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The banjo reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
7232 reviews in the archive.
Where Purchased: BHO
Year Purchased: 2015
Price Paid: Don't Remember
historic exchange rates / currency converter
Nice, soft sounding, gently quiet fretless banjo.
Sound Rating: 9
Used Noah's homemade bridge. Won't change the nylon strings. Tuners are fine.
Setup Rating: 9
Walnut neck, simple rubbed finish - I would guess Tung oil and wax. Rustic, homemade look but solidly, conscientiously done.
Appearance Rating: 9
Modern friction tuners.
Reliability Rating: 8
Noah is friendly, obliging, and quick to return emails.
Customer Service: 10
Squared away in this area.
Components Rating: 9
Dear BHO Friends,
I just received a second mountain banjo from Noah Cline of Burlington, West Virginia. Like the first one, and decided to try and do a deal for two more small scale versions – for my son’s identical twin boys born in late November this year. No piano lessons for these kids . . .
The second banjo, number 15 in Noah’s bookkeeping system, dated simply “2015,” is a teardrop rim and a 25 inch scale. All the parts fit tightly, are executed well, while still having that raw, handmade look and feel to them. Noah cuts his own bridges which work real fine, meaning that he knows his banjos and is good at cutting the bridge to suit the instrument.
Put this on Youtube right after I pulled the banjo out of its mailing box, without giving it any adjustment time. It plays nicely, sits comfortable on my lap, and is balanced decently – I like the proportion of neck to rim on this model.
This banjo goes to Noah Ache Stern, the first born. Aidan Elijah Stern will get the second one. I asked Noah (Noah Cline, not Noah Stern, who is still far to young for hand tools) to cut the neck out of a piece of mahogany I rescued from a distinguished sign that hung for decades above the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and one day was unceremoniously discarded in favor of a more modern sign. Took that hunk of wood home, milled it up into workable sizes, and put it aside – it sat on my workshop shelf for about 15 years before I decided to give the wood to Noah (again, Cline, not Noah Stern, who will clearly an inspired genius capable of designing inventive instruments, but for now can’t quite grasp the concept of pencil and paper, being only 4 weeks old) and have him build a neck out of it.
Here’s my test drive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvxwqdkFOm0
Nicely done, Noah. You do good work.
V/R,
Lew
17 DECEMBER 2015
Overall Rating: 10
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