Features:

  • Tunes & Plays Like A Guitar - Sounds Like A Banjo
  • New 6 String Banjo by Jameson Guitar Company
  • Maple Neck and Mahogany Resonator
  • 24 Bracket & Diecast Enclosed Tuners
  • Top Selling Banjo - Customer Favorite - Ships Fast
Fantastic Instrument that is playable, fun and cuts through the mix! Easy for Guitarists!

My first banjo, so it took a while to get it setup how I like it and this is a fantastic little instrument! The setup is involved in the grooves on the bridge piece and positioning it on the snare head. Plenty of videos to show you how to do this on regular banjos. There is no learning curve other than setup for guitarists if you play in standard tuning (EADGBE). The action was a bit high, but when I grooved the bridge deeper (the low E kept popping off under tension) with a file, it has lowered it to where it is comfortable. Most of the stuff you are going to play is under the 12th fret, and it sounds great for playing fast picked chords. If you want to emulate the sound of a real banjo, then use the Open G tuning (DGDGBD) and the only difference is that the low G (5th String) is an octave lower than on a banjo. The head on this is a Remo and the brackets are well put together and not cheap pot metal. The tuners are smooth and the frets are comfortable, though I always prefer larger jumbo or extra jumbo frets, but most acoustic instruments are low to medium and this is in that range. The volume is exceptional and the tone sounds great for a lead sound cutting through the mix in a song. Having played several banjos in the music store that cost considerably more than this, it sounds as good or better to my ears. If you enjoy open chord fingerpicking or playing fast picked licks, this is a great instrument. Bluesy sounds and power chords are not going to sound very good though. I love this instrument for Irish/Scottish tunes! This instrument is a spectacular deal and is very well made with a solid wood back and quality metal brackets.

Pleasantly Surprised

I've wanted a Ganjo for a few years, but never pulled the trigger for one. Mostly because I know I won't use it that often and assumed that to get a decent sound, I'd have to spend $1000. I assumed that because I was at GC a few years ago and picked up a Gretsch that was on sale for $300 it sounded terrible. When I saw this one for $169, I wasn't expecting much, but if it was that bad, I'd return it. Lemme tell ya, I was dead wrong! Straight outta the box, I tuned it and was playing it in minutes. Great workmanship, great sound. If someone handed this to me and told me to guess what it sold for, I would have said $800, easily. I'd never heard of the brand name before, so that and the low price kinda worried me. Again, I was dead wrong. This is a high quality product that won't break the bank. I highly recommend it!

Good Deal!

I ordered this banjo guitar, because I wanted a banjo sound. I am not a very accomplished guitar player and did not want to spend a huge amount of money. This 6-string banjo was a good deal for me. Two of the strings were buzzing, and I took it to the local music store to have them adjusted. I was told that it had not yet been properly set up and that there were some lose screws, bridge had to be adjusted and so forth. They also put on lighter strings to give it more of a banjo sound. All in all, that cost me 64 Dollars. I have fun playing it and it sounds good. Above all, it stays extremely well in tune. I do not know how to set up these instruments and believe that it is worth having somebody else do it. Most places will not charge you anything to look it over to see, if everything is straight on it. There is a warranty on it, but these were only adjustments that needed to be made. You need to expect these little things to be fixed when ordering an instrument online. Still an excellent deal.

If you want a banjo sounding guitar, buy this one

I am no expert but for what I paid for this, it is a great instrument and well worth the money! I showed it to a friend who actually plays the guitar and the banjo and his opinion was that it was better built and had a more twangy sound than any banjitar he ever saw in a music store for twice the price. Even though it doesn't sound exactly like a banjo its as close to the real deal as your going to get with a guitar neck and tuning. Definitely worth investing in a case and a strap and if you aren't savvy enough to do it yourself, have a pro make minor set up adjustments.

and enjoyed the customizable options provided by the numerous screws on ...

I owned this banjo for two months, and then sold it for the same amount I paid on Amazon. The quality is stellar, and the beauty of this instrument is apparent to anyone who sees it. It is LOUD! I removed the back and was able to dampen the sound, and enjoyed the customizable options provided by the numerous screws on the head and neck. It stayed in tune well, and I replaced the strings upon arrival. Strumming chords can sound odd at first, but with practice, sound rich and vibrant. It tunes and plays exactly like a six string guitar, but is most certainly its own instrument. Picking sounds great, though I was unable to experiment with slides. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially since the demand is high (yay hipsters) and reselling it locally is always an option. It's basically Mumford in a box.

Quality product

This product exceeded my expectations. I am a guitar player struck with "banjo envy" but realized that the art of banjo playing takes a lot of practice and time. Hence, talking to banjo experts, I was surprised and pleased to learn of "6 string" banjos tuned just like a guitar. I looked at several stores for 5 string banjos (no store had 6 string) and had sticker shock, so I went to the inter net. There are a lot of banjos out on the net and most of the cheaper ones had mediocre reviews. I saw this 6 string banjo on Amazon (Musicians Discount Warehouse). At the time, it had no reviews, but the same brand (Jameson-Davison) 5 string banjo on Amazon had great reviews, which is pretty good for a $135 banjo. When the banjo arrived, it was all assembled and nicely adjusted. Tuning it was not a hardship as it was already well strung. Every aspect of it's construction was quality and it just looked beautiful. I took it to my Folk Singing club and had real banjo players and musicians look at it and, they were duly impressed. The action is just a little high (I like it the way it is), but most banjos have a high action. However, if you want to lower the action, it's relatively easy to do as it has an adjustable brace for the neck. It comes with the wrenches needed for the brace and the resonator. This banjo, I believe, is under priced at $149.95 and may be sold this cheap to get some sales action and reviews so that later they can up the price. It goes for $229.95 as it is at the Musicians Discount Warehouse site. They claim it use to sell for $449.95 (I believe it). In terms of what I was looking for, this was it.

