For More Resonance, Try A Set Of GHS PF135 (J.D. Crowe Strings)

Lately I've been criticizing my Elite 85 Recording King (maple neck) banjo for lacking tone. But tonight I replaced the phosphorus bronze GHS PF160 set of strings (10, 26, 16, 13, 11), with a set of GHS PF135 stainless steel strings (10, 20, 12, 11, 10). Wow, it really brought my Recording King alive in tone. I am learning about the banjo just like everybody else, so I don't claim to know what I am doing...lol. I just take life one day at a time. But I was pleased with the sound coming from my Recording King tonight. My Elite 85 Recording King doesn't sound anywhere near as resonant as my Deering Calico, but it sounds MUCH better than it did before. So, if you think that your banjo lacks resonance and tone, you might want to try some light gauge strings. That is very interesting.

I had replaced the original light gauge strings which came on the Deering Calico banjo. I put the GHS PF160 strings on there instead. My brain has been stuck on using GHS PF160 strings for a couple years now. I have concluded this week that I made a bad choice. It wasn't until I replaced the original GHS light gauge strings on the Calico, with my GHS PF160 strings, that I realized it killed my banjo's tone considerably.

So, the first thing I thought of was replacing the PF160 phosphorus bronze strings on my Elite 85 Recording King; and sure enough, the PF135 set of stainless steel strings brought it alive. For the time being, I'm going to use a lighter gauge of strings on my banjos.

I also ordered some medium gauge GHS PF175 (Sonny Osbourne) stainless steel sets of strings today (11, 22, 13, 12, 11). I still have the PF160 strings on my Deering Goodtime Special, but I'll put the PF175 set on I think, to try them. I'm leaning toward the J.D. Crowe PF135 set for the best tone, so far. I should have ordered the Almost-Medium GHS PF185 set of strings (.0105, 20, 13, .0115, .0105). I think mediums will be too heavy. I had no idea that using a heavier gauge string could deaden the resonance. It could also be the phosphorous bronze versus stainless steel that deadens the tone. I am not sure. The fourth string is the most important string, as it leads off nearly every song.

There's also a J.D. Crowe PF140 "studio" set of strings, which uses .0095" strings on strings 1 and 5, instead of .010" on the PF135 "stage" set for strings 1 and 5. GHS has all kinds of strings. I also noticed the PF130 set, which is nickel plated steel. I am quite amazed how different a tone is produced by merely changing the string sets. I didn't think it really matters, but it sure does! So far, I recommend going with the GHS PF135 J.D. Crowe set.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

My Negative Review Of David Day's “Backing Tracks Express”

I DO NOT recommend doing business with David Day at BackingTrackExpress.com, because he has a very bad attitude. I contacted him in July of 2024 to make me a backing track for Dave Hum's YouTube recording of Peeler's Jacket. This is the song that I sent to him to replicate. David charged me $150, which I paid to him using PayPal. On David's first attempt, he ended the song on an Em chord, which disappointed me, because Dave Hum clearly ends the song on a G major chord. I didn't pay David to do his own thing!

Also, if you listen closely at the end of his first attempt below, David Day doesn't finish the song, he leaves 5 seconds off the last bar. When I played along with my banjo, I noticed immediately that the timing was messed up in his backing track. The song is 5 seconds too short! That is an inexcusable error for a musician who claims to make professional backing tracks. You can hear for yourself what David Day did. And as I mentioned, he also ended the song on an Em chord, which didn't sound right. ...

• Peeler's Jacket - David Day's First Attempt

As you just heard for yourself, the song isn't correct. I was very kind and didn't critique David Day's work in any way. I felt that from one musician to another, I paid him $150 just to see what he could make using his own creativity. I showed appreciation for his work, for giving his best attempt. But I kindly asked him to add the MISSING 5 seconds to the backing track. And I also asked him to end the tune on a G major chord instead of an Em, like Dave Hum does. 

Then on his second attempt, he got the G chord right, but he only added 2 seconds instead of the 5 seconds that I specifically requested. I couldn't have been more kind. Listen to yourself what he did below, which is his second attempt. Again, the song is too short. If you play along with a banjo, the song is still 3 seconds too short and doesn't sound right. It's so obvious! ...

