40 years  -  to doing a dedicated roll technique 

Mellish

@bertie ; - a 5-string banjo (in tune), man that hard as nails sound ringing out on a still night really does it for me.

It's mostly nuts and bolts so a tinkerer's dream  

bertie

I took the short string off for a while - couldnt manage it.................. (too lazy to persevere)   - sold it in the end,  didnt have the time or patience to stick at it