Best Banjo Reviews 2023

A banjo is a beautiful thing to invest in; it may require you to spend a fair penny but the crispy sound that you get is priceless. You can expect to pay between $150 and $500 for a good banjo, with the main determinant in price being the banjo’s craftsmanship. In this range, you’ll be in a position to get a quality instrument that’s easy to tune and fun to play. There are also high end banjos way above this range whose price is driven up by deluxe features like top notch parts and expensive hardware.

Creating a quality banjo takes skill, expertise and a lengthy period of time. For this reason the market is flooded with mass produced banjos that are often imitations and don’t produce quality sound. You may find that such cheap pieces are made of flimsy wood that easily break and won’t serve you for long. If you get a banjo from a reputable brand, however, you can expect to get a long warranty to go along with it!

As you go shopping for a banjo, you’ll realize that there are many brands selling them. But do you need to be a music expert in order to acquire this fun instrument? No, because there are certain features that you need to have in mind, such as:

• Type — Most of the banjos are either 4-stringed, 5-stringed or 6-stringed. The number of strings helps you pluck the banjo depending on the position your finger prefers and the type of tune you want to produce.
• Style — A banjo can either have an open back or a closed one known as the resonator. The open-backed banjo produces a much softer sound compared to the one with a resonator, which has an amplified sound.
• Size — The reason why open back banjos are popular is because they’re lighter in weight, allowing you to easily carry them around.
• Material — Different parts of the banjo are made using different materials. For the fingerboard, the most popular material is rosewood while the shell is often made using maple or hardwoods such as mahogany. All you have to ensure is that all the components are made using quality and durable materials.
• Brackets — Brackets are responsible for tightening the head of the banjo, which implies that the more the brackets, the tighter the head and the crispier the sound.

A banjo comprises of three major parts: the tuner head, the neck and the pot. The tuner head, commonly referred to as the peg head, is the point where the strings meet and often has pegs or tuners that are responsible for the sound of your banjo. The pegs may have gears that are adjusted to give you a particular tune. At the bottom of the head is a slot where the strings come together before they go down the neck.

The neck is also often referred to as the fingerboard, because this is where your fingers come alive. Since this is the most commonly used part of the banjo, it needs to be made of quality wood, especially hardwoods such as mahogany, ebony or rosewood. The neck length varies depending on the type of banjo you have. The fingerboard holds the frets in place; frets have a decorative effect and also help mark different positions to help you strum better. On the neck, you’ll also find a truss rod which gives it firmness and rigidity to prevent it from breaking.

Further down the banjo you’ll find the vibrating membrane, which is better known as the pot. Just like the human heart, this is what keeps the banjo going. A key component of the pot is the rim, which is what holds the other parts together. The rim can be made using multiple layers of wood such as mahogany or laminated using maple. The better the quality of the material used to make the rim, the greater the vibration and the richer the tone produced.

The membrane on the top of the pot is where the vibration happens and it acts as the sound board. The thickness of the membrane varies depending on the brand. At the bottom of the pot you’ll find the tail piece which is often adjustable, leading to a variety of tones produced. As you can see, a lot of parts make up a banjo, which is the reason why you have to be keen on the quality of each component to help you enjoy your music to the utmost.

A banjo is pretty easy to play, and it becomes even easier when you know how to pluck a guitar. In case you’re a beginner start practicing using simple chords and before you know it you’ll be churning out even complex tunes. Mastering the chords is the key to a perfect jam. The internet has chord books that can help you, but you may also find that the manufacturer has provided you with one, especially if the banjo you ordered is designed for beginners.

Correctly positioning your fingers and watching how you move them also greatly affects the performance of a banjo. Just like most skills in life — the more you practice, the better you get. You have to regularly maintain your banjo so that it keeps giving you good tones. Use a soft cloth to wipe your instrument as often as you can. Oh, and remember to keep your fingernails short — you don’t want to dent the fingerboard, do you?