Category Archives: Buying Tips

Here are some important tips for anyone looking to buy a banjo guitar.  There are many different musical instrument companies that make banjos.  There is no way to tell by the brand name anymore which ones are good.  You used to be able to just recommend a Gibson guitar but now they make many different lines.  First pay attention to the weight of the banjo.  A good banjo will feel much heavier than a cheap one.  This weight indicates a much more solid tone ring.  Look at the number of tension rods that the banjo has.  The more tension rods the better.  Though hard to see, the quality of the wood on your banjo is important too.  Look up the neck to see if the wood is straight grained, you also want to see that the growth rings are close together.  You may also see some tiger looking stripes on a maple guitar this is called flame and is another good sign.  Good tuning pegs are made from cast metal, the tuning gears are enclosed.  You don’t want tuning pegs that were made as a stamped out piece.  On a good quality banjo the frets will be highly polished.  Feel up and down the neck, if the frets feel rough or sharp, it is probably a cheap banjo.  Use these banjo buying tips the next time you head to guitar center or to your local musical instrument supplier.