• Peeler's Jacket - David Day's Second Attempt

Again, I didn't critique his work and merely asked him kindly to fix it. To shew him my sincerity in the matter, that I wasn't just being picky, I sent him the backing track that I had made, with the correct ending chords. I truly don't know what offended him. He may have became jealous, or felt threatened that I made my own backing tracks (which I do just for fun, and I freely share them on social media); or perhaps he was frustrated that after his second attempt to finish the song, I still wanted him to fix it right.

Regardless, it doesn't matter if I owned a backing track business of my own (which I don't), when he accepted my $150 payment and agreed to make me a backing track, he was obligated legally, morally and ethically to do one of two things:

1) Complete the backing track as agreed upon, for which he was well paid; or,

2) give me a full refund and apologize that he couldn't make the track. Instead, he cheated me, kept the money, and I had to finish the backing track myself by chopping, copying and pasting parts of the song to the end, to finish it. Shame!

On his main webpage, David Day says this about his so-called “professional” tracks...

Backing Tracks Express Information

“Backing Track Express is a production service that specializes in creating high quality custom backing tracks. Any song, regardless of style or genre can be made into custom backing tracks. We also produce original songs. Songs can be customized and can even be put in your ideal key. Our music tracks don’t sound like amateur store bought tracks. We custom create our custom backing tracks new and fresh track by track! We do not use vocal elimination for professional tracks, that leaves the track sounding washed out. This service is for those who demands better quality custom production. You could be a singer, school, choir director or anyone who needs custom backing tracks. We usually create those songs not found in stores or online anywhere. ...It will be copied exactly like the original, same key and everything unless there are custom instructions you require. Your new custom backing tracks are sent to you as a high resolution mp3 and as a wave if you request. Pro Tools sessions can also be sent as an upload! Send a you tube link or mp3 of the song you want to do and we’ll get back to you with an honest price. You can count on us.” —David Day/Producer There’s some very bad tracks out there. [emphasis added]

That is FALSE advertising! Mr. Day in fact, as you can clearly hear for yourself, DIDN'T live up to his promise to produce an EXACT COPY OF THE ORIGINAL. When I asked him for the second time to do it right, he totally ignored me. After a few days, I sent him the following e-mail (I didn't change a word)...

David,

Kindly said, if you're working on another project or are too busy at this time to complete the backing track that I paid you $150 to make, please let me know when I can expect it to be finished. I haven't heard from you for a few days.

When you sent me the first completed track, I kindly told you it was too short and that you needed to add "5 seconds" to the track. For whatever reason, you only added 2 seconds in your second attempt. There are still 3 seconds of the song missing, which doesn't work for me when I try to play along with the track. I need for you to finish what you started, please.

You advertise on your website that you replicate original songs. That is all I am asking for you to do. I gave you a choice of picking either one of two of Dave Hum's versions of Peeler's Jacket. Although one song fades out at the end, it only fades after Dave completes playing the song, so structurally both songs have the same exact chords at the end. For whatever reason, you strayed away from the song.

If I don't hear back from you in the next couple days, then I will reasonably conclude that you have defrauded me, which is on you.

Mistreated customer

I never heard from David Day again. The guy has an attitude problem and I don't recommend him to anyone. His work is shoddy and his attitude childish. Shame on him!

Now listen to my own backing track that I made of Peeler's Jacket, which I humbly think is at least equivalent (if not better) than David Day's (but I never told him that, which would have been mean; I'm not a jerk like him). I try to live by 'The Golden Rule' (Matthew 7:12). ...

• Peeler's Choice - by David J. Stewart (my backing track)
• Here's my Peeler's Jacket page with more backing tracks in different tempos and keys
• Here's my older backing track for Peeler's Jacket without the closed high hat drum
• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (.PDF tabs tabs)

The reason I am writing this negative review is because David Day refused to fix his shoddy work. I am a forgiving, reasonable and understanding man as a Christian. But David Day horribly ignored my multiple emails, in which I kindly asked him to please add the 3 missing seconds to the song, but he refused (without ever giving me an explanation). What a jerk! He stole my $150, since he didn't finish the song.

