At 60, I started learning a cheap Washburn B-9 and after one year I decided I wanted to continue banjo and bought a Recording King RK-35. I paid just under $1000 with the case. I bought it from a professional banjo artist that has his own shop. The banjo was professionally set up and it sounds great and played so much easier than the cheapie. I just wish I had started playing banjo at an earlier age, at 64 the fingers aren’t as quick as they used to be.
the RK-35 is a excellent banjo! something you may want to look into are songs that have a slower tempo so you dont have to move your fingers as fast. Also concentrate on condensing your finger movement. Its hard to explain in writing, ill try to make a video soon on finger movement. thank you for watching !
I when STUPID and bought 6 banjos. Rogue Vintage Cameo Rover Recording King Dirty 30 - open back Davison Harmony - 40 years old. I kept seeing one I liked and buying it. My family finally intervened, LOL. I'm banned from buying any more banjos until I learn to play one of the six I now own. I also bought an Oscar Schmitt acoustic guitar, but that's for my son.
I've got an Alabama banjo that was about 500 CAD($). I put some frailing strings on it and it sounds pretty nice right now. I'd like to get a Deering Goodtime Blackgrass though. I'll wait until I can change chord positions without tensing up and sweating.
So much of the tone of a banjo is the in set up, and the player of course. A friend of mine who's been playing for 50 yrs now plays some lightweight pacific rim made banjo with no tone ring. He probably has less than $500 in it including mods. He's owned several high end Gibsons over the years but they got too heavy for his old back. Believe it or not, that cheap light weight banjo sounds just as good. Loud, woody, and punchy. 50 yrs of fooling w banjos and the expertise gained in set up a(nd playing ability of course) matters way more than what kind of tone ring it has. A good solid technique, a good bridge, the head tensioned to get the max out of it, all those little details, are way more important than the name on the headstock, fancy appointments, and the alloy in the tone ring. Get yourself a Goodtime or Gold Tone or similar get it set up by a knowledgable pro, and just play.
If your into 5 string Scruggs style. Your best bang for buck, is a Recording King rk35 or 36. Around 1k$ Or a Goldtone ob. If your into frailing,claw hammer type of playing a deering goodtime is the way to go. Around 400$. Don't know much about plectrum or tenor banjos.
Thank you for your advice, I just purchased a Vangoa beginner kit on Amazon. Love the sound of a banjo so fingers crossed I’m able to play and enjoy it even more.
For the price point the vangoa is a great banjo. i did a review on one here a while back and i still use it to this day! i think you will be happy with it!
Im kinda enjoying my cheapo harmony resotone banjo. Its a nice in that it's easy to remove the resonator too. Im lusting over the rk 35 but practically speaking id love to find someone locally to give private lessons before i spend the money on a fancy upgrade prematurely
Can't remember my first banjo. It was a nice one I'd gotten cheap, and I got swindled out of it not long after. Never knew there were inexpensive ones available and just didn't get another until a couple years back when an Ode came into my possession. It needed a new fifth-string tuner and a couple strings but that was it. Otherwise, it's practically brand new.
@@nhansen197 That is awesome! If you can find happiness in something i feel it is invaluable! My hope is you find years of happiness out of that "gift garbage"..
Banjo snobbery is real, I always suggest people start with a decent but budget instrument, I’ve always found banjo players a decent source of playing advice but atrocious when it comes to instrument advice.
i play an intermedian but good banjo the deering eagle 2 no need too upgrade to a pro level the first five years or att all and i have -morgan banjo close to 800usd the morgan makes the eagle2 run for its money the eagle is better on every thing the morgan does but its so close i have seen deerings for 15.000usd what can i expect it to do for me MAGIC?
@@BanjoAddict important is that there are enough cheap made in china Banjos so the ukrainians shouldt play Dixie and the russians shouldt play Dixie (the Union version) then they have enough to practise 4 chords and No one is laying dead on a field -No Doubts ! Banjos make this World better and not Drones ha
Vangoa banjo on Amazon is a decent banjo to get started. It is not a high quality piece but it sounds good enough to learn on and should last you until you are ready to upgrade
To be honest the vangoa is not a bad starter banjo. But you should be able to find a good used banjo for around 200 dollars. If it’s a name brand you should be in good shape.
Actually was looking at the Vangoa based off of your review and others. Will give it a go. Been watching your videos for a couple years. Guess I will pull the trigger. I appreciate your thoughts. Have a good Thanksgiving
$200-500 is not a cheap banjo. $70-120 is a cheap banjo. And a problem with a cheap instrument for a beginner is that you never know whether it's your bad playing technique or the instrument is having some issues. As a beginner you will never know whether the head is tight enough, the tail piece is placed right, the bridge is at the right spot, the action is optimal, the neck is too narrow, etc. This may discourage you playing the instrument all together actually. So, don't buy a cheap banjo, $200-500 is not a cheap banjo.
no offence but 70-100 dollars wont buy you a banjo, it will buy you something that resembles a banjo but is worthless when trying to learn the instrument. When i say a cheap banjo im talking of lower end banjos that you can learn on which is in the 250.00 - 700.00 range. So in comparance to a 2500 - 5000 dollar banjo yes that is cheap.
@@BanjoAddict Well, that is exactly my point. Because if someone takes the advice literary and buys a "cheap banjo" from Amazon or something, they are going to regret it big time. Average banjo price on Amazon is ~$90-150, while basic Deering or Gold Tone start from ~$500.
@@BanjoAddict I see about $5000 worth of banjos behind you and not one sound from them... All Show and No Go ??? ........ I paid $1000 for my Gibson Mastertone RB250 20 years ago, and it's still going strong. I'll sell it to you for $3000 plus $300 discount, that comes to $3300 just for you today only.
Not here to brag about how good or not good i am.. I'm just trying to help people learn to play banjo and not waste money in the process. if you want to see them make sounds you can go to my shorts tab on this page. Glad to hear you are keeping the dust off your RB250. Hope you have a spectacular Christmas season.
First banjo was a 500 bucker and it was a POS. Next banjo was a 1991 Gibson Granada reissue with a Huber tone ring. Go see Jim Mills and get a 1935 Gibson
