Gold tone banjos

[Bobbie Dier]

Please I know this isn't about my favorite thing , mandolins, but I HAVE to have a banjo now and I want to ask anyone who may know if Gold Tone banjos(open back) are any good. It (the one I'm looking at is the "White Lady" tone ring model. Are there any old time banjer players out there that can please help me. I think the price is right. Free shipping and hard shell case for $645. Thanks so much. Thanks for your never getting tired of answering these questions!!!

If no one can help you might point me in the direction of an unbiased banjo web site. Thanks!

ima

[BlueMountain]

A Whyte Lady tone ring will make a Gold Tone sound much better than it might otherwise. (I have a Gold Tone tenor up on eBay right now. It has a simple piece of 1/4 inch brass wire for a tone ring, and it sounds a mile below a Silver Bell I sold last week. I think the price you mention is very good for a Gold Tone with a Whyte Lady tone ring, given what that ring costs at StewMac. If you don't like it, you can probably sell it for what you paid for it.

[Avi Ziv]

Hi,

I have this banjo (http://www.goldtone.com/products/det...ubarea2=it-250) and I'm assuming this is what you are asking about. I play traditional Irish music on mandolin and so I'm not an expert on banjos. However, I am very pleased with this purchase. The fit and finish is very nice, and the tone is great. I can't comment on the factory setup, since mine was setup by a tech, before I bought it and I know that a new nut was put in. However, I would say that it's well worth the money even if it needed some adjustments. I got an amazing deal for $300 (no case) so I just could not turn it down. Now that I have it, I can't stop playing it.

I'd say - go for it!
Avi

[JGWoods]

Banjo #######
has a lot of opinions about Gold Tone Banjos.
People seem to like them.
I like old Orpheums and New Nechvilles but I've been playing for 40 years.

[Stephen Perry]

The Gold Tone open backs sold reasonably well here, until we ran out of room. They were good values. The Whyte Lady was the nicest one. You'd probably be very happy with it, especially if you go through it carefully once it acclimates to wherever you are. Check the tonering fit etc. That kind of "blueprinting" makes a big difference with banjos.

[Avi Ziv]

Steve - can you please elaborate on the term "blueprinting" ? I'm not familiar with it

Thanks,
Avi

[Adam Tracksler]

I have one of the Gold Tone whyte ladyes. its a great old time banjo. I would also suggest you get a new bridge for it, I got a Samson Walnut bridge - its great.

[mikeyes]

Banjos are very sensitive to setup and a terrible sounding banjo can really change with a few simple tweaks. For the most part I like the Gold Tone banjos. The company cheats a little on the tailpiece and the tuners (maybe more than a little, but you can replace them without breaking the bank) but the overall construction is good and the designs are well thought out.

The instrument you are looking at is a good one in my opinion, but you had better make sure that you have a good setup including tightening the head till it reaches the tone you like and then tightening it a little more to make sure (banjos are just an assemblage of parts, you can reverse the tightening and return to the sound you like.) Then you might want to change the bridge and the tailpiece. In fact the factors that determine the quality of the sound of a banjo are, in descending order (and my opinion only), type of head, head tension, bridge, tailpiece angle, tailpiece, and strings. Also, make sure that everything is tight as there are about 6 million parts to a banjo and most of them loosen with playing. Set the coordinator rods at a neutral positon (tight but not so much as to effect the roundness of the rim) and you should be OK. Each banjo has a unique sound and each type of banjo has a typical sound so don't expect to sound like a 1934 Gibson or an original Vega WL.

[red7flag]

Not meaning to run you off, but would suggest you make your post at http://www.banjohangout.org as that is a banjo site.
Hope this helps.
Tony

[Bobbie Dier]

Thanks everyone. I checked out the reviews on The Banjo ####### site. There was a ton of information, opinions, and a few little arguments among the members. (Just about like here)but....it really helps to know what a lot of people think about the price and quality of the instruments. I don't worry about the arguments, they help get the info out on the table. It's looking good so far and I'll probably bite the bullet and buy the Gold Tone. I'm waiting a few more days to see what else is said about them. So far I'm hearing good things.

giannaviolins,
I'm in NE Tennessee . The perfect place for banjos . I have a few friends that can educate me on checking the tone ring and keeping an eye on the setup and the rest.

atracksler,
How is the Samson Walnut bridge different from the one that comes with it?

