A New Backing Track For “Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun”

This is one of my favorite song mixes by Dave Hum, “Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun.” They are both fun songs to play, especially The Setting Sun. Dave's family has tablature available for both of these songs and 39 more at their website. They also have this original backing track made and used by Dave. My tracks are inferior to Dave's. He's a constant inspiration for me to do better. I used Dave's recording as a template for my backing track. The song is done in standard tuning in the Kay of A. Use a capo on the second fret, and also on the 7th fret for the 5th string. Enjoy!

• Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun (faster)
• Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun (normal)
• Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun (slower)
• Behind The Haystack & The Setting Sun (slow)

The bass is all MIDI (I like the Finger Bass in MixCraft). I also added a MIDI piano like Dave uses. I have an Akai MIDI controller (a small 25-key keyboard) that makes it easy to see what notes to enter. I played along tapping on a Cajon box to carry the rhythm a bit. Lord willing, if I can do better in the future I will revisit these older tracks and redo them. I think these came out pretty good, humbly said.

I must say that I am really impressed with the MIDI bass. After experimenting for the past few weeks, I have concluded that I don't need the MODO emulation plugin. Just a regular picked MIDI bass works fine. I do add some premade effect patterns within MixCraft though, which enhances the sound. For bass I always select the “Smooth & Warm” preset.

I have learned also that to prevent a distorted bass in the finished recording, it is best to keep the lower end of the Parametric Equalizer in MixCraft nice and low (well below the line). The bass notes are still full, but not overwhelming or distorted. This is why you've likely noticed that my backing track volume has been increasing, without a distorted bass. I'm starting to get the hang of this. And remember, Dave's family has tablature available for both of these songs and 39 more at their website.

This is a really great song combination to play. The banjo is a happy and cheerful instrument. Thank you for your continued interest in my music blog. Everything is FREE!

Steel Guitar Stuff

I also have a website dedicated to the Hawaiian steel guitar, which is my main instrument since 1992.

If you've never tried to learn to play the lap steel, I encourage you to give it a try. The sweetest sound this side of Heaven is the steel guitar. Here is one of my favorite heart-gripping Hawaiian steel guitar intros by Jerry Byrd (1920-2005). Wow, Jerry really made that old Bakelite Rickenbacker sound sweet. He's playing through a Fender Twin Reverb amplifier. Jerry played this concert at the Marriott Hotel at Waikiki, where I visited a few times myself. I personally met Jerry Byrd in 1993 in Winchester, Indiana, at their bi-annual Hawaiian Steel Guitar Convention. I had the privilege of shaking his hand and talking with him for a brief time. At the same event that day I also met Bud Tutmarc (1924-2006). Both Jerry and Bud were Christians, like myself, and I miss them dearly.

I bought both the short and long scale models of the Jerry Byrd Frypan steel guitars, similar recreations of Rickenbacker's original 1932 Frypans, which are highly coveted instruments today. The new ones are made in Japan. Jerry helped redesign the new Frypans, making them heavier (8 pounds) to avoid slipping off your lap. I bought the stand with my short-scale and regret that I didn't buy the stand with the long scale (the stand is about $400, but well worth the extra money, so you can stand up while playing). I prefer the short scale because the frets are closer together, making it easier to do bar slants. The longer scale has a sweeter tone, but the short scale sure is sweet too. Many banjo players also play steel guitar, since the two instruments share commonalities (using thumb and finger picks, rolls, pick blocking, trills, slides and harmonic techniques, et cetera).

You can learn everything you want to know about steel guitar in the Steel Guitar Forum, where I have been a member since 1997. Jerry Byrd (1920-2005) is my favorite Hawaiian Steel Guitar artist, and Lloyd Green (born 1937) is my favorite Pedal Steel Guitar artist. Lloyd was a highly sought after Nashville studio musician for over 25 years. He played on over 10,000 recordings. Lloyd is now 86 years old and still recording for the music subculture in Nashville who are trying to keep alive the dead Country music of yesteryear. I love the steel guitar!

About 15 years ago I bought a used 1936 Rickenbacher that looks similar to this guitar. I paid $900 for mine from a guy in Nine Mile Falls, Washington. The guitar didn't include a case, it came in Styrofoam. It has a sweet tone. Here is a photo of me playing it on Guam at Ypao Beach about 17 years ago. ...

I also have a 1953 Rickenbacker Bakelite. Both of my Rickenbacher steel guitars have Horse-shoe Pickups. They have a sweet tone that todays steel guitar don't have. I like my 1953 better because it also has a tone control. I originally came with black and white panels (aka, the Panda model). I removed the plates, sanded them, and repainted them silver). Bakelite is the same material used to make bowling balls. Pretty neat.

I am shocked how much prices have skyrockets on musical instruments over the past 15 years! I recently looked at a reissue of a 1965 black Emmons pedal steel guitar, which costs about $12,000 with tax. That's insane! I paid $2,500 for my new double neck Emmons' LeGrande in 1992. I sold it years later. My favorite pedal steels as far as tone are the old Pro-II Sho-Buds, but mechanically they are limited in what they can do. For someone with a very basic pedal/knee setup that would be fine, but you can forget about lowering strings 5 and 6 a whole tone.

On my S-10 Rittenberry (which I paid $3,000 for about 13 years ago) I lower strings 5 and 6 a whole tone on separate knee levers (which is what Tommy White does). As a general rule you should always buy NEW when getting a pedal steel, to avoid inheriting other people's headaches. Show-Pro is what I would recommend for a new pedal steel.

Also, Jackson Steel Guitars is a great choice, who are building the new Sho-Buds today. “Jackson” is named after Sho-Bud founder Shot Jackson. His family runs the company today. Interestingly, new pedal steels cost about the same as a high end Huber or Deering banjo. A pedal steel is MUCH more complicated and has hundreds of parts. Go figure! Personally, I think U.S. made banjos are WAY overpriced. And I thought milk was getting expensive...lol. 

Look how nice this black pedal steel is with gold string rollers and hardware. Sweet! I simply cannot afford that insane price ($8,000 to $11,500, not including extra features, tax and shipping costs). I paid $11,500 for my 2013 Honda FIT in 2021. On Huber's website they have some vintage pre WWII Gibson banjos selling for $80,000 and $140,000. Great Jiminy Crickets, Batman! I'm not sure how much longer I can afford music...lol.

Here is one of my favorite steel guitar events recorded in 2002. Lloyd Green is seated on the left, and Grand Ole Opry session steel player Tommy White on the right. Good stuff!

Backing Track For “The Moon Saw Me Crying”

This is a classic Bluegrass song that's been around for ages. I remember hearing it over 30 years ago when I lived in Chicago. I'm in Pensacola now. It's called, “The Moon Saw Me Crying” by The Kentucky Travelers. This particular recording likely was transferred from an old record to digital eventually, because it's not in any particular key. The song is actually pitched somewhere between a G and a G#. I had to adjust the pitch in MixCraft down a few increments to tune it with my guitar in the key of G, so I could record along with it. I did this backing track in the key of G, which is what I think the original song was also done in.

• The Moon Saw Me Crying (faster)
• The Moon Saw Me Crying (normal)
• The Moon Saw Me Crying (slower)
• The Moon Saw Me Crying (slow)

The bass is all MIDI. For this song, I used an Acoustic Bass instead of the usual Finger Bass from the MIDI menu in MixCraft. I think it sounds nice. I used an acoustic bass sine the original song used one. I wanted to try to make it as close to original as I could. I played acoustic guitar also.

