Labor Day 15% Off Special On All Deering Banjos At 'Fuller's Guitar'

Fuller's Guitar in Houston is having another 15% to 30% DISCOUNT for their Labor Day Sale. For Deering banjos, they are offering 15% off. Just type the code “LABORDAY15” on your order page, and you'll see the discount applied before you check out. It looks like they are sold out of the Calico and Golden Wreath banjos. But they still have the Golden Era, Maple Blossom (it has a radiused neck), and several other Deering models. If anyone wants to buy a Deering Goodtime Special, now is a great time. It normally lists with Deering dealers for $1,099, but with the 15% discount applied you'd pay only $934.19, which is a great deal.

Fuller's Guitar

I don't receive anything for promoting Fuller's Guitar and their Labor Day Sale, I just like to help people, especially my friends. I've never seen brand new Deering banjos sold at this very reasonable price. If they don't have the banjo model you want, I'd email them and ask when they'll get more in stock, and when they might offer another 15% off sale. They seem to have sales quite often. The only caveat is that they won't install banjo spikes.

So far, I like Deering banjos. The intonation has been accurate on the Deering Goodtime Special, Golden Era and Calico banjos. They all came with a standard bridge.

In sharp contrast, that piece of crap Hatfield Buck Creek that Arthur Hatfield shipped to me a few months ago had such bad intonation that I had to return it. I spent a couple hours trying to fix the problem, but couldn't. The neck wasn't measured and cut right. The fact that the banjo came with a Compensator Bridge evidences that Arthur was already aware of the problem, but he did nothing to fix it. I lost hundreds of dollars in shipping because of him. The jerk didn't even apologize. I don't recommend Hatfield banjos!

I purchased the Deering Calico from Fuller's Guitars the last time they had a 15% discount and am very happy with it. It's the nicest sounding banjo that I've ever had the opportunity to play, having the resonance that I desire. But I learned that Deering banjos sound best with lighter gauge strings. That is also what I read on Deering's own website. Deering uses GHS light gauge strings. I had replaced the original strings on my Calico with GHS PF160 medium gauge strings (10, 26, 16, 13, 11). The fourth .026" bronze string sticks in the nut grove on the Calico. This causes the string not to adjust pitch when I turn the GOTOH tuning key, because the string catches in the narrow nut groove. If I keep turning the tuning key, the string will eventually “pop” in the groove and jump erratically in pitch. So, I realized quickly that I should just stick with lighter gauge strings. Deering's nuts were made to accommodate light gauge strings, not heavier gauges. A .026" gauge is definitely too thick to use on a Deering.

I had the same problem with the Golden Era when I changed the light gauge strings with PF160 medium gauge strings. I am not exactly sure what gauge strings that Deering uses, I just know they're light gauge. I just ordered some PF135 Medium-Light J.D. Crowe GHS light gauge strings (10, 20, 12, 11, 10) from Amazon. The medium gauge strings actually removed some of the resonance from the Calico. They still sound nice, but the banjo's tone noticeably changed a little bit with different strings.

I also ordered some PF175 Medium Sonny Osbourne (11, 22, 13, 12, 11) strings from Musician's Friend (FREE shipping). I'll try these Sonny Osbourne strings first on my Calico. I prefer using a set of heavier gauge strings for folk playing. Dave Hum liked to use medium gauge strings (10, 24, 16, 12, 10) to accommodate his single note playing for folk songs. That is why I replaced the strings on my Calico. The only real issue is with the fourth string, because it catches in the nut groove. I'll try the .022" gauge and see how that works.

Lord willing, I'm going to purchase the Deering Golden Wreath banjo for the Fuller's Labor Day Sale. I'm looking forward to trying the Golden Wreath. If I don't like it, I'll return it within 14 days.  Since 2018, I have wanted a professional banjo, but didn't have one. I bought the Recording King Elite 85 (it has a maple neck) in 2018. It was my only banjo for 6 years, until I purchased a Deering Goodtime Special earlier this year. Since the Recording King was the only banjo I had played for several years, I instantly felt and heard the improved tone in my Deering Goodtime Special (which cost $1,099). For a student model, it is great! I'm going to put some lighter gauge PF135 GHS strings onto the Deering Goodtime Special. I love the feel of the Goodtime Special. The hard rock maple neck and clear uncoated finish are great. This banjo has no truss rod and doesn't need one, it is solid built.

The Recording King is also a solid built banjo, and looks very nice. I tried to set it up the best I could, but the tone was still lacking. So, then I paid Blue Angel Music store in Pensacola $65 to do a professional setup, but as far as I can tell all they did was replaced the strings (which I provided, which were PF160 GHS strings). The professional setup didn't help the tone of the banjo. Tonight I changed my PF160GHS strings tonight on the Recording King with PF135 GHS (J.D. Crowe) strings and it really enhanced the tone on the banjo. I was surprised how much just putting a lighter gauge set of strings on the banjo enhanced the resonance. I think the stainless steel produces more resonance than the phosphorus bronze does.

