$350 vs $2600 Banjo: Deering Goodtime and Vega Vintage Star
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
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Let's take a look at a couple of banjos! In the video, I'm comparing the Deering Goodtime ($579 new, but you can find it used quite a bit cheaper!) and the Deering Vega Vintage Star. I share my personal journey, insights, and detailed comparisons. Discover the impact of price on quality, playability, and sound and I'll look at build quality, features like the scoop, tone rings, and more for enhanced playability. Plus, hear the banjos in action and get tips on getting started with whatever you can afford. Don't miss out on practical advice and personal experiences to guide your banjo journey. Like and subscribe for more music insights and let me know what you play in the comments below!
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Unfortunately, Page not found, The page you are looking for doesn't exist or has been moved. I'm just beginning CH banjo. I even had to go to a different video to find out what a scoop is. Thanks for the vids.
@@gplus1000 Oops! Thanks so much for pointing that out. Link fixed.
The good Vega banjo I would’ve liked to heard you play it
What is the point of playing one of them for just a fleeting few seconds and the other one barely at all, and spending the whole time talking? The sound difference is the most important thing for people to be able to assess in a comparison like this, and is the thing a video can show. The specs can be read on a sheet in 15 seconds.
Six months ago I ordered a Gold Tone AC-1 from Amazon for $250. I initially wanted to play frailing/clawhammer style but it just seemed to difficult for me. So for the first two months I began playing two finger thumb lead, then something told me to revisit the previous frailing style, and I've been play it ever since.
Then on the 2nd of January after looking at other banjos for a while I ordered a "Appalachian" model from Pisgah Banjo Company in black walnut. I really enjoy playing and always look forward to picking it up at the end of the day. Now I'm just waiting for PBC to contact me, probably somewhere toward the end of this year so I can go pick it up. Also, thank you for sharing your story, God bless!
That Pigsah banjo looks really nice! I've never heard one in person. That new banjo wait is tough though! 😂
I owned my AC-1 for two years before I bought my Deering Vega Senator, and I still play my AC-1 all the time! I keep it strung with nylgut, and find myself playing it a lot at night when people have gone to bed. Great banjos.
@@BanjoSkills At 68 time goes by quick enough as it is, so I'm in no big hurry!😀
@@KenneyCmusic I bet that Deering Vega Senator sounds great! I'm gonna have to try the nylgut strings, do you like the sound of them?
I've been buying some upgrades for my AC-1. So far I've bought a Remo Fiberskyn head as well as four Grover traditional tuning pegs, and a wire armrest. My next purchase is a traditional tailpiece, then I'll add them all on next time I change strings.
@@moonshinerphd9523 Having my Vega has been amazing. I'm playing twice as much because it sounds so good! It's nice to have such a quality instrument after years of entry level banjos. I love the nylgut strings alot for different types of music. They're good for just about anything, but the oldtime, minstrel, and fingerstyle/classic styles really shine. They're very warm and plunky. I haven't had a chance to try them on the Vega yet but I bet it'll sound great with the tone ring! I keep my AC-1 strung with nylgut. I have a vintage tai piece on it, and just found out it can fit a dobson tone ring, so that's another upgrade for you to think about! Check out Paul Lion Sinclairs videos on it. I'll have to look up those traditional grover pegs.
Iv been playing clawhammer banjo for around fifty years and still play on a cheap open back sears banjo. When I was young most of the Old Timers played on Sears, Harmony, type banjos. I also like a light weight banjo for carrying around and holding for a two hour dance. Get an expensive banjo if you desire one of those.
Is that the Silvertone line? That's really cool, and yes I totally agree about the beauty of playing a lighter instrument. i can certainly get an achy shoulder after a few hours with the heavier banjo.
Just holding them up side by side for the video did it! 😂
I have the Deering Goodtime and I love it. I do agree that you need a certain quality of banjo to stick with it and not get frustrated. I have tried banjos that don't stay in tune longer than 5 minutes and it's just not worth it to keep trying. I don't care if they're cheap/not flashy, but staying in tune is a must.
my first banjo was a bit like that!
Same, so glad it sounds great and stays in tune!
I bought the Deering Goodtime Classic with the dark wood a few years back.
I love it!!🪕🪕🪕
I love the dark wood they use!
I started with an old Goodtime. I've had several since then, settling on a Luscomb I had refurbished by a luthier. About five years ago a friend gave me a beautiful Paramount resonator banjo. Another friend gave me a gourd banjo that is really cool. These instruments outclass my skills by a long shot, but I have fun.
Nice! I've been considering a gourd banjo for a while but haven't pulled the trigger on it. I really like the gourd banjos from flatfootjohnny.com
I also started with a cheapo amazon banjo. It was terrible. I had my sights on a goldtone CC-carlin, but was having a hard time justifying the price (and getting it past purchasing). But then I saw the Goldtone AC-12 for less than $300. I had my local music store order one (backordered everywhere), and it came in earlier than expected. I couildnt be happier with my purchase, and would highly recommend skipping the cheapo banjo and saving for one of the Goldtone entry models (AC-1, AC-5, AC-12). Rock on.
