For some reason finding a banjo has become like the quest for the holy grail. I can't find a decent used one at a good price anywhere! Even the usual stringed-instrument sources are totally out of new ones or have very little in stock. Sweetwater, Guitar Center, etc. all have them on back order or "more coming soon."
It's very frustrating. Wonder if there's some reason these are so hard to find? I'm going to blame Covid, LOL.
People were rumored to be dueling with banjos, so they have been banned.
I buy a lot off eBay but really make sure the seller is trustworthy. I don’t know this seller at all. I just grabbed a link. I see a lot of banjos on eBay. As an entry level instrument these low end instruments wouldn’t be bad. Beats paying a ton of dollars on an expensive instrument. When I started on this COVID guitar mission, I started with the $300 Fender. Got me hooked and now I miss that guitar. It was a nice sounding nice playing instrument. My GAS has led me into the $600-800 price range now but really that little $300 guitar was great. Heck, I got this little $100 Orangewood that is perfect too. I’m just a hoarder at this point. At least it’s not cats....
They sell those on Amazon, too, along with another "budget" brand, Vangoa I think it's called. For sure the price is right but the quality is low. The price range I'm looking at is more around the $300 - $600 range. There are high quality ones well over $1K but I'm not willing to spend that much on a banjo. A guitar, yes. A banjo, no. LOL
This Ibanez is more along the lines of what I'm looking for, but they don't have it in stock and neither does Guitar Center, although I'm not buying another instrument from GC that I can't hold in my hands and play first. Adorama in New York has it and I'm sorely tempted to buy it from them.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B200Banjo--ibanez-b200-banjo-natural
I’ve bought from Adorama. They were good. I’m not very thrilled with Sweetwater after my Gravity pick experience. Alamo Music Center is good. I also have bought from Butler Music both online and eBay. I like them on eBay I put their stuff on my watch list and they make you an offer for a nice discount. I bought that first Fender from them. Free shipping and $85 off their price. My first ukulele I got from them was similar experience too. Cream City was good to me too. That was where I bought Goldie. I miss Goldie. Even though Reverb is about to close, I still buy from there. I bought Penny, Baby Blue, and now this Fender Paramount off Reverb plus several fancy straps too.
@jerseychicadee That's good info, thanks!
I was surprised that Adorama popped up in the Google search for banjos though. I remember them in the 70's and 80's mainly for camera equipment and I bought a camera and tripods from them. Had no idea they were selling instruments, too. Well, I know now, LOL.
@wjssavhotmail-co-uk I will venture a guess that I might get a better banjo for $499 than I would for $199.
I just was snooping my own Reverb account. I got Penny from Pro Audio Star. Penny was a great buy price. Best set up and by far my favorite little parlor.
When I started on ukuleles I bought 4 before I stopped buying. Now acoustics, I’m at 5 but if you count the 2 I’ve already sold, I’m at 7. If I start on another instrument I’m foe sure going straight to financial hell
Still looking. Butler Music had only Gold Tone banjos, which I guess are okay. I'm just really picky. 😆
We have a new/used local guitar shop in Phoenix by the name of Bizarre Guitar. They have a few used banjos so I might make the trek into town to check them out.
Well, I found this one on Reverb and the Phoenix Craigslist site. He wants $325 on Craigslist so that's the site I'm going to go thru. This looks like a perfect "learner" banjo, and I've always liked Gretsch instruments.
https://reverb.com/item/38923013-gretsch-dixie-5-open-back-5-string-banjo-hardshell-case-natural
