5-String Banjo 24 Bracket with Closed Solid Back and Geared 5th Tuner By Jameson Guitars & Jameson Banjo Padded Gig Bag Case with Shoulder Strap

I was in the market for a beginner banjo, and really didn't know where to start. In the interests of full disclosure, I am a veteran guitar player. I used to play banjo many, many years ago, but I played it like a guitarist. This time around, I wanted to learn to play it as a banjoist, as it should be played, so for all intents and purposes I am a beginner. I don't know anyone who plays banjo, so I couldn't get any recommendations from friends or family. After considerable Internet research - a lot of which involved checking out Amazon reviews - I settled on this Jameson instrument.Many of the "name" brands in the music stores seem to start in the $250 range and go right up to the $700s and $800s, and I even saw some over $1,000. Even the $250 range was beyond my budget. In Amazon (rather than the music stores) there were instruments within my budget in the $150 - $200 range, but none of the names was familiar to me. Then again, I admit, I don't know enough about the banjo world to really know the names.Anyway, to make a long story short, I am really glad I decided on this instrument. It is a beautiful piece of workmanship, really attractive and nicely put together, and it sounds great. During my research, I had seen several reviews of other brands where people had said not to expect your banjo to arrive ready to play. You would have to install the bridge, the strings and so on. Not so with this Jameson - it arrived nicely packed and ready to play. It only needed minor tuning, which is of course understandable (for which I recommend the Snark SN-5 Tuner for Guitar, Bass and Violin, which works fine for banjo even though they don't mention that). It even included a tuning and chord chart.Note that this instrument has a (removable) resonator back, which is a bonus in this price range, since a resonator back usually hikes up the price. Another nice bonus is that Jameson provides free basic lessons on their website ([...], which links to [...]).I noticed that in the questions above, one answer said it was made in USA. However, mine was made in China. This is not an issue for me and shouldn't be for you (unless you are of the "buy-only-American" persuasion); it's a beautiful instrument regardless of where it was made.All in all, I highly recommend this banjo, especially (but not only) for beginners. It is an excellent value for a really fine instrument. Five stars without any reservations!

I had no experience playing a banjo and was looking for something inexpensive to give it a go, in the hopes that I could eventually play some old-time mountain music with my wife. I had gone to my local music stores and played around with some of the inexpensive banjos ($200 or less) and just wasn't impressed with the sound or the quality of any of them. I found this banjo on Amazon, read the reviews, and decided to take a chance. I've had the banjo for a few months now, and I couldn't be happier. (This review will be in the context of a $150 instrument. Obviously if you compare this banjo to a $750 Deering, this banjo might not be quite as impressive. Or maybe it would. It's awesome.)The banjo arrived undamaged and packed safely. I had to tighten up the arm guard, and also file down a sharp bur on the arm guard before playing, but other than that the instrument was strung up with the bridge placed correctly and completely ready to play after some tuning.As far as looks go, the banjo is beautiful. It may lack some of the frilly details of pricier banjos, but honestly, who cares? My wife is a professional musician and we own a large array of stringed instruments (guitars, mandolins, violins) ranging from cheapies to professional grade. We were completely impressed with the construction quality of this thing. If you've ever purchased a cheap guitar you know they usually have several annoying qualities; common ones being insanely high action and terrible finish where the frets meet the neck of the instrument. I had noticed those same flaws on the cheap banjos I tried in the stores and expected that this banjo would be no different. I'm happy to report that's not the case.The action is nice and low, but not so low that the strings buzz when you aren't fretting a string. There is also an adjustable truss-rod that allows you to adjust the action to your liking. The frets themselves are absolutely flush with the neck of the banjo as well, so you don't feel the frets protruding from the edge of the fretboard as you slide your hand up and down the neck. The tuner pegs are geared and have plastic pearlescent knobs. The knobs look somewhat cheap, but you can apparently replace those if you are so inclined (I think they look fine). The geared tuners are attached to the head of the banjo by hardware that has some pretty scrolling on the metal, which looks really nice. The fretboard itself has pearl-inlay dots, which aren't as fancy as more expensive banjos, but again, no big deal.The head is Remo Weatherking, and not some bush-league brand, so that's cool. The pot of the banjo is made completely of wood, not plastic, and is generally free of superficial defects and looks very pretty. The resonator also looks great, and seems to be a wood veneer over a wood composite, and as a result feels pretty light (perhaps a minus for some). The resonator is also removable and can be taken off and replaced quickly using some thumb screws, or more permanently removed by removing the hardware that the thumb-screws attach to. The rest of the hardware, like the hooks, the strap rings, and the arm guard, are shiny chrome and look great.Okay, so the banjo looks awesome but how does it sound? It sounds great! It's nice and loud, with a really bright banjo tone. I chose to remove the resonator because I am learning clawhammer/frailing style playing; traditionally played on an open-back banjo. That said, my buddy plays Scruggs/bluegrass style banjo, and he made this thing sing with his finger picks andh the resonator on. So either way, clawhammer or bluegrass style, this banjo sounds great.So there it is. This banjo is simply great for the price. I'll post some pictures to illustrate some of the points I made in the review.

Banjo is great! Sounds good, and for the price it couldn't be better. I've tried other low budget banjos and had to return them for such low quality. Had almost given up until I saw this one. Great first banjo!