I've heard those Goldtone AC-12 are great starter banjos! I've never played one personally, but yeah if it's not much more than cheapo amaozn banjo, might be the perfect cheaper entry point.
I love mine
Yes, I love the tone of my AC-12. It also has a scoop. I plan to try nylon strings on it soon.
I started way back in the 70’s with a cheap Contessa German made banjo that was pretty good and at least got me going. Many years later I bought a Deering Vega Little Wonder and loved it! I fell on some pretty hard times and had to sell it. Fast forward to now I bought another Vega Little Wonder and love it. I’m a two finger drop thumb player but now learning claw hammer. Great videos!
Great to hear about the new little wonder! I considered that one before I settled on the vintage star.
I want to do a few more two finger videos for the channel! Such a fun style.
great video Jack! i needed this video before i ended up with 8 banjo's! lol i started with the Deering Goodtime Artisan Americana, great banjo. then i fell in love with the sound of the same one you have, the Deering Vega Vintage Star. it is so well made, aesthetically pleasing for sure, lighter weight yet still awesome build quality. my problem was finding a music store that had a variety of banjos to look at and try out. they had tons of guitars and one banjo, which was usually a resonator banjo. so i ended up searching youtube and buying multiple banjos. i will say i have fallen in love with the tone rings though, i have the Vega which has the Dobson tone ring, I have the Tubaphone Pisgah and i have a custom made Whyte Laydie tone ring banjo with a calf skin head. i do have a banjo with a wood tone ring but it is way more quiet than my others. i would say it is personal preference and your financial circumstances for sure...it would be nice to go to one store with tons of banjos to try out. LOL
Wow that's an amazing collection! Here in London, we have hobgoblin music which has a good selection of new, and then Denmark Street which is a street dedicated to music shops. They have some vintage and new banjos mixed in. But next time I buy something I'm going to make the trek to Eagle Music - they're supposed to have a huge collection.
I play the gold tone, white lady for many years. And then heard the Ohm and graduated significantly upwards. Took lessons from Chris Coole in Toronto and that made more difference in my playing than any higher end banjo!
My first was a washburn b-10 i got for under 300 back in 2020. I just recently got a gold tone cc-ot and I'm in love with it. it has the reverse tuners and a railroad spike already installed. And i am enjoying learning to play over the scoop as well
That gold tone looks really nice! Learning to play over the scoop is weird right? For me, I just had to only play over it for a few months to really get the hang of it.
@@BanjoSkills scoop is def weird. still getting used to it. will prolly take a few months as well before its drilled into my brain. haha.
I still have a Deering Goodtime that I use as my jamb session, camp banjo for weekend festivals and such. The last couple of years I've been getting back to my old stringband roots and strung up with the Aquila Nylgut strings. Everyone seems to enjoy the tone and depth of sound variety in the strings, but best of all, they are easy on the hand.
I really want a banjo I can string with Nylgut strings! They sound so great.
I got myself a Goodtime Special Classic, which I believe is not made anymore. It's basically a Goodtime, but stained dark brown, has the classic shaped headstock with rear-facing planetary tuners, a tone ring, and railroad spikes. I love it. Only thing I'm missing is having a scoop, but after years of consideration, I'm finally fixing to remove and fill the top frets.
Nice! I really prefer the color on the vintage star. Woud love to be able to get a goodtime in the same color!
Good video man! I started playing on cheap 70's banjos in my late teens but didn't get really get into fiddle tunes or bluegrass until a few ago. I picked myself up an AC-1 from a local shop and learned as many fiddle tunes as I could. Figured out how to string it with nylgut. Upgraded to my Deering Vega Senator a couple months ago. There's a huge difference in tone, but I still play my AC-1 all the time. They're great budget banjos, and easily customizable. I want a gourd banjo, minstrel banjo, maybe a vintage SS Stewart, or A.C Fairfield, a tenor. All the banjos. 😅
You're going to run out of space for all the instruments you play one of these days 😂 but totally agree about the gourd banjo! I've been eyeing a few from makers I've found on youtube recently
I picked up the same Goodtimes model, used for $300. It sounds so good and plays so well! I also have the Vega Whyte Ladie from the ‘20’s that my Grandmother gave me, but it’s a tossup which I like playing more.
Yes the goodtime is so playable! That Vega is an amazing instrument though! I've seen some videos on it.
You didn't even play the vega for us.. how come?
Most of the features on the more expensive banjo he mentioned were merely cosmetic, certainly not justifying the much higher cost. I have an expensive, Alvarez, “White Eagle” banjo and a fretless banjo I purchased as a kit from Carver Banjo, and I much prefer the cheaper one. The main reason I prefer the Carver is because of its primitive, deep south sound as opposed to the sharp, blue grass sound of the Alverez. Also, the Carver is something like a 10th of the weight of the Alvarez and, believe me, I’m not exaggerating.