I learned a little trick to do with the timing. By setting the tambourine and piano a little LATE  (after the middle), it changes the whole rhythm, giving it kind of a “chunka-lunka” sound. I thought I had invented a new word, but the Chunka-Lunka (this particular recording sounds like Route 66) has been around for a long time. I don't claim to know what I am doing musically, I'm just having fun...lol. I hope you enjoy the song. The main banjo part is challenging for me to play, but I have always loved the classic banjo break in this song.

I'm Searching For A Banjo With “Growl”

I didn't know how to describe the tone I am seeking in a banjo until today. It is called “growl.”

I am so frustrated trying to find the Holy Grail of banjos. It's been one disappointment after another since 2021. I had originally ordered a Deering Sierra with a mahogany neck from Banjo.com. Barry Waldrep said it would be 4 to 6 weeks to receive it, which turned into 5 months! When I got it, the intonation was unfixable and ridiculously way off, just like the Hatfield Arthur sent me a couple weeks ago. What frustrates me is that Banjo.com advertises that they do a professional setup on all their banjos before shipping them to the customers. Well, then why did mine sound like crap with horrible intonation and bad buzz on strings 4 and 5? I returned the Sierra.

From the reading I've done, I don't think I can go wrong with a higher end Deering, a Golden Era (which is Deering's attempt to recreate the Gibson ESS). 

Next, Barry talked me into upgrading to the Deering Golden Era, and I agreed. I sent him another $2,100 on top of the $2,799 I had already given him. After 6 months I finally heard something. Barry said the banjo arrived but he couldn't sell it to me because it had a bad buzz on the 5th string, and he blamed me. Oh boy! When they had sent me the Sierra, they installed the railroad spikes half way between strings 4 and 5 (not where they should be). The proper place to install spikes is close (adjacent) to the 5th string.

So, I actually sent screenshots from Banjo "Ben" Clarks YouTube channel to Barry Waldrep. I figure that they couldn't mess up with a picture in front of them, right? Well, Barry blamed me for the bad buzz on the Golden Era. He said that they've never had any problems installing spikes until I asked them to install them by the 5th string. Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up! I didn't say anything the first time he blamed me, but then he did it twice, and I stood up for myself and told him that I didn't make a strange or bizarre request to have the spikes installed where they are supposed to be, at the string.

Well, then Barry said he was sending the Golden Era out to a Luthier, but said that he is busy. After four more months had passed without hearing a word from anybody at Banjo.com, I finally said enough and asked for my money back. Barry made me wait an additional 3 1/2 months. I first bought a banjo from Banjo.com on May 2, 2022 and didn't get my money back until January of 2024!!! What a big waste of time!!! Still no banjo.

I was so disgusted that I waited a few months before even considering trying to buy another banjo. I bought a Deering Goodtime Special in April, which is the nicest banjo I have right now. I have no regrets purchasing it. It came with the bridge laying sideways on the head. So, I set the bridge position and the intonation in about 10 minutes and it has been excellent since in intonation. But the Goodtime Special doesn't have that "growl" that I desire. Let me show (hear) you what "growl" is if you don't know. Here is a Yates Ron Stewart banjo. You can clearly hear how awesome the banjo sounds. You can hear the growl, the lush resonance of it. This is what I am looking for in a banjo...

Warren Yates Gives Ron Stewart A Banjo Lesson

I've already shared with my blog visitors a week ago my horrible bad experience with Arthur Hatfield, which really surprised me after all the nice things I've read about him and his banjos. Maybe I just caught him at a bad time. He did tell me when I first contacted him how frustrated he was that his wife recently passed away, and now he is overwhelmed with having to answer the phone and emails. It is obvious in hindsight that he didn't even play the banjo that he sent me, he just blew it out the door. He had told me when I bought it that the wait time was 4 months and I agreed. Then he surprised me by saying it was done after only a few weeks, which concerned me a bit, and my concerns were justified. He didn't do a good job!

There is no excuse for being unkind to someone, costing them hundreds of dollars in wasted money for shipping, refusing to work with them to remedy the problem, and causing them unnecessary grief. I paid Arthur $3,000 and he sent me garbage. The banjo was so ridiculously out of intonation that it was unplayable. The tailpiece bolt fell off the first time I picked up the banjo. He didn't even bother to adjust the tailpiece. The case was covered in brownish orange dust. He had marked the head where the bridge should go. He told me to use a tuner to set the banjo, instead of a tape measure.

Well, I did that and it wouldn't work. The intonation was way off. Unfortunately for me, Arthur didn't want to fix it or send me a different banjo (I offered him another $800), he only wanted to refund my money, so I returned his banjo and he did refund my money. It was another big disappointment trying to obtain a nice banjo. The sound was great on the Hatfield, as it was on the Deering Sierra, but the intonation was way off. Like I said, I adjusted the intonation on my Deering Goodtime Special, and also my Elite 85 Recording King, and they have accurate intonation. Accurate intonation is critically important if you want to play in tune. It saddens me that Banjo.com and Arthur Hatfield both sent me banjos with horrible intonation (I mean 30 to 40 degrees too high on the G string, 4th fret). That sounds like a trainwreck!

Yesterday, I contacted Banjo "Ben" Clarks store and kindly asked for their help to find a nice banjo, but Jake replied and said they cannot help me, I have to play them myself. So, I'm not getting anywhere fast...lol. I sent them the same video I just showed you guys (of the Ron Stewart Yates banjo), and told them this is what I want, growl. They said they cannot help me. I don't get it. Perhaps I am missing something, but it is so obvious that either a banjo has growl or it doesn't. I want one that does. I'll look for a used Yates banjo too.

I am reluctant to buy from an individual person sight unseen across the country, because you don't know what you are getting, and have no recourse if you get screwed. It's a lot of money to trust a total stranger. Money is getting harder to come by these days. I must say that I am bewildered with Recording King, why their banjos lack the resonance and growl of other coveted banjos, like Gibson. I mean, it's all the same parts, right? So what makes a Gibson growl so beautifully, and my Recording King doesn't? It's not the setup. I did my best to set up my Recording King, and I think I did a good job.

But just to make sure, I recently paid $65 for Blue Angel Music in Pensacola to set it up for me. They changed the strings, but other than that I didn't notice any difference. So, I must have done a pretty good job myself setting it up. Jim Pankey, Banjo Ben and others have helpful videos teaching how to set up a banjo. My Elite 85 Recording King just does not have "that sound." I keep hearing that sound is subjective, and that is true to an extent, but let's face it—a great sounding banjo is a great sounding banjo, and any player is going to “feel” that right away in their hands.

I think the most accurate statement I have read thus far is: Some banjos have it and some don't. My Deering Goodtime Special sounds better than my Elite 85 Recording King, but neither comes close to the Hatfield's tone that I had ordered. Sadly, to my loss, the Hatfield had shitty intonation, and Arthur had a shitty attitude. I poked my finger and was bleeding, because he didn't trim the strings close to the tuning pegs. He left 1/2" sticking out. When I received the banjo the truss rod was too tight and it had a bad buzz on the 4th string. When I went to adjust the truss rod my 1/4" socket got stuck on the truss rod adjustment bolt and I cut myself when I tried to loosen the socket.

I'm looking for a Gibson ESS, like Dave Hum played, but I've read that Gibson banjos didn't have a consistent build quality, and some are lemons. Without playing it firsthand I wouldn't know. I need to do a bunch more reading online to see what other banjo pickers are using and saying. That's the great thing about the BanjoHangout.

