Why Buying A More Expensive Musical Instument Is Worth The Money

If you are like me, you like playing a variety of different musical instruments. Dave Hum was well skilled at mandolin, bass, guitar, banjo, percussion, harmonica, keyboard, et cetera. I am focusing on buying a better banjo right now. But after that, God willing, I have wanted to buy a nice Dobro for a few years now. I have often considered buying a cheaper Gretsch Bobtail G9230, or the Regal RD-40, or the Recording King RR-60-VS. They all cost about $700 each. I've read that the Recording Kings are the best of the three, but I don't know.

Most of us don't have $20,000 to go out and buy the top name brands of our favorite instruments. Most Bluegrass players play a variety of stringed instruments, which I think is a good thing. So my humble opinion is to but a top name brand of your main instrument, which for me is pedal steel guitar. Ironically, my single neck Rittenberry cost me $3,000 and has over 100 parts to it. But a top end banjo will cost you roughly $5,000. Go figure. I am not sure the reason why, but I think instruments are way overpriced. I am absolutely amazed what luthiers in China are manufacturing. I've seen inexpensive banjos with Mother of Peral inlay for $500. So why do top end instruments cost so much? Since I am not the maker, I cannot say. Albeit, it is what it is and I think it is worth investing in a higher end instrument, IF you like how it sounds and feels. I played an $8,000 Martin guitar many years ago at Guitar Center. The strings were hard to press down and I hated the feel of it. So getting a great instrument has less to do with cost and more to do with the individual's preference, although as a general rule you get what you pay for. 

I almost purchased the Gold Tone PBS (Paul Beard Signature) solid body Dobro for $1,499 from Gold Tone (and that's without even a case), but then I saw this video and it turned me off completely. Listen to all that horrible metallic chirping! When I listen to Greg Booth's awesome Dobro videos from Alaska on YouTube, I don't here any of that awful chirping noise. I think it is the cheap materials that the builder's use. Remember, Gold Tone gets all their parts from China. ...

Listen to the Chirping of the Gold Tone PBS Dobro

It sounds like metal-to-metal chirping from the metal finger picks, but it is noticeably awful. I just can't help but feel that the Gold Tone dobro is still a cheap compromise from the more expensive ones. We get what we pay for! A Paul Beard Model E Dobro (really nice) will cost you about $4,500 (at least that does comes with a hard shell case). Then I read this, which confirmed my suspicions about cheap Dobros...

Well I had an education. I visited Ralph Luttrell who is one of the better Dobro builders I have ever met. He studied under some of the greatest builders such as Scheerhorn and owns his own operation in Atlanta. He's a really nice guy and spent some time with me last night on Dobro construction good, bad and different.

We first examined a commonly known brand mentioned here on the forums a lot that was in for repair.

First off he removed the cone and then placed it on a metal rod and held it up and tapped it with a metal object. It clanked like an old hubcap. Then he held up an IDENTICAL good cone from one of his Dobros which are hand spun Quarterman cone and tapped it. It rang like a bell and even sustained a little. I am talking night and day difference and they looked the same to the naked eye.

Next he showed me where the cone housing area was basically the only real support in the guitar and how they had taken shortcuts in the design and internal bracing that saves money, wood and labor. He showed me how the cone area was already starting to become oval shaped instead of round which will eventually render the entire guitar trash , he said sooner than later.

By the time he was done I realized exactly why buying a cheap Dobro was a total waste of money.

One thing to beware of. People and players know very little about these instruments and there are no shortcuts when building one that will last and have great tone.

Ralph showed me a handful of various ones he had in for repair that were ruined. It was interesting to see how some of them fail. All usually due to cheap construction. There is a lot of cruddy brands making models that look great but wont last or sound good. SOURCE

If I do get impatient because it is taking me forever to save enough money to buy an expensive Dobro, I am just going to buy a $500 Boxcar Dobro for now to learn on. I dare say about 80% of musicians cannot afford $6,000 for a professional mandolin, banjo, ukulele, dobro, et cetera. It seems that $6,000 is about the average price now for a professional American made musical instrument.

By the way, this is a really cool video on the Jerry Douglas Aura effect pedal for the Dobro. The pedal works with the Paul Beard Nashville Spider Pickup Kit. Great stuff!

The same can be said for buying more expensive banjos. I had ordered a $2,799 Deering Sierra (mahogany neck) banjo back in April 2022. I just received it in September. I hated that darn thing from the moment I played it! The neck is cheap. The intonation was way off! The 3rd G string was so sharp that I couldn't play an F chord in the first fretted position. The bridge was placed just right. The D note on strings 1 and 4 were in perfect tune, both open string, as well as at the 12th fret. But the chords were way off! If I tuned the banjo's open strings to be perfectly in tune, then I couldn't play a useable fretted chord, because the G string was so out of tune (too high).