God knows that I was going to pay him in a few weeks to make me another track for, “The Maid Behind The Bar,” but since he refused to finish the first song I paid him to make, and he is immature emotionally and lacks character, we're done! I'll never contact David Day again.

I even sent him my own backing track after his failed second attempt, just to be helpful, so that he could hear exactly what I wanted him to fix. The only thing I can speculate is that he became jealous that my work was as good as his. Or perhaps he became angry that I asked him for the second time to finish the song correctly, but he doesn't know what he's doing. But regardless of the reason(s), he should have completed the song that I paid him $150 to make (or refund my money). I won't do repeat business with an ungodly man who cheats his customers. I couldn't have been nicer to Mr. Day. I am a firm believer in Word of Mouth as a consumer. I was recently cheated out of $619.20 by Alamo rent car company. I have already filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office and Consumer Affairs (among the hundreds of other defrauded Alamo customers). RUN from Alamo and avoid Priceline!

The bottom line is that 3 seconds are missing at the end of the song, and I cannot play my banjo along with it without having to do some weird ending, which is frustrating. I didn't get what I paid for. I didn't receive what I was promised by ExpressBackingTracks.

I understood when I hired him that David Day couldn't make a perfect replica (that is common sense). But I did at least expect for him to get the chords and bar lengths correct, which is basic 101 musicianship. His work is shoddy at best. I will never hire him to make another backing track for me again, which is his loss. I only asked him to make the track because I wanted to see what he, as a unique individual musician, could come up with. I was overall pleased with his work, even though I did pretty good on my own, and I took the time to get the chords right for my backing track. Leaving a frustrated customer hanging is not okay, it is unethical and wrong. RUN from this place!

Having said all that, I am good with manipulating audio files using MixCraft software. So, I went back and cut, copied and pasted portions of the messed up song that David Day made for me, and I was able to finish the song by piecemeal. It sounds good now, and you'd never know that I cut, copied and pasted portions of the song to other places in the song to complete it, but it worked well (I humbly think). But I shouldn't have had to cut, copy and paste to complete a song that I paid David Day $150 to make for me. That was very unprofessional, unethical and rotten of him. Good riddance to bad rubbish Mr. Day!

To be fair and honest, I think overall that his track came out pretty good, despite his mistakes and unwillingness to complete the song correctly. I managed to whip the backing track into shape to share it with everyone. So, without further ado, Enjoy! ...

• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of G, normal)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of G, slower)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of G, slow)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of G, woodshed)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of A, normal)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of A, slower)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of A, slow)
• Peeler's Choice (by David Day, that I finished, key of A, woodshed)
• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (I used TablEdit to make these tabs)

I tabbed out the song by slowing down Dave Hum's video and meticulously studying his hands, and I think I've got it right. Here's another video, in which his hands are easier to watch. This is one of my favorite songs.

By the way, you can purchase the original rhythm track that Dave Hum himself made (that you hear in his YouTube videos). It is packet #6 on his website. As I mentioned, I paid David Day $150 to make one backing track for Peeler's Jacket, so the price for Dave Hum's quality backing tracks is a SUPER DEAL!!! I encourage you to buy some of them. The money will help Dave's widow, and you'll be able to vicariously play along with the man himself. What a tremendous blessing!!!

***********************************

A FINAL UPDATE: I did finally hear back from David Day. To my unbelief he actually said that my two requests for him to correct his mistakes is called “song development” for which he charges more money. Unreal! I guess for $150 that doesn't include his mess ups! Where I come from people pay for their own mistakes, they don't expect others to pay for them.

Stay Away From Greedy Banjo “Ben” Clark

As a subscriber of their email list, I received an advertisement from the Ben Clark General Store on July 5, 2024 for their upcoming Banjo Camp in Bigfork Montana. I really want to attend, but I figured that all spots were taken. So, the next day I emailed their store to ask if there were any spots left, and if not if they'd please put on a waiting list if someone cancelled. I clearly explained that I wanted to attend the "Banjo Camp" and that I would be bringing my "Deering Goodtime Special banjo" with me to the event in Montana. Amy replied by sending me a link to their signup page. I was so happy and paid the $899. I received a confirmation email. I went moments later to Priceline and spent $2,077.25 for a travel package from Pensacola, Florida to Kalispell, Montana for August 15, 16 and 17, 2024 for the Banjo Camp. I was all set to go and excited.