Having said all that, I love my Deering Goodtime Special. It is durable, made of the finest violin grade maple wood, which will age well over time. I don't care for the guitar style tuners (which are parallel to the headstock). I like the Gotoh tuners on more expensive banjos (which are perpendicular to the headstock). If the Goodtime Special had the sound I am craving, I'd stick with that. As a musician tone means EVERYTHING TO ME!!!

By the way, I don't write blogs like this to complain or bad mouth anybody, sincerely. I write them to share my own musical journey, frustrations and things I have learned to help others. I am really new to the world of banjos. I lived on the island of Guam for 17 years, totally isolated from the world. So, now I am starting to learn. The banjo is a fascinating tool to craft music. Thanks for reading.

A New Backing Track For “The Merry Blacksmith”

I made another backing track this week for “The Merry Blacksmith.” Here are my original tracks that I made last month, in which I play bass guitar. This time I used only MIDI programmed bass notes. I am quite impressed with the quality of the sound quality of MIDI bass. The notes are all accurate. I carefully followed Dave Hum's bass from his YouTube recording and programmed the MIDI notes accordingly. Enjoy!

• The Merry Blacksmith (fast)
• The Merry Blacksmith (faster)
• The Merry Blacksmith (normal)
• The Merry Blacksmith (slower)
• The Merry Blacksmith (slow)
• The Merry Blacksmith (woodshed)

I also added some crash cymbals and a shaker. At the end I used a cool Rattle Shake (clever pun for Rattle Snake), that Dave Hum sometimes uses. I found a nice Rattle Shaker loop online, which you can download and use for your own projects if you'd like.

This is a fun song to play in Double C tuning, Key of D (capo on 2nd fret, and 7th fret of fifth string).

What's The Difference Between The Eastman MD300 Versus MD 500 Series Mandolins?

There is about a $300 to $400 price difference between the Eastman 300 and 500 series mandolins. I received some helpful information today about the Eastman mandolins from The Mandolin Store in Kentucky, which I found very helpful and wanted to share with anyone else who may also be trying to decide which mandolin is better to buy...

1. The MD500 series has better hardware, gloss finish, and a hardshell case.
2. The 505 (A-style) comes in gloss or the CC version which is more of a hand rubbed matte finish. The browns been discontinued, but some with a reddish finish are still available.
3. The gloss finish holds back the tone and punch and tends to make it a little brighter on the standard 505s.
4. The hardware on the 300 series are not going to wear out quicker, but they are super stiff. If someone has arthritis or issues with their fingers, forget about the 300 series as they are incredibly hard to turn.
5. The 500s come with a hardshell case. The 300s do not.
6. The only common problem is sometimes the Eastman tailpieces fail, but when they do Eastman will send you a replacement.

Lord willing, I'm going with the MD505CC. The gloss finish of the MD505 may look nicer to some folks, but it smothers the instrument's tone. I prefer the natural stained wood of the MD505CC. Both the 300 and 500 series are constructed of solid woods (solid spruce top, solid maple sides and back).

Our pastor's wife at the Baptist church I attend plays a Northfield mandolin. I asked the pastor what they paid for it and he said about $3,000 over ten years ago. I checked and today it sells for around $5,000. Goodnight in the morning! I think the Eastman's are a very nice affordable alternative. The Eastman mandolins are built in China but are still quality made. To me tone is much more important than the aesthetics (looks). The satin finish still looks very nice, but doesn't hold back the tone with all that lacquer gloss coating. Gotta love mandolins!

I'm working now on making a backing track Dave Hum style for the song, Mason's Apron. It will be done when I add a mandolin to it, like Dave did. It's just simple mandolin chord chops and some two-finger chord padding. Dave also uses a shaker and Cajon box. I already have the guitar intro down pat and recorded, like Dave did using chords E, A and D. Mason's Apron is one of my favorite songs to play. I love the way that Dave articulates the song on his banjo. I'm glad that God made Dave Hum (1966-2012).

A New Backing Track For “Smoke Behind The Clouds”

This was a simple straightforward backing track to make. I used Dave Hum's performance of “Smoke Behind The Clouds” as a template. The song is all done with MIDI with MixCraft. It is done in standard tuning, Key of G. Enjoy!

• Smoke Behind The Clouds (faster)
• Smoke Behind The Clouds (normal)
• Smoke Behind The Clouds (slower)
• Smoke Behind The Clouds (slow)
• Smoke Behind The Clouds (woodshed)

I typed in the piano notes. I just used two notes per chord, which is what I think Dave also used. I matched the piano notes with the tambourine beat, as I always do. I diligently tried to follow what Dave did. It's difficult to tell with the banjo playing over the track. This is a great song to learn and play. Since Dave didn't use any shakers or sticks, I didn't either in this track. I'm trying to recreate his work. I love his backing tracks and banjo artistry.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

“The Maid Behind The Bar” Backing Track With MIDI Bass

I love this song, “The Maid Behind The Bar,” that Dave Hum recorded. I used his album recording to make this new backing track. I had made this track previously last month, with me playing bass, but I wasn't satisfied with it. So, for this new track I used all MIDI bass, which I think is really nice. It's all just MIDI notes that I enter with my mouse, using the exact notes that Dave Hum uses. I really think he used a MIDI bass too, but am not sure.

What I cannot play well yet is the mandolin, which Dave plays beautifully throughout this song. I'm saving money and plan to order a Eastman mandolin. Lord willing, I'll probably get the A style MD505 model. I've been playing a cheaply made Donner mandolin, but it's inferior in tone. I bought some helpful mandolin courses with backing tracks from David Benedict and Baron Collins-Hill. Baron has a YouTube channel and teaches how to play mandolin for “The Maid Behind The Bar.” Without further ado, here is my latest attempt at making a better backing track for

• The Maid Behind The Bar - TablEdit Tabs (I tried to tab out Dave's playing)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (faster)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (normal)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (slower)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (slow)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (woodshed)
• The Maid Behind The Bar (caveman)

I am amazed how fast Dave can play the banjo and mandolin. I honestly don't want to play that fast...lol. Fire on the mountain! “The Maid Behind The Bar” is a beautiful song. I think my tabs are fairly accurate. I watch Dave's hands while playing in slow motion on YouTube to get an idea of what he's doing. But knowing how and doing it are two different things, as we all know as musicians.

I've been searching online for free audio loops for Celtic, folk and basically anything that catches my attention. I save them into a folder and then use those resources to make my backing tracks. Dave Hum doesn't use any shakers or sticks in this song, but I am using just one shaker for a small segment. I'm using MIDI drums and a tambourine. I set the velocity (volume) for both the drums and tambourine at 80. I found out this week why they call the volume its “velocity” in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), because the harder the velocity by which you hit a drum pad, the louder will be the drum sound. Interesting.

Baron Collins-Hill has a backing track for The Maid Behind The Bar. I enjoy playing along with his track for Whisky Before Breakfast. I purchased all of his mandolin backing tracks, which are very helpful to learn any stringed instrument. Thanks for reading my banjo blog.

I'm Disappointed With Arthur Hatfield & His Banjo

I finally received my Buck Creek banjo on Wednesday, June 12th at 5:45 pm. UPS left it on the front porch and didn't bother to knock on the door. When I ordered my Deering Goodtime Special, Gear Tree required my signature (the way it should be). Thankfully Arthur sent me a tracking number, so I knew when it was coming, but I wish he had required my signature.

When I opened the box, the banjo case was absolutely filthy, covered in dust from his shop. I gave Arthur the benefit of the doubt, thinking he's just really busy. Keep in mind that I paid $3,000 for this! Albeit, the excessive dust made a poor first impression on me, making me wonder what else unpleasant I might find.