PS
I hope I'm not going to get in trouble with the moderators for talking about banjos.

[Bobbie Dier]

red7flag,
I have been on this site a long time and I trust these peoples opinions . Their opinions are like gold to me. I will get off of the banjos now. I don't know anyone on the banjo site. I didn't even know where a good site was at the time I posted this. I knew some of the wonderful members here would be willing to help me. Thanks.

[bluegrassdan]

How about goldtone mandobanjos? You see alot of antique mandobanjos on Ebay but Goldtone is the only one I know of that makes them today. Are there others?

[steve V. johnson]

I was asked to find a tenor banjo for a friend. I got her the Gold Tone CC-IT ("Cripple Creek Irish Tenor) and it has been a happy-making machine, not only for her, but for many who have seen and heard it, banjo experts, partner musicians, live and studio engineers and old folks.

Gold Tone stuff, in general, seem to be great values.

I think that "blueprinting" would mean to go thru the parts and the fit and bring everything to spec, or to a fit better than the specs. That's what we meant back when I was a motorhead. We'd blueprint motors by making everything fit better and with less friction, and sometimes weight.

When the CC-IT tenor banjo got here, I had a tech go thru it and make sure that everything was right to spec, straight and in tune. IMO, any Gold Tone instrument should have this done, and then will probably be a wonderfully usable and pleasant partner.

stv

[Bobbie Dier]

Thanks for all your help everybody!

[Thomaston]

Hey, I've spent the last year neck deep in the world of banjo, so maybe I can help you out. The Gold Tone is indeed a really good banjo, but like what was said before, set-up is a crucial step with any banjo. It takes the right balance of MANY different things to get the best sound. Also, there's no one "right" sound with clawhammer banjo (which is what I assume you're wanting to play since you want an openback). There's several good Gold Tones out there that can range from very bright to very mellow and plunky. The sound you want may very well depend on what banjo is best for you. Take a look at this page:
http://www.banjo.com/shoppin....ld+Tone

That's a full list of GT banjos. I recommend any of them except the CC-50. I also highly recommend that site ( and I have no affiliation with them). The price of a White Ladye with case is little more than $645 but it's worth it to get a banjo from them. They thoroughly set up all their banjos prior to shipping to get the best sound from it. Basically, www.banjo.com means the same to a banjo player as www.themandolinstore.com means to a mando player.

[Stephen Perry]

Steve - can you please elaborate on the term "blueprinting" ? I'm not familiar with it

Thanks,
Avi

Comes from the auto soup-up world. We'd take an engine down and rework it to very close tolerances. Make the combustion chambers the same volume. Rods the same weight & balance point. Etc.

In a banjo, make sure the tone ring fits perfectly, neck seats perfectly, adjustments etc all perfect throughout. Really helps mandolins a great deal. I'd put a Desert Rose bridge on as well. Makes a very big difference.

[Pedal Steel Mike]

I don't know about Gold Tone banjos, but there's a store near me with 2 Gold Tone mandolns. I checked tghem both out. The F-5 copy didn't impress me, but the Rigel copy (non electric) did. It really had THAT sound. If I didn't already have more than enough mandolins, I'd have bought it.

[Bobbie Dier]

Guess what I got in the mail today??

[JGWoods]

Guess what I got in the mail today??

Something that makes you drool?

[Bobbie Dier]

Well , it really didn't come in the mail. It came UPS. Yeah it makes me drool. It is great so far. I just need to get a few capo spikes in it and it'll be ready to roll.Man what a difference from the $80 Dixon banjo that I've had to plunk around on. I'm so excited. I've been working on Ken Perlmans lessons. Need to get that drop thumb down.

Thanks for all your help. Sorry about the non mando content.

Have a great weekend!! I know I will. Wocka wocka wocka.