To my horror 2 days later on July 8th, Amy emailed to let me know that all the banjo spots were gone. I frantically contacted her to let her know that I already has a receipt confirming my $899 purchase to attend the Banjo Camp. She replied that I had signed up for guitar lessons, not the banjo. I was heart-broken. For $3,000 I wanted to attend the Banjo Camp, which is what was advertised when they first contacted me. Nothing was mentioned about guitar lessons. Amy ass-u-med that I understood these things, but I had no clue.

Unbelievably, Amy actually blamed me, accusing me of not noticing on their store's website that the drop down menu showed different instruments. How was I supposed to know? She sent me a sign-up link for guitar, when I had plainly only shown interest in the "BANJO CAMP." It is unwise that their website defaults for the guitar, when everything about Ben's business centers around the banjo, hence, "Banjo Ben Clark."

Plus, Amy should have clarified when she sent me a sign-up link that the banjo spots had already been taken. She didn't say a word, she just sent the sign-up link, so I reasonably thought there were still available spots. Why would Amy send me a sign-up link for guitar, when I had plainly said I wanted to attend the Banjo Camp" in Montana, and bring my "banjo"? 

So, I immediately (36 hours after making reservations) cancelled everything. I was able to obtain a full refund from United and American Airlines, and the Travelodge by Wyndham hotel, but the ungodly thieves at Alamo car rental refused to refund a single penny of my $619.20. After the dust settled weeks later, and it was confirmed that I had lost $619.20, I kindly contacted Ben Clark General Store, to explain that Amy hadn't explained anything to me, which caused the whole problem. Their store is at fault, not me.

I simply requested kindly that they allow me to attend a future Banjo Camp at a $619 discount, so that I could recoup my losses. But both Amy and Jake Stogdill totally ignored me. I emailed them again, but they still ignored me again. They couldn't have cared less.

Kindly said, Ben Clark owes me $619.20, because their employee Amy caused this situation by not doing her job, and Jake (the store manager) didn't even bother to respond to my request for restitution, which would be the Christian thing for them to do. I am a born-again Christian, as is Ben, who is also a Baptist pastor according to their website. They need to treat people (their customers) MUCH better. Thank you for reading. SHAME on Ben Clark and his employees. Evidently Ben Clark is a Christian in name only, not in practice. He's a phony!

Banjo “Ben” Clark's General Store

Kindly said, I was cheated out of $619.20 because of Banjo Ben Clark's General Store.

I had received an advertisement that they emailed me, about an upcoming Banjo Camp in Bigfork, Montana, on August 15, 16 and 17 of 2024. I really wanted to attend the event, but it was only 6 weeks away. So, on July 6th, 2024, I kindly contacted Ben Clark's General Store to inquire if there were any openings left. Amy at Ben Clark's Store replied to my inquiry. All she sent me was a signup website, which showed that there were still openings. I was so happy and excited, so I gladly paid the $899. I signed-up and received a confirmation email showing that I had purchased my spot to attend the Banjo Camp. I had made it very clear to Amy that I would be bringing my Deering Goodtime Special banjo with me to the Banjo Camp.

I do not like to put off until tomorrow what I can do today. So, I used Priceline on July 6th to purchase my reservations. I had planned to stay in Kalispell and drive 35 minutes down to Bigfork for the Banjo Camp. The entire travel package cost me $2,077.25 total. Great, I thought, I'm all set.

To my horror, Amy emailed me 2 days later on Monday, August 8th, to let me know that all of the banjo spots were already filled. I immediately contacted her to let her know that I had already purchased my spot, and had a confirmation number that they billed my credit card for $899. She said that I had signed up for guitar lessons, not banjo. I was sickened and disgusted, because I have no interest in guitar lessons. I had plainly told Amy that I am bringing my Deering banjo and want to attend the Banjo Camp. I'd like to make some factual observations:

1. Amy foolishly ass-u-med that I understood how their website works, but I sincerely didn't.
2. Amy never mentioned in her first email to me that the banjo spots were all gone, which is her fault.
3. Their website defaults for guitar lessons, which is insane when everything about Ben's name is associated with the banjo. How the hell was I supposed to know that I was signing up for guitar lessons?
4. Why in the world would Amy send me a sign-up page for the guitar, when I had plainly said that I wanted to come to their “Banjo Camp” in Montana, with my Deering Goodtime Special “banjo”? Amy is 100% to blame!