Sure enough, as soon as I opened the case and lifted the banjo out, a loose hex nut fell out on the ground. I removed the pot cover to see where it came from. The nut fell off the tailpiece bolt. The tailpiece hadn't been adjusted (it was sticking all the way up). So, I adjusted the tailpiece, setting it parallel to the head, and then fastened the missing nut back onto the bolt.

I tuned the banjo to standard tuning and went to play it, but the intonation was so bad that it was unplayable. The pitch was too high on all of the lower frets [I recorded this 10 second video of the Buck Creek today with my phone. This video shows me picking string three open (a G note) and then the 4th fret (a B note). You can see how sharp fret 4 is.]

I also recorded this brief audio clip. I begin for the first several seconds strumming the Buck Creek open tuning, so you can hear that it is perfectly in tune. Then I play some of the fretted notes and you can hear clearly how messed up the intonation is. God is my witness that I didn't do anything deceptive, or bend a string, nothing. I'm playing the third string, 4th fret B note, compared to open B on the second string. This is how bad the intonation is on the banjo that Arthur Hatfield shipped to me for $3,000. At his insistence, I sent his shitty banjo back to him yesterday for a refund. I am so disappointed, because I had held high expectations.

I messed with the bridge for a couple hours but couldn't get the intonation right, so I emailed Arthur at 10:45 pm Wednesday evening and told him about the problem. He emailed back and said to use a tuner, and not to rely upon just measuring the distance between the nut and the 12th fret (and the 12th fret to the bridge) to set the bridge position and thus, intonation. I had already used a tuner and a tape measure to set the bridge position, but the intonation was still way off.

I was tired and went to sleep for the night. I woke up today on Thursday and really wanted to get the Buck Creek banjo to work, because I love the sound of the tone. Hatfield's do have a very nice sound to them, but the intonation on the one sent to me was unacceptable. I went onto the BanjoHangout forum and read some helpful comments about solving intonation problems. One member said that the distance between the nut to 12th fret, and 12th fret to the bridge should NOT be equal. So, I set the distance from the nut to the 12th fret at 13.125" and the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge to 13.500". That worked! The intonation was perfect on all of the lower frets, but now the intonation was noticeably way off for all the higher frets. So I tried to adjust the bridge to find a happy medium, but no position solved the intonation problem. The banjo was unplayable. Keep in mind I paid $3,000 for this!

Also, there was a bad buzz on the 4th string. So, I removed the truss rod cover and loosed the truss rod. Unfortunately, Arthur didn't trim the strings close to the tuning pegs, and left 1/2" of sharp metal sticking out, so I cut my hand on one of them; blood was everywhere. I took a photo with my phone and sent it to Arthur, so he wouldn't just think I was making it up that I cut myself. God knows that I wasn't trying to be a Smart Alec, I simply wanted him to know that I got hurt so it wouldn't happen to someone else. I figured a photo of my bleeding finger would be worth 1,000 words. Arthur got upset and didn't even apologize, which is really bad.

Fortunately, the buzz went away on the fourth string after I adjusted the truss rod.

I spent a couple hours messing around with the banjo bridge, trying to position it where the intonation would be correct, but to no avail. When I moved it 1/2 "toward the tailpiece away from where Arthur drew pencil marks on the head, the intonation of the lower strings was okay. At first I was pleased and thought I had solved the issue, but then quickly noticed that all the higher frets were noticeably out of pitch. So I moved the bridge back toward the nut, which caused the higher frets to be correct in pitch, but then all of the lower strings were out of correct intonation (way too high).

As a musician, I cannot enjoy playing any instrument that has poor intonation. I kindly told Arthur, but he didn't want to deal with it. His cold reply was to simply to return the banjo for a refund. Although I appreciate his honesty to refund my money, I would have preferred that he helped me get the banjo right (or offer to let me send it back and fix it). I am saddened about this. I am so disappointed. The whole reason I ordered a banjo from Hatfield is because I had read nice things about Arthur and his banjos online. The last thing I expected for $3,000 was to receive a problematic banjo with very poor intonation.

My Deering Goodtime Special arrived last month with the bridge laying sideways on the head. So, I had to set it up myself, which I didn't mind. Point being, I DO know how to set up intonation on a banjo, because the intonation is accurate on my Deering Goodtime Special. Something is very wrong with the Buck Creek banjo that Arthur sent to me.

Kindly said, quite frankly, the Buck Creek banjo that Arthur Hatfield sent me is crap! I am not speaking for his other banjos, because I cannot comment on any of them. But I can definitely comment about this one banjo that I received and played. It sounded very nice in tone, but was completely unplayable because of the intonation being way off the mark (by at least 15 to 40 degrees above pitch on various strings). I kindly told Arthur that the banjo he sent me is not going to work for me, because it won't play in tune. I was hoping he would suggest a workable fix, but he didn't.

He told me last month that his wife recently passed away, and he is frustrated trying to keep up with the phone calls and emails. I feel sorry for Arthur. I've been praying for him. So, I don't enjoy bad mouthing him, but I need to give an honest review to warn others. I deeply regret ordering a banjo from him. It blows my mind that he would even send me a banjo with improper intonation. As I mentioned, when I received my Deering Goodtime Special last month, the intonation was perfect after I installed and set the bridge. That only took me 10 minutes to do. The Deering Goodtime Special banjo doesn't even have a truss rod (go figure). The intonation is excellent.

The bottom line is that when you pay $3,000 for a banjo (three times more than what Gold Tone and Recording King charge for some of their banjos), you expect something nicer. I bought my youngest daughter a Recording King RK-36 Madison (mahogany neck) in 2019 and the intonation was accurate. I paid $1,199 for it.

When you spend $3,000 for a banjo (which is what I paid for the Buck Creek), the last thing you expect to receive is a filthy case, with parts falling out the moment you pick up the banjo, and the damn thing won't even play in tune because the intonation is way off, and then the builder gets mad at you for complaining to him about it. I'm not saying that Arthur is a bad guy, I have no idea what type of man he is, but he sure blew it with me as a sincere customer. I couldn't have been more kind and understanding. All I wanted was a professional banjo with accurate intonation. Like I said, I love the tone of the Hatfield, it sounds better than both my Recording King Elite 85 and Deering Goodtime Special banjos in tone, but the nicest sounding banjo in the world is totally worthless if it has poor intonation and plays shitty.

I lost over $200 in shipping costs because Arthur sent me a problematic banjo. That's a lot of money to waste. Instead of offering to work with me to fix the problem, he just chose to refund my money. I am disappointed by his attitude, inferior banjo and unwillingness to satisfy me as a sincere customer. From all the online hype about “Hatfield banjos,” I had very high hopes when I purchased a Hatfield banjo, but now I regret that I ever placed the order.

Arthur initially told me that it would take 4 months to build the banjo, with which I was perfectly fine waiting. But then he surprised me by saying it was done after a few weeks. It is obvious to me that Arthur threw this banjo together in a hurry, evidenced by the tailpiece not being adjusted, the nut falling off the bottom of the tailpiece bolt, dust all over the case, the fourth string buzzing from the truss rod being too tight, and that he didn't even check the intonation before it left his shop. If he simply would have played the banjo, he would have noticed the poor intonation and annoying buzz on the fourth string. For $3,000 I shouldn't have had to discover all those problems with my new dream banjo.

Respectfully said, to not even apologize to a customer—when you caused them a bunch of grief, loss of money and for them to cut their finger open on sharp strings you left exposed—is selfish, very bad business and inexcusable. It is also obvious to me that since Arthur has so many customers, he just doesn't care anymore. His last email to me today rubbed it in that he has three customers with money on deposit, waiting for a Buck Creek banjo. If he sends them the shit that he sent me, they won't be happy either.