Thanks for the info here! I hadn't seen the Carver banjo before but it looks great.
You ever stuff your banjos? A lot of the less-than-desirable overtones in banjos, especially with the ones with synthetic heads, can be mitigated with a dish towel. I have a student with an entry-level banjo that sounds ten times better stuffed than not. Cool video though! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve seen people do it but I’ve never actually tried it! Going to play around with that
It just needs to have decent action (string height) for your tender new left hand fingertips, and it needs to be tunable, and stay in tune. A cheap banjo that doesn't meet those basics might discourage a beginner, I feel.
Fair point on the action! My fingers tips are so tough I forget that's definitely a concern when you're starting. Worth getting a good setup and some strings that won't be too hard on newer fingers
I've been a guitarist for about sixty years and I've found that beginner level instruments are a waste of money. They are usually so hard to play that you have to be extremely dedicated to be able to learn anything before you give up in frustration. So when I bought my first banjo last year - no, my second banjo, I had a very nasty Harmony banjo in the sixties - I splurged on a Vega Woodsongs Campfire long neck. It's very easy to play and has an amazing tone. I can't recommend it enough,
That is a beautiful banjo! I played one just the other day for the first time when I was wandering around some music shops. It is great to be able to start on an amazing instrument like this for sure.
@@BanjoSkills it looks really sharp too.
I taught guitar for years and I will say I PARTLY agree about starting with cheap instruments. I have had cheap instruments that sounded amazing. I have also seen students that had real potential lose faith in their ability because they simply could not make an instrument sound good and they assumed it was them, not the instrument.
Fair point, I did reach a point with my first cheapo banjo where I was getting frustrated about not being to get certain sounds from it. Maybe a better way to say it is there's nothing wrong with a cheap instrument as long as you know it's a cheap instrument and you'll want to upgrade at some point!
In terms of features I don’t think you can beat the Gold Tone entry level banjos - the AC series isn’t much more expensive than your cheapo Amazon model but comes with things that even the Deering models don’t, like truss rods and tone rings.
The entry-level Deering models, I should clarify. Also, I live in Germany where it's a bit harder to find non-online Banjo retailers, and I have to say that my experience of contacting just the generic info at goldtone email address got me a direct reply from the CEO who immediately started figuring out what it would cost to ship a model overseas and how soon I could get it. My customer service experience with Goldtone was truly exceptional.
That's graet to hear! I'm going to have to check out the Gold Tone! Have you been to Thomann in Germany? I've heard they have an amazing selection but I haven't been there myself.
@@BanjoSkills I have not - they're about 4 hours south of me by car so a bit out of the way. But Maybe next time I head down south I'll make it a priority!
Awesome banjos do you have any tab for the song
Hey thanks! Yup, I’m playing cripple creek and have tabs at www.banjoskills.com/cripple-creek-banjo-tab
You missed three key upgrades in the Vega:
1. Has an adjustable truss rod. The lack of this is a real problem for the Goodtime. As humidity changes, wood ages, etc. there’s no adjustment for the neck.
2. The Vega has a fingerboard and I believe the frets on it are bound. Frets on the Goodtime are routed into the neck wood and the frets are not bound so there can be sharp ends on them.
3. The Vega has dual coordinator rods making the relationship between the neck and pot more stable. It’s also a bit easier to adjust the angle of the neck relative to the pot.
All excellent points, thank you!
Wow, kept watching to see if the Vega sounded better than the Goodtime and you didn't really play it :(
You can see his other videos, where he plays the Vega! 🙂
I love my Harley Benton, 85 euros i costed me. No issues with that whatsoever. I´d say that on a skin top instrument, the skin is 96% of the sound. The arguable "cheapness" of a cheap banjo is the cheap skin. Goat skin is better :)
Interesting, are there still banjo makers using goat skin?
No idea :) But there is natural skin available, and I´ve seen guides on how to mount it. I´m getting inspired just talking about it! @@BanjoSkills
Play the Vega
Could it be that the "Vega vintage star" is a very slight bit over-priced ? 😊
Guess it depends! For me, I've played it every day for a couple of years and it's given me a lot of joy. So it's pretty worth it to me. But for someone else it might not be!
Hmmm . I honestly think, $ 2600 is always too much for any modern banjo, except the special collector's items and historic heritages. Finally, it's no more than stick and a drum. For $ 2600 you can also buy a very good used piano.
(My own 2nd hand $700 hybrid, high end but nameless banjo is worth > $ 15.000 to me.)
my first banjo was a Ozark maple banjo a cheepy ,bought about 15 yrs ago,
mostly play a goldtone WL 250 and a Vintage overspun banjo now
That goldtone wl 250 looks really nice! I’m always keeping an eye out for a good vintage banjo but haven’t bought one yet.
But what does the Vega sound like? ;)
Yes I forgot to actually play the Vega 🤦
For some reason I thought this was going to be a comparison video, but dude didn't even play the nice banjo.
Compared to what I play, both are very nice banjos.