For the discussion of vintage Japanese-made banjos from the 1970s and 1980s, regardless of the brand.
18 Members, Created 7/20/2015 - 
Administrators: Society Hill (owner)
From medsix on 6/27/2017 11:59:00 AM
Hello everyone,
I've been picking for 3 years here in Central Florida after attending a bunch of bluegrass festivals at the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak. Got a great teacher named Dale Rathbun who used to live in Kalamazoo but now lives down here.
I started out with a new Morgan Monroe (Korean). Later, I bought a used Goldtone OB 250 + TP which was certainly an upgrade. I was curious about the "archtop sound" so I purchased an older Goldtone OB 250 archtop off eBay. It sounded amazing!
With my new love for archtops, I recently purchased a mint Alvarez Whyte Eagle from the 70's that had the original clear 5 star head on it. I put a new Kateyz Prowler/spice/purpleheart wide (2.6 grams).
Holy cow, this banjo sounds incredible! So clear and bell-like, especially up the neck. The heavier bridge made the 4th string sound fuller too. It is such a beautiful banjo too. My teacher pointed out that the neck is slimmer as you fret downward, as opposed to the thicker neck down the fretboard on his Gibson RB150.
My teacher wants me to try a Fults tailpiece on the Alvarez. He thinks it will open it up even more.
I'm gonna sell the Morgan Monroe and the Goldtone 250 + TP. Now that I love these Japanese banjos from the 70's, I would love to add an Alvarez Denver Belle and maybe a Goldstar archtop to complete the "Asian collection".
I'm actually a Filipino redneck, so maybe that's part of the appeal regarding these banjos. I just can't get over how well made this Alvarez is. I think these banjos are a very well kept secret... (^:
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