Hi all,
I am part of a 4-H bluegrass club, which meets once a month, and supplies instruments for kids to borrow. The once a month lesson doesn’t do much (that’s where you come in @banjoben 
). I currently am borrowing two low-quality instruments (Rouge guitar and travel/beginner banjo). I am not planning to buy a banjo soon, but in the next year or two I would like to get my own banjo. I was wondering about the quality of the Rouge B30 banjo. I am fairly satisfied with the Rouge open-backed, so how does it compare? If the B30 is not a good banjo, what other options are there under $250? Thanks,
Harrison
Banjo for Beginner
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I don’t think I’d even try to buy a new banjo for under $500. The quality would be so bad it may not be good enough to learn on.
What I’ve done is create search term notifications on my local Craig’s List to let me know when someone posts stuff I want. Today someone just posted 4 different banjos. They’re not great deals, but that’s where negotiation comes in. I once got a Recording King RK-R20 for $200. It was a great learning banjo.
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I agree with Mark. You can get a great deal on a used instrument if you take your time and do plenty of research on quality instruments and what they should cost.
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I agree with these folks, don’t buy that new banjo. I’d look for a used Goodtime 2 by Deering or an RK-R20 like Mark mentioned.
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Hi again,
I have been looking for used banjos, and I recently tried a couple different Deerings, I like the low action but dislike the wide neck. I found a Morgan Monroe used on Guitar Center. Does this banjo have low action and decent tone? I am not very picky about the sound, but playability is a must.
Coming from Guitar center, probably not. I’ve played a few GC banjos, no, actually I’ve tried to play a few GC banjos. Only one of four was even remotely playable. I’d get this instead:
If you’re actually not too concerned about tone. Coming from Ben’s store, it should be set up very well.
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I am close to Dick’s Country Store, where the Gibson Brothers had their first lessons. They specialize in banjos/bluegrass strings, so could I get the GC one set up there?
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Possibly, but it could cost around 75$ or more, I know Ben’s store does free set up on anything you buy
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