Ben Clark's incompetent employees created a hellish nightmare for me in the weeks to follow. I called Priceline on July 8th (36 hours after making my reservations) to cancel my travel reservations. I was able to obtain a full refund from United and American Airline, and the Travelodge by Wyndham hotel. But Alamo car rental were greedy thieves who refused to refund a single penny of my $619.20 that they stole from me. When you cause somebody to lose money (especially a substantial amount as I did), and you refuse to make things right, you are a dirty thief!!! How greedy can they be at Ben Clark's store?

I have contacted Ben Clark's General Store about this matter, but they have horribly chosen to completely ignore me. Well, I won't shut up about it! I kindly requested that Ben Clark's General Store allow me to attend a future Banjo Camp at a reduced cost of $279 instead of the usual $899, so I can recoup the $619 that I lot because Amy didn't explain anything to me. She is 100% to blame for this misunderstanding. I've always paid for my mistakes, I shouldn't have to pay for Amy's too.

I have already filed complaints at Consumer Affairs against Priceline, Alamo and Ben Clark's General Store for their greed, but none of them care. They're dirty thieves, greedy sharks! They haven't even responded. They are all ungodly. Evidently Ben Clark's Store is no better, because they don't care either. What the hell has our nation become? Does anybody fear God anymore? Companies just bilk other people with impunity. Ben Clark owes me $619.20.

Hatfield “Buck Creek” Banjo Review

I deeply regret ever doing business with Arthur Hatfield. The ungodly man was mean, uncooperative and refused to fix the problem with the intonation on the problematic Buck Creek banjo that he sent me. I lost over $200 in shipping because of Arthur and will never do business with him again.

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.

Beware of Arthur Hatfield and his Problematic Banjos

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. That is totally unacceptable! I removed the pot cover to see where the nut came from; it had fallen off the tailpiece bolt. It was shoddy workmanship. The tailpiece also 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. As a customer I shouldn't have had to adjust, reinstall missing parts and mess with a brand new banjo.

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 for a refund. I am so disappointed with Arthur because I had held high expectations. Everything I had read about him was a lie. The guy is not a good man. I cannot warn others enough to avoid doing business with Arthur Hatfield.

I messed with the bridge for a couple hours but couldn't get the intonation right, so I emailed Arthur at 10:45 pm 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. But I had already used a tuner and a tape measure to set the bridge position, but the intonation was still way off. I adjusted my own intonation on my Deering Goodtime Special and it is very accurate. So, I know how to set intonation correctly. I also adjusted the intonation on my Elite 85 Recording King and it is very accurate, but I did need to use a 5/8" height Compensator Bridge (which I ordered from Amaon.com) for the Recording King banjo.

I was tired and went to sleep for the night. I woke up the next day and really wanted to get the Buck Creek banjo to work, because I loved 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 for the lower strings! 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 piece of crap!

Shame on Arthur for putting me in this situation. I shouldn't have had to mess with the banjo. Sadly, he is just blowing banjos out the door lately, not even bothering to play them to make sure they are Kosher. They guy just doesn't care anymore and has a really bad attitude. RUN from Hatfield Banjos!!!

Also, there was a bad buzz on the 4th string when it arrived. 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; my flowing 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.

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. Even the best instruments won't have perfect intonation, but there's a big difference between accurate verse shitty. Arthur Hatfield's Buck Creek banjo that he sent me had SHITTY INTONATION.  I kindly told Arthur that I wanted another banjo with accurate intonation, but he didn't want to deal with it. They guy is ungodly and arrogant. There is no humility in him. His cold reply was to simply to return the banjo for a refund. Although I appreciate his willingness 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.