Arthur even marked the head with a pencil where he determined the bridge should go. This was the intonation at that position. When I moved the bridge toward the tailpiece the intonation improved on the lower frets, but went way off on the higher frets. I couldn't find a workable medium. Something is definitely wrong. For $3,000 I shouldn't have had to mess with the intonation. I kindly told Arthur when I placed the order that he could take as long as he wanted to finish the banjo, but then he rushed it for his own personal reason; and then he horribly gets upset with me with I tell him that the banjo's intonation is unacceptable. 2nd Thessalonians 3:2, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”

I'd expect a less than positive experience from an inferior Chinese imported banjo, but not from someone like Arthur who is reputed for his Luthier skills and quality. When you pay someone a lot of money for a musical instrument, you expect that instrument to be quality. A musical instrument is a tool to craft music. If that tool is defective it is worthless. If Arthur cannot do a good job right now, then he shouldn't be selling banjos until he feels better.

The fact that Arthur already shipped the banjo with a compensator bridge evidences that he knew there was an issue to start. I have no problem with a compensator bridge, just so long as the intonation is accurate. It wasn't even close on the Buck Creek Hatfield banjo I was sent. The intonation was so bad that the banjo was unplayable.

Quite frankly, I am blown away by the past couple days. I mean, after reading hundreds of positive comments about Hatfield banjos and the man himself, what the hell happened with my order? I tried for hours to adjust the bridge to set the intonation, but nothing helped. No matter where I put the bridge, the intonation was off. Arthur should have offered to fix the banjo and send it back to me, but he just wanted to give me a refund. That is sad.

I didn't even complain to him, I was simply trying to get his help to figure out what was wrong with the intonation, but he got upset instead. He made excuses, saying that the Custom Inlay company that he pays to cut the fret grooves in his necks, uses the same CNC machine that Gibson uses on their banjos. What the hell does that have to do with the fact that he sent me a shitty banjo with bad intonation? It's like he doesn't know what he's doing, so he just blames Custom Inlay. Arthur treated me like garbage as a customer. I did nothing to deserve that abuse from him. I do not recommend Hatfield banjos to anyone. Shame on Arthur.

You know, Arthur Hatfield thinks he is an honest man for refunding my money. But he cost me over $200 in wasted shipping. I didn't want my money back, I wanted a professional banjo that plays in tune. Instead, he sent me garbage that has poor intonation. I wanted to either have him help me get it working, or let me return it for a different banjo, but he refused to work with me. In that sense, he defrauded me. I wasted my time and hundreds of dollars, while he walks away without penalty, which makes him crooked. He should have worked with me, like I wanted, but instead he got angry with me for pointing out his screw ups. That is not a nice man! Proverbs 26:12, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”

I don't enjoy writing about a lazy business owner who sent me a sub par defective product. The fact that he got mad at me proves that he is wise in his own conceit. Proverbs 28:11, “The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out.” He likely has been blinded from his past success. I physically received and recognized his errors. Not to mention he didn’t require a signature and the banjo could have easily been stolen. Come on Arthur!!! It seems like he cut corners and doesn’t care about quality anymore. He arrogantly assumes his product isn’t defective. That’s likely why he doesn’t want to ship me a different new banjo. What a bum of a business owner!!! Sounds like it’s a good time for a motivated individual to get into the banjo making business.

Kindly said, Arthur is arrogant and proud, His success has gone to his head in my humble opinion, so that he no longer values individual people. I'm sure some people will be upset with me for posting this, but God knows it is an honest review of a bad situation that shouldn't have happened. It saddens me that I appear to be the first customer to complain about Arthur Hatfield, but it is what it is. I even offered to send another $800 to upgrade to a different banjo, the Stonycreek, if Arthur could guarantee correct intonation on the next banjo, but he refused. That tells me that he lacks confidence in his workmanship. I'm not overly picky as a musician because I actually expect the banjo to play in tune. I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone after dealing with Arthur Hatfield.

A New Backing Track For “Temperance Reel”

This backing track for “Temperance Reel” came out interesting. I was listening to Dave Hum's three recordings of this song on YouTube, and his album version also. The beat he used reminded me of the song "Jive Talking" by Andy Gibb. So, I went online to see if I could find a drum loop for Jive Talking. I found the actual full-length drum track! Cool. I used the free program Audacity to record it. The end result sounds like The Rolling Stones recorded Temperance Reel...lol. It is fun to play along with and has real drums. Key of G. Enjoy!

• Temperance Reel (normal)
• Temperance Reel (slower)
• Temperance Reel (slow)
• Temperance Reel (woodshed)
• Temperance Reel (caveman)

I didn't play bass on this track. I started to, but then compared my bass playing to the MIDI, and the MIDI was better. That is sad, I know, when a computer sounds better a musician...lol. I downloaded the free MODO modeling plugin for bass and drums. When installed, it appears in the list of instruments in MixCraft. I can simply choose MODO and get their high quality bass sound for MIDI. The IK Multimedia company sells dozens of different types of bass and drum modeling packs, but they cost $49 each. Yikes! I cannot afford that, so I just use the 1960's P bass that they let you use for free. Free is good! I think the bass sounds very nice! The old adage is very true: If it works, don't fix it.

I also used the MODO drums plugin for the crash cymbal. I patterned the song just like Dave Hum made his backing track. I put a crash cymbal in the same six places that he did. The Jive Talking drum track also has some crash cymbals in it, so there's plenty of nice percussion in the track. I added some audio shaker loops too. Timing is the key.

I'm learning a lot of helpful nice things as I go, which I want to share with others who want to make backing tracks. It's a lot of fun, and I think a great investment both musically and as a fulfilling honest hobby. With all the evil things in this insane world today, I love playing the steel guitar, banjo and other instruments. You couldn't find a purer hobby in my humble opinion than making your own music. Here are some helpful things I recently discovered.

First, there is a cool website called Mugent (short for Musical Intelligence), on which search engine you can find thousands of free audio loops for your music projects.

Second, the website MazMazika provides a free chord analyzer, in which you can paste any YouTube link for a song. When you press the “Process” button, the webpage will analyze the song to learn the chords and display them. At the bottom of the webpage you can also watch the chords display over the video as it plays. I play along with my guitar to learn the chords to Dave Hum's songs, and then when I feel comfortable that I know them, go record my guitar into my new backing track. I always use Dave's songs as a template, which makes it easy. After all, Dave is the whole reason that I got back into playing the banjo, because his music is incredibly inspiring and cheerful. I need a lot more of that in my life! Music makes the world a better place. You can clearly see in Dave's videos the amazing impact that his banjo playing and backing tracks have on people and animals. I love the guy like a brother!

Third, I found a really nice website for obtaining thousands of free loops called Looperman. I didn't even sign up, I just use Audacity to record the sounds I want, and save them to a folder that I created on my hardrive called, “My Loop Samples.” Then from the Library area of MixCraft I click on the “Import” button and link to the folder with all the loops. It's easy to do. If anybody uses MixCraft software and has any questions, I'd be glad to help. There's also lots of helpful instruction videos on YouTube.

Fourth, if you have MixCraft you can search in the program's Library area online for thousands of free audio samples that are in the public domain. Just type what you are looking for and then click the search button. You can hear the loops before downloading them. You can also specify to save it as a favorite, which saves future time when listening through several thousand samples. The loops download right into MixCraft for immediate use. When ready to use, just click and drag the desired loop(s) onto an empty track. It's that simple. MixCraft also has a “Warp” feature that (if you specify) will automatically adjust the loop's tempo to match that of your current project. That way the loop doesn't need to be adjusted to make it fit and sound good.

