Which 6 string banjo?

[jaybones]

Really wanting to get one, 6 string banjo, banjitar, trashcan, whatever.

Budget is $200 max, and must include case and strap (if a guitar one won't work, as I have a few of those).

Musician's friend has a Dean model that looks OK, and I know they make nice electrics (pointy and not my style). I've seen mixed reviews on their lower priced acoustics, paricularly their acoustic bass.

So, what say you?

Thanks!

[MikeBmusic]

No real experience with them, but what I've heard when trying a Dean out at GC was my ears saying "not worth the money". Strummed, it sounded horrible, and melody picking was not good sounding, either.

[Steve DeRosa]

$200 isn't going to get you much in terms of either tone or playability, period - if you've got your heart set on a guitjo you'd be far better off saving your money for a while and putting it into one of these:

http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...tar--GTCCB.htm

FYI, if you're looking for an alternative instrument that uses guitar-type fingerings and doesn't cost an arm. leg, and/or a few other valuable appendages , you can pick up an inexpensive tenor banjo (new or used) in the $200-300 range (I scored a solidly excellent-condition Deering Boston tenor - around $1600-1700 brand-new - for $325 w/OHSC at the local Sam Ash, so there are bargains to be had out there). Set up in either "Chicago" (DGBE) or drop-G tenor uke (GCEA low-to-high) tuning, you can use familiar four-string guitar chords/scale patterns with no learning curve other than the closer fret/string spacing; BTW, drop-G tenor is a favorite of mine for folk and Irish music (I have my Deering set up this way), as it covers much of the range of the fiddle and mandolin (as well as banjo), cuts through better than either for lead work - and speaking as one who also owns a guitjo (Deering D-6 Deluxe), it's become my go-to instrument for anything other than bluegrass...

[Cone Head]

Unfortunately I can not really recommend any 6-string banjos in the $200 price range. Even at twice that price you won't find anything that's a very pleasant sounding banjo.

You'll also hear a whole lot of bunk about how 6-strings aren't "real" banjos (in spite of them having been hugely popular in the 1910s and 1920s) by people who believe that the only possible use you anyone could have for a banjo is to emulate Earl Scruggs.

The best bargains in 6-string banjos are the 1920s Vegas, you can find them for $900-$1200, and to my ear they sound much better than anything that Deering makes at twice the price.

I am a fan of Papa Charlie Jackson, so I take my 6-string banjos pretty seriously. I play a 1922 Gibson GB-4 like the one Papa Charlie Jackson is photographed with in his 1924 Paramount Records promo photograph. It is rather huge, and it sounds amazing. It is the ultimate ragtime instrument.

[OnTheLedge]

[QUOTE=Cone Head;4166121]Unfortunately I can not really recommend any 6-string banjos in the $200 price range. Even at twice that price you won't find anything that's a very pleasant sounding banjo......

I agree. I highly recommend the Gold Tone BT-2000R I bought a new, blemished one on ebay for $500. The cheap ones, like Dean, are a waste of money. Lesser Gold Tones are OK but the BT-2000, which as a 12 inch rim instead of a 12 inch one, really sounds graet.