elderly Instruments

Submitted by nikosmanias on 4/20/2012

Overall Comments

I would like to share my experience with the customer service department .
After my comments about the RK-75and all the factory craftsmanship failures,I asked if I could return it and get a Bishline Cimarron instead.
They accepted without questions and they took the freight charges on their account.
I have to point out that all the people I contacted at Elderly's were very kind and helpful.
I received my Cimaron with the setup I asked for and I'm glad to have a real US made Banjo.
I' m thru with imported brands, they don't keep their promisses as advertised.
Again , thumbs up to Elderly and their staff.

Overall Rating: 10

Recording King: RK-75 Elite

Submitted by nikosmanias on 1/30/2012

Where Purchased: Elderly Instruments

Year Purchased:
Price Paid: 1475 ($US)

Sound

Sound Rating: 7

Setup

Very poor setup although I paid 84$ for a setup with low action Snuffy Smith 3 bridge and D'Addario J55 strings, the action is too high and if I try to lower the action I get buzzes on the 19th fret that seems to be higher than the others

Setup Rating: 2

Appearance

The flange did not seat in the resonator because of neck notch not deep enough

Appearance Rating: 5

Reliability

Reliability Rating: not rated

Customer Service

Here is the reply from Recording King !
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: The Music Link Inquiries
To: Nicolas MANIAS
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:28 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: RK75 Elite very poor setup

Hi Nicolas,

Thank you for your interest in Recording King. I'm sorry to hear about the issues you have been having with your RK-ELITE-75. Our QC department has been made aware of your concerns and the problems you have had with the banjo.

Best Regards

Amazing , nothing else and no suggestions !

Customer Service: 1

Components

Components Rating: not rated

Overall Comments

Here are my comments set to Elderly and Recording King:
Dear Sir,
I would like to express my disappointment concerning my purchase of a Recording King RK75 Elite banjo.
After reading a lot of information on different sites and Forums, I decided to go for it and placed my order to you (Elderly Instruments) online.
I asked a specific setup with a low action and a specific string set.
The Banjo came in and at my surprise, the action was way to high. I thought I'd set it up and started by taking off the resonator.
Other surprise:
The flange did not fit parallel in the resonator because the neck's notch is not deep enough, so at one end it seats about 5mm in and on the neck side it's at the same level with the resonator.(Where is the Quality Check ?)

While trying to set the action, I noticed that I could not lower the strings to the point I wanted because the 19th fret is higher than the 20th and 21st fret thus my action has to be high to avoid buzzing at the 19st fret down.
I really regret my purchase and money spent on a so called setup (84$).

My problem is that in my area (Geneva Switzerland) there are no Banjo specialists and my skills are not good enough for a major setup like fret alignment.

Concerning the flange-resonator assembly I can manage by cutting the neck notch a little deeper so it fits right.

My point is that for the price I paid I did not get what the advertising points out.
That “all the banjo's are checked and professionally setup and bla bla.. “
Again it's a great disappointment and I will not endorse this product in any way.

Overall Rating: 6

Mutes: Mike's Banjo Mute

Submitted by nikosmanias on 10/30/2011

Where Purchased: Mike's Site

Overall Comments

I got my Mike's mute some days ago .
It's absolutely amazing and efficient as described .
I really recommend it to all apartment pickers, frustrated by their neighbors' complaints.
Thanks Mike !
Nick from Switzerland

Overall Rating: 9