Kindly said, quite frankly, the Buck Creek banjo that Arthur Hatfield sent me is crap! 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. I deeply regret ordering a banjo from him. It blows my mind that he would even send me a banjo with improper intonation. 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. 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 MUCH nicer.

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.

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.

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.

Quite frankly, I am blown away after being crapped on by Arthur Hatfield. I mean, after reading dozens of positive comments about Hatfield banjos and the man himself, what the hell happened with my order? Evidently Arthur is not the man he used to be. He doesn't care anymore. 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 took the coward's way out. Shame on Arthur.

Arthur Hatfield 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.

Beware of Arthur Hatfield and his Problematic Banjos

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.

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.

Don't Buy Direct From Deering

Most people don't know that the Deering banjo company will rip you off if you buy directly from them. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself...

• Goodtime Special from Amazon.com = $1,099.00
• Goodtime Special from Deering = $1,219.00

That's sad. Not only that, but Deering doesn't even bother to include a case. If you order from GearTree at Amazon.com you'll also get an included banjo stand, gig bag and a pick bag (at least they did that for me). And you'll save $120!

I've been reading customer comments on Deering's website and some of them are upset with Deering for taking advantage of them. I don't blame them! It is unethical for Deering to charge people an extra 10% without telling them. I have some issues with Deering's business practices.

Something else that bothers me is how they falsely advertise their Sierra banjos. In 2021, I ordered a Deering Sierra because I read on their website that the Sierra has all the SAME guts as their most expensive banjo, which is misleading. It gives a potential buyer the false impression that the only difference between the Sierra and their most expensive $63,000 banjo is aesthetics.

The ugly truth is that the neck on the Sierra is inferior. It feels cheap, like it was made in a third world country. That is my humble opinion. The neck on my Elite 85 Recording King is superior to Deering's Sierra neck, although the pot with the 06 tone ring is excellent on the Sierra. I loved the responsiveness and lush tone.

However, when I received the banjo from banjo.com, the intonation was way off. I live in Pensacola, which is one reason why I decided to order from banjo.com, since they are only a few hours away from me in Wedowee, Alabama. There is no excuse for the intonation being way off when I received the banjo. Also, there was a bad buzz on strings 4 and 5. I put new strings on the banjo, adjusted the truss rod and did what I could to get rid of the buzz and correct the intonation, but couldn't. It's just a cheap banjo structurally. I will NEVER do business with Banjo.com again!!!

I do not recommend the Deering Sierra to anybody. Let's face it, the ONLY reason that anyone would buy the Sierra is lack of money to pay $5,700 for a Golden Era. They do have some banjos in the $4,000 price range at Deering, which would be a MUCH better choice than the Sierra. Spend the extra $1,500, you won't regret it.

Deering Calico Neck

Stay Away From Banjo.com

I am so frustrated with Banjo.com. Please do not do business with Barry Waldrep! It took me 20 MONTHS to get my money back from him. I had placed an order for a banjo with them on May 2, 2022. Everything from that point on turned into a nightmare! I will explain the details in this blog, but as an introduction I'd like to warn everyone to avoid this guy. He lied to me, plain and simple.

I firmly told Barry before I ever gave him a penny that I DIDN'T want to wait several months to get a banjo. That was on May 2nd, 2022. Barry lied to me, misleading me to believe I'd receive a banjo in 4 to 6 weeks, or sooner. It took 5 months and no one from Banjo.com ever bothered to contact me to let me know what was going on. Barry blamed Deering, and even encouraged me to call them to verify that the delays were not his fault. Yet, it is his fault because he misled me from the very start, by telling me that it would only be "4 to 6 weeks, or sooner."

The following was written in August of 2023...

This is crazy! It was one year on May 2nd, 2023 that I have been waiting for Banjo.com to ship me the Golden Ere Banjo that I paid $4,899.00 for. Barry Waldrep is the owner of Banjo.com. I humbly DO NOT recommend that anybody order a banjo from them. I have been very kind, patient and understanding with Barry, but he has avoiding giving me a timeframe twice when I asked.

