Deering

If you want a top quality reasonably priced Irish Tenor banjo, this is a real find! Made in America at the Deering Banjo factory in California, the Goodtime open back banjo weighs about 4 pounds so it is ideal for traveling, camping, hiking, taking to the beach and provides a vibrant singing banjo tone in any situation. Also, light enough for children to hold and play and is the perfect banjo for a child to start out with since it is fretted correctly and plays easily. The shorter 17 fret neck reduces the length of the entire banjo to just 32 inches end to end.

The Deering List Price is $499

If you want a top quality reasonably priced Tenor banjo, this is a real find! Made in America at the Deering Banjo factory in California, the Goodtime open-back banjo weighs about 4 pounds so it is ideal for traveling, camping, hiking, taking to the beach and provides a vibrant singing banjo tone in any situation. Also, light enough for children to hold and play and is the perfect banjo for a child to start out with since it is fretted correctly and plays easily.

The Deering List Price is $499

 

This is the version of the Boston as it was made in its time - it has the decal Deering logo, decal of the Bald Eagle on the peghead and the dotmarker fingerboard inlays.    Although the construction, materials, procedures, methods and techniques of manufacture have not changed the cosmetics have.   Deering decided that it needed to be dressed up and the current version has a fancy, white pearl and gold inlaid headstock and art nouveau pearl and gold design fingerboard inlays.

A bit ‘o’ background:  In 1983 Janet Deering, Greg’s wife, went on a nationwide sales trip by loading their camper with banjos and hitting the road while Greg stayed at home making banjos and taking care of the kids. In 10 weeks Janet covered 14 thousand miles and crossed the country visiting stores, opening many new Deering dealers who are still with us today.   While Janet was in the southeast she noticed a cultural phenomenon that banjo players had to have a prewar banjo or one that looked like it.

The Deering website says: Pick it in the parlor, in the park, or any where you go…Deering’s new GoodTime Parlor banjo is light weight and made with a shorter scale to meet a variety of needs for today’s banjo players! Introduced at the industry’s major show in Anaheim recently, the model was very well received by dealers, artists, and other attendees. 

The magnetic banjo pickup is wound in a unique way, specially for the banjo, and is mounted on the head providing resistance to feedback.  The poles of the pickup are positioned directly under the strings so that you get the real tone of the banjo.  It has a great mid-range with deep bass and sweet highs.  

Deering  says (edited):  “For the modern banjoist, the Black Diamond breaks with tradition both in the distinctive appearance and in the unique tonal quality. The black Mylar head creates a phenomenal sounding modern banjo!   The Black Diamond has been called elegant, progressive, modern, gorgeous, and sweet.

This is the standard description beginner model from Deering, sans tone ring, with a bit of a neck bow, but good sounding and a good banjo to learn on if a person who likes to embrace pain wants to limit the purchase price.  There is no better bargain in an American-made 5-string beginner banjo as this.  All natural maple finish, black dotmarkers, and simple appointments; it is light in weight and functional.   Was $369.  Make us an offer!

The Neck is rock maple, rich brown Stain, satin finish, slender profile, sealed tuners, white dot inlays, Deering peghead shape. The Pot: standard 11" diameter, rich brown stain, satin finish, Vega style armrest, adjustable tailpiece, multi-ply birch/maple rim, single coordinator rod, steel bluegrass style tone ring. The Deering List Price is $919

What a great sounding traditional banjo! The Classic Goodtime Special Openback is louder than the original Goodtime model because it has the patent pending Goodtime Tone Ring and is great for players who like to jam and want to be heard amongst a crowd. The rich brown stain, planetary tuners, and Deering peghead shape gives the traditional, classic look of a vintage banjo.

The Deering website says: Pick it in the parlor, in the park, or any where you go…Deering’s new GoodTime Parlor banjo is light weight and made with a shorter scale to meet a variety of needs for today’s banjo players! Introduced at the industry’s major show in Anaheim recently, the model was very well received by dealers, artists, and other attendees. 

Special means it has the Deering Patent Pending Goodtime Special Tone Ring - The Goodtime Special Openback banjo produces a louder sweet bell tone than the lowest priced Goodtime Openback because it has a tone ring. Perfect for clawhammer or frailing styles of playing, the volume of tone is a wonderful surprise to players who pick up this unassuming openback banjo to find a real prize.

Deering (new) GoodTime open-back 5-string banjo, satin finish, with a slender, low-profile rock maple neck with a multi-ply birch and maple rim, standard 11” diameter, single coordinator rod and geared tuners, with zipper gigbag. These banjos are the best deal we know of in an entry level instrument. They are made in the USA near San Diego by one of America’s most proficient banjo companies. The Deering List Price for the banjo alone is $499 plus $57 List for the case.

The Boston is a lighter weight alternative to the standard 3-ply maple rim and separate tone ring. The steel rim acts as a tone ring and because of that, its sustain seems to reverberate longer. The Deering List Price is $1979.

Eastern hard rock maple neck and resonator stained a walnut color, 3-ply maple rim, sand cast virgin bell bronze tone-ring, ebony fingerboard,flower shaped mother-of-pearl inlays and white binding.
The Deering List Price is $3,998.

A resonator back provides more projection of sound in the Goodtime 2. We make it here in the USA, at the Deering shop with the same tooling we use to make the top of the line banjos. Greg Deering designed the Goodtime banjos because there were no low priced banjos of enough quality for people to actually learn on without difficulty or giving up.

The Deering List Price is $699

A resonator back provides more projection of sound in the Goodtime 2. We make it here in the USA, at the Deering shop with the same tooling we use to make the top of the line banjos. Greg Deering designed the Goodtime banjos because there were no low priced banjos of enough quality for people to actually learn on without difficulty or giving up. He remembers what it was like to want a good banjo and not be able to afford one, so his gift to others is the Goodtime banjo line.

The Deering List Price is $699.

This model comes factory-equipped with the famous Granadilla tone ring – a wooden tone ring made of the same type of material as xylophones or marimbas use – except that with those instruments the player strikes the bars with mallets while banjo players are driven away from bars with mallets. This wood, which everybody agrees is handsome (at least its got its good looks) is also used for making flutes and other wind instruments. 
The Deering List Price is $5,063