Deering Goodtime 5-String Banjo

This is a very well made instrument with good quality materials and finish. It hold tune very well and has an excellent tone too. It's quite quiet - no sounding board and made all of wood - so that might be a drawback for playing in a group. As a beginner instrument though, it's perfect.

One of the best entry level banjos you can get. I also own a Deering goodtime artisan special, however I tend to reach for this one alot when looking to practice as its not as loud, and very light in weight. Came set up perfectly, just tuned it up and was playing a moment later. I find it great for playing clawhammer style and also when playing bluegrass style by yourself, probably won't do for a bluegrass jam though as its not loud enough unless you mic it, but that's just how openbacks are. If you want a great quality banjo that's fun to learn on or travel with this is it. Sounds great too, sure it doesn't have all the fancy pearl inlays and colour options as a higher end Deering but it is a great banjo. Only thing I would change on this model is add some 5th string capo spikes on the 7th,9th,and 10th fret

I’ve been playing my new banjo every day since it arrived, and I just LOVE IT!!!!!

As a beginner banjo player, I couldn't be happier with this first-time purchase. Great quality and lovely sounding.

I can't say enough wonderful tings about this banjo. I own this and also a Deering Eagle II that cost more than five times as much, and I have owned cheap imports as well. This Goodtime is closer to the Eagle II in terms of sound and playability than it is to the cheap imports. In other words, it plays well above its class. The sound is surprisingly bright and loud for an open-back, and the low action and light-gauge strings make it very easy to play. Deering clearly gives the Goodtime a lot of the quality workmanship that goes into their professional-caliber banjos, but keep the cost affordable by minimizing the frills. For example, the Goodtime has 1/3 fewer brackets than a typical banjo. It has no separate fretboard (the neck is the fingering surface), the wood is unstained, it uses guitar tuners rather than planetary tuners, the tension hoop is not plated, and it has no side fret markers, no tone ring, no armrest, and of course no resonator (various other Goodtime models are available that are stained and have planetary tuners and/or have a resonator and/or a steel tone ring, at commensurately higher prices). But the truth is that none of that really matters much for the purposes of any beginner or intermediate banjo student, and even for pretty much anyone who is just playing recreationally. All that matters is that it sounds and plays great, and it does!In fact, this entry-level Goodtime has some advantages over expensive professional-grade models. It's extremely light, weighing in at a mere 4 pounds (thanks in part to its minimal hardware and lack of any tone ring), making it easy to carry and easy to hold, even for a child or an adult with a bad back. This is a banjo you don't mind bringing with you camping or to the beach, unlike a heavy expensive one. The smooth satin finish allows your hand to glide easily up and down the neck, whereas the heavy gloss finish on expensive banjos can create more friction and feel draggier. And the Goodtime's guitar tuners are actually more precise than the planetary tuners on my Eagle II.Deering does sell a separate add-on armrest for the Goodtime banjo, if you really must have one (standard armrests won't fit because of the very wide bracket spacing). I bought it, and it was easy to install. Deering also sells a resonator kit if you later decide you want to upgrade from open-back to resonator (if you're reasonably sure you're going to eventually want a resonator, it probably makes more sense to just get the resonator model from the outset rather than add a resonator later--and you can always opt to just take the resonator off. But it's simply nice to know that you do also have the option of adding a resonator later--you're not necessarily committing to an open-back by buying this model.When I bought my open-back Goodtime and finally had a truly well-made, quality, nice sounding, playable banjo in my hands for the first time, I just wanted to play it all the time. I found it to be a real joy compared to the inferior imported banjos I had struggled with in the past. In fact, I loved it so much that I decided right away that I just had to have one of the upper-line Deerings and bought my Eagle II (I pretty much fell in love with this company and its products!). But that was just to satisfy my enthusiasm--the truth is, this simple open-back Goodtime would have been plenty sufficient for all my present and future purposes. If you're going to be playing in a band or in large open venues, you may want to spend a little more for one of the Goodtime models that have a resonator (Goodtime Two) or a tone ring (Goodtime Special Open-Back) or both (Goodtime Special). But whichever Goodtime you choose, it is an outstanding banjo for a beginner and it's still pretty outstanding for any banjo player of any skill level, short of a professional!