I think the “Temperance Reel” backing track came out nice. It's something different. At first I was looking for drum loops for folk and Celtic music, but then I realized that Dave sometimes uses rock beats, Latin beats and other interesting drum loops. If you hear his backing track for Acorn Hill it will surprise you. When I listen to him play his banjo with the track, I cannot hear the Latin sound, but without the banjo it is very distinctly Latin. Interesting.

Making backing tracks to me is about being creative with what you have, so I never know what I'll end up with, which keeps it fun and interesting. My goal is to recreate Dave Hum style backing tracks, but they don't always turn out that way. I never thought I'd be using the drum track for Jive Talking by Andy Gibb to make a Dave Hum backing track...lol. There are thousands of free drum loops available online for making backing tracks. Enjoy!

New Backing Track For “My Grandfather's Clock”

Each backing track that I make is uniquely different. Playing the bass parts on “My Grandfather's Clock” was giving me a hard time, because Dave's bass playing moves around a lot. So, I decided to go with a MIDI bass instead, which is a piece of cake. That's right, I'm not playing bass at all on this track, it's all MIDI. I just entered in the bass notes by hand, as I carefully listened to Dave Hum's recording.

Having said that, I honestly don't know if Dave played bass either, or if he used MIDI. It sounds really nice. MixCraft has a bunch of preset effects to enhance everything. Technology ceases to amaze me. God is so good to us. I always use a preset effect programmed for bass guitar called “Warm & Smooth,” which nicely enhances the bass sound. The song is played in the key of A in standard tuning. So, you'll need to capo the 2nd fret, and the 7th fret on the fifth string. This is one of my favorite songs to play on the banjo. Enjoy!

• My Grandfather's Clock (normal)
• My Grandfather's Clock (slower)
• My Grandfather's Clock (slow)
• My Grandfather's Clock (woodshed)

I used a MIDI piano, like Dave did. The notes are easy to enter, it's just a tedious process. I use my MIDI controller keyboard to see which notes I need to enter (as I press the keys I want and watch the computer screen), which speeds up the process. Getting everything perfectly timed is the most important part. MixCraft makes that easy to visually do, fortunately. It's a simple matter of holding down the “Ctrl” button while dragging the corner of any audio or MIDI clip to adjust the tempo, aligning all your tracks. That's a feature I love about MixCraft.

I used the same “Rattle Shake” (instead of Rattle Snake) at the end, which I used on the “Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife” backing track. I think it sounds really nice. I added a few audio loops of shakers, bongos and a tambourine. I've noticed that Dave Hum makes extensive use of percussion loops in his backing tracks, which really enhances them. And of course, I added a nice grandfather's clock in this track, which I found online while searching for “grandfather clock loops”...lol. If you can hear it online, you can record it with the free program Audacity, which I use all the time. With Audacity you can export recordings as .wav, mp3 and about a dozen formats. It's all free!

You can then import those new sounds into a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), like MixCraft. 

My Final Opinion Of Ableton Live 12

By the way, I messed around with Ableton Live 12 all week, trying to make a backing track. The program has so many software bugs in it that I finally gave up. I uninstalled the trial software from my computer. What a horrible program! The latency has serious issues. My bass recordings were playing later in time than the drums. I tried repeatedly to adjust the buffer size and latency, but nothing worked. I've never had any of these issues with MixCraft in over 10 years of using the program.

Ableton's tech support said to always use ASIO drivers when available, but when I tried that nothing would record. So I had to go back to using the Direct X drivers. Plus, Ableton costs a lot more than MixCraft. Other than the helpful groove beats and tones of audio samples (if you're willing to spend $439), Ableton doesn't offer anything that MixCraft cannot do. So why should I purchase it? MixCraft's top edition only costs $149.

Then Ableton repeatedly erased my previous recording's for no apparent reason, wasting my time. Trying to adjust the track timing is a nightmare for MIDI. I did a lot of reading online and learned that Ableton has never fully supported MIDI, which is a major problem with their software. For a company based in Germany I am surprised. Usually they make quality stuff in Germany. In my humble opinion, Ableton is NOT user friendly. I watched dozens of YouTube videos, but none of them addressed the issues I ran into.

One thing that I love about Ableton is their groove samples. You simply choose a groove and drag it into your session workspace, and then it automatically sets your drums and loops to that groove. This is a very helpful tool for people like me who aren't familiar with all the different styles of music.

Another thing that I really like about Ableton is that if you buy the $439 edition of the program, you get 38 GB of loop samples. For $749 you can get the best edition, which comes with 71 GB of loop samples. But that's way too much money. The lowest edition is $99, but you only get 5 GB of loop samples. I wish that MixCraft would offer more loop samples. Still, MixCraft 10 comes with 7,500 loop samples. For what I am doing, making backing tracks for the banjo, I now have all the loop samples that I need (but I'm always on the lookout for more folk samples). God willing, I plan to check out some more DAW's (FL Loops, Pro Logic, et cetera).

Thanks for reading my banjo blog. I hope you're enjoying the backing tracks as much as I am making them. I love sharing.

A New Backing Track For “Golden Slippers”

Here is another one of my favorite songs that Dave Hum plays. This song is done in the Key of G, so you won't need any capos. “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers” is a minstrel song penned by African-American James A. Bland in 1879, is particularly well known as a Bluegrass instrumental standard. By 1880, the song had exceeded 100,000 copies sold. Enjoy!

• Golden Slippers (normal)
• Golden Slippers (slower)
• Golden Slippers (slow)
• Golden Slippers (woodshed)

I didn't have any problems with the guitar playing in this song, which uses only chords G, C and D. I'm using my Fender Mustang bass. Thankfully, I have hundreds of different interesting audio loops to choose from, so it's sometimes challenging to pick one that fits well, but as long as they are timed correctly they usually work well.

I also used a tambourine audio loop instead of MIDI, which I think sounds nice. And I've just discovered djembes this week, an African type of drum, which I put in the song. I love all these old folk, irish and fiddle songs that Dave Hum recorded. This is real music!

A New Backing Track For “Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife”

I had fun making this backing track for “Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife.” I used Dave Hum's recording as a template. This is one of my favorite songs to play, that is, Dave Hum' beautiful arrangement. On his Volume 2 album, Dave Hum uses an intro, and also in this video. But in this video he skips the intro. I didn't figure it out at first, but Dave is using the same exact backing track in the different versions, he just starts off the song differently sometimes. He'll either play some harmonics first, or jump right into the song, but it's the same backing track. This song is done in the Key of A, standard tuning. So, you'll need a capo on the 2nd fret, and for the fifth string on the 7th fret. Enjoy! ...

• Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife (normal)
• Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife (slower)
• Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife (slow)
• Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife (woodshed)

I have difficulty playing bar chords in higher tempo songs. I've tried to record at a slower tempo, and then speed the song up later on, but the guitar doesn't sound right. But I learned something helpful today about playing my guitar to make backing tracks. For example: “Merrily Kiss The Quaker's Wife” is done in the key of A. This song uses the chords A, D, E, F#m, Bm and B. Playing A, D and E are no problem, but F#m, Bm and B are difficult for me because they require bar chords. I was frustrated trying to get the bar chords right while playing at an up tempo speed. But then it dawned on me that I could put a capo on the 2nd fret of my guitar, and then play A, D and E using the G, C and D chord positions that I am so familiar with without a capo. I am good at playing those chords. And now whereas I usually play an A minor without a capo, with a capo on the 2nd fret I now have the B minor that I needed (and it's easy to play without having to do any bar chords). E minor without a capo is now F# minor with a capo on the 2nd string. I will remember this nifty little trick in the future. It worked wonderfully in this backing track.