Even using the slightest amount of finger pressure on the 3rd string (so that it didn't buzz), it still didn't help any. The 3rd G string being too high, was mostly noticeable below the 5th fret (which makes sense because the frets are spaced farther apart there). It had the same problem even if I put a Capo on the 2nd fret. But string 2 seemed okay. Go figure! Thankfully, Barry at Banjo.com took the banjo back, and I ordered a Deering Golden Era banjo for twice the price instead. So if you're thinking of buying a Sierra, you had better ask the seller about this issue, to make sure that you don't have the same problem.

Used ESS Gibson banjos sell for about $5,000. The Deering Golden Era is about as exact a replica to the ESS Gibson as can be made, according to Deering. It is a pre-war 1930's era banjo replica. Hopefully, it will play much better than the Sierra. I do not recommend that anyone but the Sierra banjo, because it feels cheap, like it was made in Mexico (I know they are made in California). The pot, tone ring and resonator are all excellent. But they are worthless because the Sierra's neck is so inferior, in my humble opinion. I am picky about my musical instruments. I never would have ordered the Sierra had I know that the neck is so cheap. I was under the wrong impression from Deering's website, that I was buying a professional banjo in every way, minus all the mother of pearl inlay, wood décor and looks.

In my humble opinion the Deering Sierra is an inferior banjo. It just doesn't feel like a professional instrument when I play it. The strings don't sound evenly when you pick them. It feels awkward at best. I spent 5 hours trying to get the intonation right, but then realized that it was useless, because something was wrong with the banjo. I do not know if the problem is confined to just the banjo that I received, or all of them. But the G string was way to high in pitch. It made playing the banjo annoying. I have a Recording King Elite-85 that I paid $1,750 for in 2018, that has never caused me the least bit of intonation issues. I love the RK, it just doesn't have that beautiful sound that the Deering 06 tone ring and pot has.

I took some photos of my Deering Sierra banjo before I returned it to Banjo.com, so you can take a look at what it looks like...

I Love the Deering 06 Tone Ring

I don't like the stain finish on the neck. I much prefer
ebony or other standard woods that are used for necks.

When considering purchasing a very expensive musical instrument, think of it this way—it is better to feel pain now by shelling out $5,500 for something truly professional, rather than feel the pain of regret every time you open the instrument's case for years and years to come. Just save the money, buy the darn thing when you can, and in a year you won't miss the money, but you will have something really quality that you will feel good about it when you play it.

I'm not trying to make any Deering Sierra owners mad, God forbid. Please pardon me if my opinion offends you, because that was not my intention. I am simply saying that I hated the Deering Sierra banjo! A banjo that won't play a chord in tune is totally worthless!!! The G string just couldn't be tuned to where it sounded right open, versus playing a fretted chord.

I am very curious about Arthur Hatfield's banjos. I have read nothing but positive reviews from THOUSANDS of Hatfield banjo owners, and their banjos look super nice (what great inlay work), at about $2000 less price than Deering for the same thing. In my humble opinion, the Deering banjos are overrated and way overpriced for what you get.

I have started to really appreciate the reasonable price and impressive quality of Recording Kings and Gold Tone banjos. I love my RK Elite-85 (maple neck with hearts and flowers inlay on the neck. It is a 27 3/8" scale, which I really like). The Elite-85 is a replica of a pre-war Gibson MASTERTONE 1930's banjo. You won't find a better bajo for $1,750. I have no regrets buying it. The banjo has a beautiful curly maple finish on the resonator.

Something that I liked better on the Deering Sierra, than my RK Elite-85, was the lower gear ratio tuners. The tuners are touchy on the RK, which causes them to wander out of tune more often. On the Sierra, you have to turn the tuning key a farther distance to adjust the string, which helps the banjo stay in tune better. So the Sierra wins as far as tuning keys go.

Dave Hum said that he puts some soft foam inside his banjo pots, to deaden the brightness a bit. I do the same thing on my RK. Since it has a maple neck, it is really bright (kind of empty sounding). So with the soft foam inside the head (I only fill half of the pot with foam. Foam window insulation from the hardware store works great), it gives the banjo a fuller sound that I like. Try it, you might like it too! Dave Hum said that he was always experimenting with how to get a better tone from his three banjos. I'd say that he succeeded!

I hope this blog has been interesting. I'll let you know when I get my Deering Golden Era banjo. At this point I am concerned, because the Sierra was a big disappointment. I hope Deering's higher end banjo necks are better than the Sierra's crappy neck.