I humbly think there is a wonderful opportunity for a motivated person to get into the banjo making business, to build a better banjo with great resonance and growl for $2,500. I hate Deering's cheaper line in that price range (e.g., the Sierra) with printed fret boards. I hated the cheap feel of the neck on the Sierra. I had bought a Sierra for $2,799 in 2021 from Banjo.com and sent it back because the intonation was way off, and I hated the neck, and it had a bad buzz on strings 4 and 5. I don't like banjo.com and won't buy anything from them in the future. Barry Waldrep lied to me in May of 2022. I told him that I didn't want to wait several months to buy a banjo. He promised that I'd receive a banjo in 4 to 6 weeks, but it didn't arrive for 5 months. Worst of all was that NO ONE from Banjo.com ever communicated with me to let me know what was going on, they just totally ignored me, which is very bad.

That was the Deering Sierra. It had terrible intonation, a bad unfixable buzz and I hated the cheap feel of the neck. It cost me $2,799. I returned it. Barry suggested the Golden Era and I agreed. That took another 6 months, but they messed up with the railroad spikes. The banjo had such a bad buzz that they couldn't sell it to me. Barry said he would send it to a Luthier, but after 4 more months of waiting and not hearing a word from anyone, I had had enough and asked for my money back. Barry made me wait another 3 months to get a refund of my $4,899. Long story short, Barry kept my money for 20 months!!! I never did get any banjo from them, because they kept dropping the ball, one problem after another. RUN from that place!

One great thing I will say about the Elite 85 Recording King is that it has an awesome neck. I love the feel of the neck. It has a 27 3/8" scale. It just lacks great tone. I don't even play it anymore, because the Deering Goodtime Special sounds much better. And now I have the Calico, which blows all the others away in tone. For just playing the banjo, I love the Calico. But I am purchasing the Deering Golden Wreath for recording. Lord willing, I want to record an album, just to share with my friends at church, and blog visitors.

I have three banjos right now: an Elite 85 Recording King (maple neck), a Deering Goodtime Special (maple neck), and a Deering Calico (maple neck). So, I wanted to order the Deering Golden Wreath (mahogany neck) to complete my collection. The Golden Era (maple neck) was very nice when I had it to test, but it had a buzzing issue on string one when doing pull-offs (because there wasn't enough fret material beyond the edge of the first string). I'm not sure if that is a design flaw on all Golden Era, or if that particular Golden Era was a lemon.

I've read many great things on the BanjoHangout about the Golden Wreath. Deering sells far more Golden Eras than Golden Wreaths, likely because the Golden Era has slightly nicer aesthetics (appearance). I actually like the laidback plainer appearance of the Golden Wreath, but the TONE is my main concern. I've read that the Golden Era is Deering's best attempt to mimic the Gibson ESS banjo, and the Golden Wreath is Deering's best attempt to mimic the Gibson RB250. I won't know if I like the banjo until I hold it in my hands and play it. I knew within 30 seconds of playing the Calico that it was at home to stay. It is a beautiful sounding banjo!

Granted, I've also read that a Gibson is a Gibson, and a Deering is a Deering, and that each instrument has its own unique feel and sound, even though the Deering banjos are imitations. Some players claim that the Gibson banjos have a slightly better tone, but the Deering banjos feel slightly better to play. I've never had the privilege to play a Gibson, so I cannot say either way. Lord willing, maybe in a few years I might run across a nice Gibson banjo and buy it. I've given up on the idea of finding a Gibson at a “good deal.” Good instruments will cost you good money, plain and simple. I must say that I am shocked how much banjo prices have skyrocketed.

On a different note, here's some good news for Dave Hum fans like me. Dave's wife, Mel, just updated Dave's YouTube channel this week, to finally get rid of the old website that linked to junk for several years. Now all of Dave's videos link to his new valid website, where you can purchase his albums, tablature and backing tracks. If you haven't bought the backing tracks yet, you are missing out! They are my driving motivation to play the banjo every day. Great backing tacks are invaluable. The tracks cost about $12 each, which is fairly priced. Dave must have spent well over 1,000 hours making backing tracks for 219 songs.

Earlier this year, I paid the insane price of $150 each, to have backing tracks made for Gaspe Reel and Peeler's Jacket. I cannot afford to do that very often. Moreover, now that I have 115 of Dave's original backing tracks, I have enough great backing tracks to last a lifetime. I thank God for Dave Hum. I am thankful for his musical legacy, family, influence and mentorship on the banjo. Each of Dave's videos on YouTube are a banjo course for the serious student. You can use the “settings” control on YouTube to slow each video down as much as you want, so you can study and learn Dave's techniques and arrangements.

I am humbly grateful to Dave's wife for making her husband's backing tracks available for banjo enthusiasts like me. The least I can do is promote Dave's music and encourage people to purchase his backing tracks. The money helps Dave's family, and you get high-quality backing tracks. It is precious and surreal to me, that I can play along with Dave's original backing tracks that he used while busking.

Dave Hum With His Epiphone Banjo