Banjos Available Today: General Overview
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Note: What follows is not an endorsement
of any make or model of banjo. I have no vested interest in any of the brands
mentioned. Should I do so in the future, I will revise this to reflect a
personal interest.
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| Asian: Many, if not most banjos
available today are of Asian manufacture. This means mostly China, Taiwan and
Korea, sometimes combinations of all three (Made in China, shipped to Korea
where it's assembled, finished and shipped to America). This is actually a
fairly old tradition, with a rich and diverse history of varying levels of
quality produced. Somewhere in the early 60s, some early Asian companies figured
out that they could make essentially the same instruments made and sold in the
States for pennies on the dollar based on labor rates a fraction of what workers
make here. Some of these were very good. The Yamaha company made early copies of
the Martin D-18 which even today still stand up pretty well in comparison. If
you see one of these in a pawn shop, jump on it. If you see a modern day Yamaha
guitar there, jump on it as well. Literally. It probably sounds horrible.
Another import, a banjo with the product name "Gold Star" was a copy of a
pre-war Gibson Mastertone, and like Yamaha, the early results were so good that
today they have been re-released in the hopes of rekindling interest, and some
of these are quite good. Today, some of the Asian names that bear looking at
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Recording King |
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Gold Star |
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Gold Tone |
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Mastercraft |
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Saga - Blueridge - Rover |
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Morgan Monroe |
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Fender |
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Epiphone |
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Yes, some of these are American brands, or
subsidiary brands of American names, but are nevertheless imports. Asian brands
vary widely in quality and price. You must play banjos in order to evaluate
them, and in fact, I would never recommend buying a banjo that you haven't had
in your hand. Plan a day trip, or weekend trip. It will be well worth the time
and effort. There is just too much variation in tone. It is also possible
to pay most of the money you are investing in the appearance of the banjo, with
lots of pearl and gold engraving. This does not always translate into a fancy
sounding banjo; just a fancy looking one. |
American brands |
Because of the vast wage difference between
American and Asian workers, it is almost impossible for American companies to
compete with the low to mid range Asian makers. Most American made, playable,
entry level instruments tend to run around 800 to 1000. Manufacturing banjos
poses another problem to American makers. The market isn't large enough to
generate the sort of sales volume that helps to bring manufacturing costs down.
One high end manufacturer told me that he hoped to make 175 banjos last year.
Another obstacle to determining how much money to spend while assuring that you
get something playable is that most of the units sold are the low end
instruments, which allows these to be sold at the lowest cost margin, meaning
the biggest "value" to you. The higher end instruments, while getting more and
more into the American made realm also tend to go up the price range pretty
quickly. |
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The illustration below shows
price ranges and relative features. It is a very rough assessment, meant to be a
general guideline. Exceptions to this can be found.
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Some American Brands
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A hundred years ago, there were
nearly 100 American banjo manufacturers! Why? What happened to them?
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The interesting, little known fact
about American banjos is that they experienced a heyday that occurred around the
1880s. Whole banjo orchestras were commonly found throughout the country. Banjo
makers proliferated without any competition from overseas manufacturers. What
killed the banjo craze? One theory is that war changes popular culture. Tracing
the history of popular music in the U.S., most of the real generational changes
happened during or shortly after major wars. Another factor might be the advent
of radio and later, television. In the latter part of the nineteenth century,
most entertainment was found outside the house. Social clubs of various sorts
proliferated throughout towns and cities. Banjo clubs (as well as mandolin
clubs) became common. No town was too small, it seems, to foster its own banjo
orchestra/social club. As the new century dawned, demand dwindled, smaller
companies went out of business, leaving the larger, more profitable companies.
Gibson was about to enter it's golden era of manufacturing, and a man by the
name of Lloyd Loar, along with Orville Gibson, was about to revolutionize
American instrument making, producing what are still today considered the finest
stringed acoustic instruments ever made this side of Stradivarius.
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Modern Day American Brands
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Deering |
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Gibson |
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Stelling |
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Ome |
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Sullivan (First Quality Music) |
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Wildwood |
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Crafters of Tennessee |
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There are many others (smaller,
independent makers. I am one of
them), and this list isn't intended to be an endorsement of any particular
brand, just a representation of the larger, nationally known builders.
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