Decent Guitjo for the money!

Ok so this is not a Deering or a Gold Tone. It does not come set up from the factory and chances are the banjo head (drum head) will not have the appropriate tension and if you tune it up without making any adjustments, when you try to play it (especially the lower strings) it will sound dull and lifeless. If you know how, set it up as a banjo first, then put a set of GHS six string Banjo strings on it, properly mensurate the bridge, and also properly adjust the tailpiece. Doing all of this, you can get some very nice tones out of this instrument. The 1 3/4” wide nut makes this just awesome for fingerpicking and it’s a lot of fun to play but it may seem too wide for some. It is however not a 5 string banjo. Even with perfect set up and playing with finger picks you will not sound like Earl Scruggs or J.D. Crowe. You can get “banjo like” tones out of the treble strings and it certainly does very well for Irish ballads or for diversifying your sound; but if you are buying this to play bluegrass banjo you will not get the “authentic” sound you’re likely expecting. I play 5 string banjo as well and although this is a great instrument it’s not the same. If you really want that sound and feel, get a 5 string banjo and one of Geoff Hohwald’s books to learn from and practice! This banjo is a great value and it plays and sounds great once it’s set up. I really like it and I play the hell out of it. But if you’re not prepared to set it up or to pay someone to do it for you, this is likely not for you.

Support is excelent

Arrived with a couple of faults. High E came unwound Fret buzz on Low E Emailed support, they called me back, walked me through an adjustment to stop buzz Sent an entire set of strings to replace broken E - and not some no name strings in a plain wrapper, but name brand This went from pretty low to very high rating Played this at a local gathering - got a couple compliments.

Great sound. I like it very much.

I play guitar and after the realization that it would take a good 7 years to perfect the banjo, (no thanks) I decided to buy this banjitar or whatever they call them to get that great banjo sound. I like the sound better with the back off of it, so I removed it. It plays well and I do like the sound. Have thought about replacing the strings but have not done that yet. All around I say it was a god buy. I did not like paying sales tax on this but that would be a review of Amazon policy and not a review on this instrument.

Exceptionally good instrument

I'm not sure how to write a review for this without sounding like a company rep. This is by far one of the nicest instruments I have ever seen. I own two Ovation guitars (steel and nylon) and a Peavey bass. This offers a good fourth to the set. At the price on this Bantar I wasn't expecting such quality. At the time I write this review, this instrument is solid 5 stars at 13 reviews. There's good reason for that: there's a standard 5-string banjo here on Amazon made by the same company and it has 128 reviews with solid 4 & 5 stars (vast majority 5). So I guess they must make a good instrument. I know I'm very pleased with mine. When the ad says it's a $450 instrument they're selling at about 150 bucks... believe it. This is total quality head to tail. It is gorgeous, heavy (as a banjo should be) and offers quality sound. It may be expected that being basically a banjo, the treble strings have considerably more report than the E and A bass strings; that's the nature of the beast. This isn't a guitar with a banjo body, but a somewhat different instrument, one in which the lower strings are clearly audible but not as pronounced and deep as they can be on a guitar because the sound is amplified by a banjo head. The result is a typical banjo "twang" with a nice semi-bass drone thrown in, and presents a unique sound. One downside, but quite normal: on my instrument the action is considerably high (not unusual on a store-bought, un-tamed instrument). So the first thing I'll have to do is find either a shorter bridge or cut this one down a bit. However the neck is straight and the Bantar well-produced. Once the bridge is re-done I believe I'll have an excellent instrument. Pretty much every instrument I've ever purchased "off the shelf" has required similar work; it is expected. The sound is mellow and resonant, and not as "twangy" as some off-the-shelf banjos I've heard. I credit this to the wood sides and backing (as opposed to metal sides sometimes found on other banjos). I am sorely tempted to replace the head on this with clear mylar and do some artistic woodburning on the inside backplate. People would think I bought a $2000 instrument. If you want to play this as an open-back, the back is easily removed via four thumb-screws. I can't recommend one way or another as I prefer a closed-back instrument, but that feature does make this very versatile. There are few things these days that I purchase and find to be pristine. Aside from the action needing some work (which again, is very common)... this is pristine. At the time I write this review every review on here is 5 stars; I gladly add mine to the mix. Highly recommended instrument of top quality and performance. [edit] I've had this instrument about a week now and I'm quite pleased with it still. I did do something different: I switched out the steel strings for high-tension nylon guitar strings. Martin or D'Addario ball-end sets work fine. The sound it produces is significantly more mellow than steel strings. I also found a set of gold-tone tuning pegs here on Amazon that are the exact same make and model that comes with the banjo. So remove the silver ones and wow... the gold tone looks great with this instrument. This is quite a buy for someone looking specifically for a Bantar. Lots of folks will choose to get a 5-string banjo so they can learn the standard banjo rifts, but for a guitar player wanting a unique sound this is perfect.

Full Reviews