I ordered a Deering Sierra for $2,799.00 from them May 2nd, 2022. Barry's exact words to me in the email was "hopefully it will be four to six weeks for the banjo to arrive." We'll, those 6 weeks passed, and then 2 month, 3 months, 4 months, and nobody bothered to tell me anything from Banjo.com. That is no way to run a business! The banjo finally arrived in late September. It had a bad buzz on the 4th and 5th strings. The intonation sucked royally on strings 2 and 3, especially on the first few frets. It was unplayable.

I have been a musician for 30 years and know how to set up stringed instruments. So I replaced the strings with some thicker ones. I loosened the truss rod a bit to distance the strings further away from the fretboard. I also tried adjusting the bridge position. Nothing worked, not even helping a bit. I hated the cheap feel of the neck on the Sierra. Deering in my humble opinion falsely advertises that the Sierra has the guts of the really expensive banjos that they sell, it just lacks the aesthetics (nice looks). That is false! The Sierra's neck is crap and it feels cheaply made, in my humble opinion. Also, Barry's technicians install the railroad spikes 50% close to the 4th string, which was ridiculously too close.

So I kindly told Barry Waldrep that I didn't want the Sierra. I appreciate that Banjo.com has a 30-day return policy, no questions asked. So I spent $100 of my own money to ship it back to Banjo.com in Wedowee, Alabama. Barry recommended that I upgrade to the Deering Golden Era banjo, which I agreed upon, for $4,899.00. I kindly asked him the time frame for delivery, but he refused to give me a straight answer. I asked him twice, but he wouldn't tell me, and I didn't push him because I am a  nice guy and I figured he was worried that I might get upset if he told me it would be another 5 or 6 months (which it was). I left it alone and waited patiently.

Then when I asked Barry (because no one at Banjo.com told me a darn thing) in February 2023 what was going on with the Golden Era, he tells me it should arrive in April. So the banjo comes in and Barry asks me to tell him where to install the railroad spikes. I sent him these two photos to show him exactly where I'd like the railroad spikes installed...

How To Install Banjo 5th String Spikes
(by Banjo Ben Clark)

To my dismay, Barry Waldrep got upset with me and blamed me that the new Golden Era has a bad buzz on the 5th string, because they installed the spikes where I asked them too. That is bullcrap!

First, they do this for a living and should have told me upfront before installing the spikes, in a place that would cause a buzz, if they knew it would. I mean, they've done this thousands of times, right! Banjo.com advertises that they are the largest Deering dealer in the United States. What that really means is that they are out of banjos all the time, and you will need to wait one year or more for a new banjo. I will NEVER order from these people again, and I kindly suggest that you don't either! I am so disgusted.

Second, I sent them photos of where Banjo Ben installs them, where THEY SHOULD be placed. So it is total bullcrap from Barry that I am asking them to do something out of the ordinary or strange. Barry needs to run his business much more professional, or he will lose customers. Banop.com has lost my business!

I have told Barry repeatedly that I don't mind waiting, and I don't. But I do mind him not giving me a straight answer twice, when I kindly asked him when the banjo was anticipated to arrive. If it will be 6 months, I have a right as a customer to know. Barry has my money, paid in full.

I also do mind that he blamed me for their shoddy workmanship. You can look at the preceding photos for yourself. Would placing the spikes in these positions really cause the 5th string to buzz? If so, why does Banjo Ben install the spikes there? I didn't get these screenshots from some bozo on YouTube, I captured those screenshots from Banjo Ben Clark (which is where I should have bought my banjo from in the first place). Damn it! Please do not order a banjo from Banjo.com. I am being your friend. I regret that I ever did business with Banjo.com!

The following was written on March 28, 2024...

Barry finally refunded my $4,899 in January of 2024. He mailed me a Cashier's Check because he said it had been so long since the initial credit card translation, that their system wouldn't recognize the charge. After all was said and done, I got absolutely nothing out of the whole 20-month long ordeal except hundreds of pissed off days, waiting endlessly, being totally ignored by Banjo.com the entire time, and super frustrated. IT'S NOT WORTH IT!

I have read similar complaints online about Banjo.com, that they take forever to send what you ordered. All I know is that if Barry hadn't lied to me in the first place to get my money, none of this would have happened. He can blame Deering all he wants, but he lied to me, period.