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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: Thoman.de
Year Purchased: 2020
Price Paid: UK £ (Pounds sterling )
historic exchange rates / currency converter
This is a mahogany banjo with a mastertone set up and design based fairly accurately on JDs Banger. It has a no hole tone ring, OPF and a flattish rim. Remo frosted head. GT master planet tuners have nice function with a small plastic washer topped off with a leather washer for smooth functioning and they hold tune very well. My only criticism of the tuners is tgat you can't replace the knobs with others that fit gotoh or stew mac etc. The neck and reso have a nice, smooth cm varnished finish which may be nitro or ploy, I don't know which. The metalwork is good with nice plating. The tailpiece is a presto copy with small screws holding the tailpiece cover. It's OK but not great as the screws easily loosen and it can rattle so I fitted a Prucha presto. The strings were medium j think so I replaced with pf 135s. The bridge is OK, 5/8 Crowe. I may try others. The neck plays great and with a 1.25 nut it's wider than my pre war necks and easier to play with great string separation. I set it up at 90 on the drum dial. The intonation is very good and it rings well alll the way up the neck.
Sound Rating: 9
The setup from factory was poor in that the lugs were not wound in and the resonator does not sit quite round but OK. I didn't expect too luch from the factory.
Setup Rating: 6
Looks great. Lovely concentric rings and finish. One or two finish checks and a finish problem on the rim and reso but not to bad. I would expect near perfect however for 1.5k
Appearance Rating: 7
I will definitely gig it, sounds killer and powerful with great tone and notes out very well.
Reliability Rating: 8
The company advertised it with headstock pictures of an OB150. Wayne at Goldtone was very responsive and helpful. Thoman are yet to respond to the issues re fit n finish.
Customer Service: 7
Great tone ring, pot and neck. The tailpiece I would replace with a Prucha and probably the bridge but the factory Bridge is good enough.
Components Rating: 8
It's really a great sounding banjo, as good and probably a stronger tone than my previous Stelling, ESS, Gold star gf200. Its a newer sound than my 2 prewar, a tone hoop tb1 29 and a 27 pyramid which are both great, neither are full flat heads so it's not like gor like. They both have older tone but the Twanger will get played a lot too. I really like it, a lot. The flt and finish is OK for the price with only minor faults but overall a fantastic banjo at the price & as said just so much more volume and tone. In my view it sounds a fair bit stronger than rk 36/36 and modern gold stars. It plays easily and rings loud and clear all the way up the neck. Exciting!!
Overall Rating: 8
Where Purchased: Shubb direct
Excellent capo half the price of McKinney Elliot , accurate and easy to use .
Overall Rating: 8
Where Purchased: Direct from Jarda in Prague shipped to London
Year Purchased: 2016
Price Paid: £2200 (uk)
historic exchange rates / currency converter
wonderful, beautiful banjo. I sold an excellent 89 RB250 to get this. The tone is rich and has a depth an openness that is all Prucha. Compared to Gibson I'd say it sounds closest to an old Granada . Definitely not dry or quick decay though. But, it can still give out real attack as well as lovely subtle highs and lows. Workmanship is faultless. Resonator seems a little shallower than Gibson, more like an Ome sweet grass by comparison (great banjo as well)- the neck plays like butter, lovely Amber tuners, clamshell tailpiece and original design inlay. What's not to like?
Sound Rating: 10
Perfect
Setup Rating: 10
Beautiful
Appearance Rating: 10
Perfect
Reliability Rating: 10
Jarda is very friendly and helpful
Customer Service: 10
All parts excellent
Components Rating: 10
A lovely looking, deep, right, bright, consistent, professional, well made, contemporary, Czech made tower of power and tone. Not a best, more refined but can be played very soft or very hard and loud.
Overall Rating: 10
Where Purchased: amazon.com
This case is good quality, cheap and light, it is well balanced with a solid handle and carries the banjo head up slightly. It is well constructed and feels strong. My main concern is the inadequate neck support which i plan to take out and re-design with a slightly longer internal compartment with lightweight wooden arches and appropriate foam support. the case looks great and is quite light, catches and hinges work well. As said by other people, the opening fabric 'stay' is a tad too short which is a pain but no big deal.
It is not a Carlton, but for the money is great. I prefer carrying it over my late 80's Gibson case- brown (probably TKl / Canadian made) it is lighter, feels sturdier and despite being white at least does not advertise its contents to tea leaves!
Overall, it feels better to carry, reflects light (white model), has some nice internal padding and looks like an accessory from a Star Wars Film (think Storm Trooper plastic uniform). At the Amazon.com price it is a bargain as long as you are not expecting perfection. If ANYONE FROM SUPERIOR / SAGA is reading this plese note that the neck supports and lack of headstock padding is a poor design given the rest of the case UNLESS it is really meant to be very flexible in the middle. I would have thought that more solid and widely spaced neck supports would both protect the instrument and give some needed lateral rigidity.
In summary, i love it but will probably add some support internally to give a more 'belt and braces' feel to looking after my baby.
Overall Rating: 7
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