I used a MIDI piano in here too, which Dave uses. I used a grand piano. You don't need a lot of piano skills. In fact, I just played single piano notes in this song. I also used various audio loops (shakers, tambourine and a djembe). I love that tambourine rattle at the end. I was just looking around for free loops on the internet and found that one yesterday, which fit perfectly at the end of the song.

I Added A Shaker To “Whisky Before Breakfast”

I really love playing Whisky Before Breakfast the way Dave Hum beautifully plays it in Double C tuning (gCGCD). It's done in the Key of D, so you'll need to put a capo on the 2nd fret, and also on the 7th fret of the 5th string. I did my best to tab it out exactly like Dave played it on his album. I missed some of the song the first time I tabbed it, so I expanded the tabs. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have. I went back and listened to Dave's album and realized that he uses a shaker loop (.wav file), and I didn't when I made my backing track, so I added one the other day from my MixCraft library. Without further ado, here is Whisky Before Breakfast...

• Whisky Before Breakfast Tabs (TablEdit tablature)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (normal)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (slower)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (slow)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (woodshed)

I made those tracks the other day. Today I was looking online for more useful loops for folk songs for MixCraft and found “Drums On Demand.” The pack that I bought for $49 was “Essential Acoustic Percussion Loops,” which includes 775 loops. Once you buy them, you can import the folder from the Library area of MixCraft. I created a new folder and named it “Drums On Demand” to store the new loops in. Then I imported that new folder into MixCraft.

I wasn't satisfied with the intro guitar parts for Whisky Before Breakfast, so I redid them. I also added loops: “Fruit Shaker_120_8” and “One ShotHits_150_816,” to the song from the new Drums On Demand loops that I bought today. Here they are. Enjoy!

• Whisky Before Breakfast (normal)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (slower)
• Whisky Before Breakfast (slow)

I'm not anywhere near as graceful in my banjo playing as Dave is. I struggle with the single note picking at higher speeds, but in time I should become more fluent at it with experience. In particular, my pinky is weak on my left hand. On the Double C tuning, you need you're pinky to play the fifth note on the fourth string. If you watch Dave Hum play Whisky Before Breakfast, he uses his pinky on string four to play the 5th fret. That's going to take me some time to do.

I watched a helpful video yesterday by Enda Scahill (an artist on the 4-string Tenor banjo) titled, “The 7 Biggest Mistakes You're Making In Your Banjo Practice.” I recommend watching it. I like what Enda says about not tensing up while playing, which I tend to do sometimes when trying to keep up with Dave's speed. And also not to practice too long and burn out, or to play too fast too soon. Learning to play a new song at snail speed is the fastest way to get fast, because then you know exactly what you're doing.

Also, I like what Enda says: Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. If your technique is wrong, you'll never get better no matter how much time you spend playing. When you're as good as you want be, you're as good as you're going to get.

On a grateful note, Arthur Hatfield just emailed to let me know that my Buck Creek banjo is finished. Amen for that! This will be the first professional banjo I've ever owned. I don't consider my Chinese made Recording King Elite 85 a professional banjo. It doesn't stay in tune very well. I just had it setup at a local music store, but I must have done a pretty good job myself of setting it up previously, because it doesn't sound any different. Actually, they tightened up the head for me, but I think I am going to loosen it again, like Dave Hum does. If you read his comments about his banjos, Dave sets his head looser to accommodate the folk songs that he plays, but still keeps it tight enough for the Bluegrass songs.

Dave Hum states about how he sets his banjos:

“I like to set up my three main banjos so I can get a compromise between a dry snapping tight head sound associated with the Bluegrass sound and a mellower warmer tone for the Celtic, old-time and ragtime tunes. I have found that some condensed foam inside the pot helps and a combination of medium strings and a not too tight head with the tailpiece parallel to the head helps me to achieve the tone I like. Each banjo has its own character and tone and I am forever tinkering with them to see what gives - which is half the fun!” (quoted from his website)

I bought a Deering Goodtime Special (it comes with a tone ring) not too long ago for $1,099 from GearTree on Amazon (which came with a nice case, polishing cloth and a music stand), and I actually like that banjo better than my Recording King, because it stays in tune and has excellent intonation. I had to install a 3/8" Compensator Bridge on my Recording King because the intonation was off. The compensator bridge does help.

Anyway, I like my Recording King, but knowing it was made in China makes it feel cheap to me, so I don't enjoy playing it as much. Moreover, it just lacks the sound I desire. I've been enjoying the Goodtime Special more, which was made in California, but it's still not a professional banjo (which Deering will be the first to admit). Having said all that, I look forward to playing a Hatfield for the first time. If I'm not satisfied with it, then I will likely contact Banjo “Ben” Clark about possibly finding me an ESS Gibson like Dave Hum had. Dave's was a 1992 model. I realize that Dave's superb sound is 90% from his hands, but the banjo does make a difference.

Having said that, in this awesome video of Arkansas Traveller, Dave is playing his Ode banjo, which was manufactured in the 1970's in Arkansas (I think that's why he chose to play this banjo for this song...lol). By the way, Dave's family is selling this actual backing track and many more, which I think every banjo player should get. I am really hoping that Dave's family will release many more of his backing tracks, because they are superbly made. My backing tracks don't compare, but I'm trying. Dave inspired me to make this blog and my own backing tracks. I love his music and share his passion for the banjo. What a cool guy!

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

Review Of The Deering Goodtime Special Banjo

I originally published this review on June 1, 2024. I updated it on June 14, 2024. I recently bought a Deering Goodtime Special for $1,099 from Amazon.com in April from GearTree. They included a free sturdy gig bag, quality music stand and a polishing cloth. I like the sound of the banjo. It stays in tune much better than my Elite 85 Recording King banjo made in China. The Deering Goodtime Special pot (it's not the 06) has a nice tone to it, but it's not a professional banjo, so keep that in mind. It's not a toy either, far from it.

I purchased a Hatfield Buck Creek banjo and received it this past week. What a piece of crap! The intonation was so messed up that I couldn't get it to work. I ended up sending the banjo back to Arthur Hatfield for a $3,000 refund. I sincerely don't think Arthur even bothered to play the instrument before boxing it up to ship to me, because if he had he would have heard how bad it sounded. The tone was very nice (better than my Deering Goodtime Special and Recording King Elite 85 in fact), but the nicest sounding tone is worthless if the instrument won't play in tune properly. Since experiencing how crappy the intonation was on the Hatfield Buck Creek banjo I was sent, I have begun to really appreciate my Deering Goodtime Special, which has excellent intonation. I've had so much enjoyment playing my Deering.

By the way, when I received the Deering from Gear Tree on Amazon, and first opened the case, the bridge was laying sideways. I didn't mind setting the bridge position and intonation myself. It was easy and has been very accurate since. But I couldn't get the Hatfield to adjust because something is wrong with the banjo. Instead of working with me to fix it, Arthur just insisted that I return the banjo for a refund. I thought that was absolutely rotten of him, because I really wanted a banjo from him and he knew it. Some people are just mean.

Regarding the Deering Goodtime Special, some players have complained about the narrower 1/2" metal armrest, that it irritates them, but I have played the banjo nearly every day since I got it several weeks ago. The arm rest did bother my arm when I was getting used to it for a week or so, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I ordered a nice wooden arm rest last year from Ross Nickerson for my Recording King Elite 85, which I really like.

I bought this nice banjo strap for the Goodtime Special, which I like because it has a convenient metal clip to connect to the J-hooks. I have a much thicker padded strap on my Recording King, but it was made for guitar, so I had to improvise a bit to make it work.

My New Deering Goodtime Special Banjo w/Tone ring
(you can see from the worn head that I've been playing it)

The biggest thing that disappointed me about the Goodtime Special is that although Deering's website says the Goodtime Special weighs 5.5 lbs. It actually weighs 9.5 lbs. I don't like that Deering doesn't disclose upfront that their Goodtime Special banjo with a tone ring actually weighs almost 10 pounds. Albeit, compared to my 12.5 lb. Recording King, the Goodtime Special banjo seems considerably lighter, which I appreciate.

Having said that, I really like the Goodtime Special. I love the bare wood finish on the neck and headstock. It's cheerful looking to me. It came with light gauge strings, but I put some medium gauge strings on it. On his 1992 Gibson ESS Dave Hum also used medium gauge strings (from 1st string to high 5th: 12, 12, 16, 24, 12). I like these GHS strings from Amazon. The gauges are (from 1st string to high 5th: 11, 13, 16, 26, 10). I like that the low 4th string is bronze looking, which looks nice. I put Dave's gauges on my Recording King. Music stores don't sell string sets with Dave's gauges, nor does Amazon sell those string gauges individually, so I needed to order them special from a string warehouse.

I haven't had tuning issues so far with the Deering Goodtime Special. Here is a photo of my Recording King Elite 85 banjo with the wooden armrest that I bought from Ross Nickerson in Arkansas a couple years ago. ...

Wooden Arm Rest On My Elite 85 Recording King Banjo

The more expensive Deering models have the coveted 06 tone ring. I would love to play Deering's Golden Era, Rustic Wreath and Calico banjos. Someday I might fly from Pensacola to Atlanta, Georgia to the Banjo Warehouse to play a bunch of different banjos and buy one. I love the emanating sound of the Calico. However, in my humble opinion all of Deering's banjos are way overpriced! They're charging what they do because they can.

The intonation is very accurate on my Goodtime Special. The bridge was completely off when I received the banjo. So, if you purchase one, you'll likely need to get a tape measure and set the bridge in place, putting an equal distance from the 12th fret to the nut, and the 12th fret to the bridge. There is NO TRUSS ROD on the Goodtime models, but you don't need one because the hard rock maple is solid.

Because the intonation was off a bit, I had to go buy a compensator bridge from Amazon for my Recording King Elite 85. I paid $1,799 for the banjo in 2018 (from Ross Nickerson). The 5/8" compensator bridge did the trick. There's also a 1/2" height compensator bridge, so make sure you order the right one. I ordered the wrong one the first time.

In summary, the Goodtime Special is a really great first-time banjo. For a parent wanting to buy a banjo for their child, I'd definitely recommend buying one of the Goodtime models, so at least they won't get discouraged playing a piece of junk from China that is inferior. But make sure your child can handle the 9.5 pound Goodtime Special before you buy it. For teens it should be fine, but for a younger child I would recommend the Goodtime 2, which weighs a few pounds less. Deering's Goodtime models are superior in design and materials used. These banjos actually use violin grade maple wood, which to my knowledge no other banjo in the $1,000 price range uses.

Kindly said, to me the Chinese import banjos are nothing more than a bunch of parts thrown together, and you can hear (or better said, not hear) the quality of timbre in the music. TONE IS EVERYTHING FOR A MUSICIAN. There's about 50 things that go into obtaining a good tone. Ultimately, tone is the connection made between your soul and the soul of the audience. No matter how great your musical arrangement and skills may be, if the tone is lacking you won't be able to make that heart-to-heart connection which many musicians like myself seek.

Case in point, show me one professional banjo artist who plays a banjo from China. Bela Fleck (born 1958) promotes Gold Tone banjos, but I recently saw him playing a Gibson. Please keep in mind that I am not experienced with banjos, but I have been a musician all my life. I know quality when I hear it. I am familiar with steel guitars. There's no lapsteel today with a tone that can compare to the old Rickenbacher Bakelite lapsteel with a horseshoe pickup. I have two of them, a 1936 pre WW2 model, and a 1953 post WW2 model. I love them both!

I also have a 1937 Silver Hawaiian Rickenbacher with a horseshoe pickup, but it doesn't have the tone that the Bakelite's do. In fact, someone stuffed newspaper inside the body to reduce the metallic sound...lol. I removed the newspaper and put polishing cloth in there instead. Hawaiian music with a steel guitar will always be my first love of music, and the old country music of the 1970's which was saturated with pedal steel guitar. Today's music is 99% garbage! And I love the banjo of Dave Hum. He rekindled my love of the 5-string banjo. I sure hope to meet him in Heaven! Albeit, I have no idea what he believed about Jesus Christ, who according to John 14:6 is the ONLY way to get to Heaven.

If you want a lighter banjo, the Deering Goodtime Special is a bit lighter than standard banjos with heavy bronze tone rings. The cheaper Goodtime banjos don't have a tone ring, so they are even lighter, but I personally always want a tone ring. My music friend Anurakt Scheepers in the Netherlands does an amazing job with a non-tone ring Goodtime banjo. He actually inspired me to buy a Goodtime banjo, which I don't regret. It's a nice quality banjo for the price.

I do wish that higher-end quality banjo prices would drop significantly like guitar prices have. I only paid $130 for my Cort acoustic guitar new from Guitar Center in 2022 and it sounds and feels awesome. That's the one that I dropped and cracked a couple weeks ago. I have since bought Strap Locks for all my instruments. Any banjo under $500 will assuredly sound like a cheap tin can with strings on it. The more expensive banjos have a resonance, sustain and lushness to them. They have that "boing" sound as I call it...lol.

Also, keep in mind that Deering does NOT include a case of any type with this banjo. I ordered my banjo from GearTree through Amazon and they did include a nice sturdy hard gig bag. And please don't buy a Goodtime Special from Deering, because they will charge you $1,219, ripping you off. Some customers have been hurt and offended when they learned that they could have saved $120 by buying elsewhere. I don't like that Deering does this to people.

The bottom line is that I don't think you'll be disappointed if you buy a Goodtime Special, if you keep in mind that it is a bare bones banjo, not a professional instrument. It is the most bang for your buck you'll get on a student model. It wasn't intended by Deering to substitute for a $5,000 Golden Era; but rather, to put the most banjo for the money possible into the hands of students and folks who simply cannot afford an expensive banjo. In that regard, it lives up to its reputation as a quality banjo. Can we ever have enough banjos?

In summary, my Deering Goodtime Special so far is my favorite banjo that I have played. I love the accuracy of the intonation, and the sound is not bad at all. I really like the bare natural wood neck, which is pleasant to look at. You won't be disappointed if you get this banjo, but just keep in mind that the more expensive Deering banjos do sound nicer because they have the 06 tone ring. Still, the tone is very nice on the Goodtime Special.

That reminds me of a joke I heard recently. Two older men were talking. One man said that his doctor told him not to buy any more banjos past 65. The other man asked what's wrong with buying another banjo past 65? He replied that 65 banjos is enough for anybody!!! I thought that was funny. I told the joke to some folks at church for our Easter Sunrise service, but no one laughed. I guess it was too early in the morning...lol. Thanks for reading my blog.