Hi, all. I'm new here. I have played guitar for about 8 years or so, and recently fell in love with the idea of playing banjo.
My girlfriend bought me a SX banjo for Christmas. I got it early, so I've had a good bit of playing time on it. First thing I did was take it apart to see how it's craftsmanship and hardware looked.
Cons:
-It holds it's tuning very well. After my Martin strings were good and stretched, I haven't had to tune it. I had an issue with the 4th string slipping out of tune, but I tightened up the tuning peg, and now it's holding just fine.
-The studs in the resonator were pulling out when I tightened the resonator up. After removing the studs and applying Elmer's wood glue, I haven't had the issue. It
-Fret bars. They had a rough finish on them at first, but after bending the strings on every fret, they are all smooth.
-Lastly, it's a cheap banjo...so you get relatively cheap hardware. There is nothing wrong with the hardware other than the fact that it is made from cheap metal. Nothing is stripped or defective.
Pros:
-To be a cheaper banjo, it looks amazing. All of the chrome has a very nice finish. Not one single scratch. The wood is great. A little rough, but since I've been playing it, it has became smooth from usage. Big plus there.
-It has a Remo Weatherking head. I haven't had any experience with other banjos, but this seems to be a very common head on more popular brands.
-Very pleasing to the eyes.
-The neck was set up perfectly out of the box. Great action on the strings.
-The bridge required no sanding. After getting the intonation right, she was ready to go. (I do hear tones from the other strings from this being a "single piece" bridge. I'm not sure what it's called to be exact, but I plan to get a bridge that eliminates this. If someone could point me in the right direction on this, it would be appreciated.)
-It sounds great! It has a very loud clean tone. I played around with a Fender banjo at a local music store, and it didn't sound any better than my banjo. That's just my ear--everyone hears differently.
-It's very affordable.
-Resonator
-Comes with a nice gig-bag. It is very thick and seems to be very protective... for a gig-bag, that is. To me, nothing is better than a good hard case, but those things take up too much closet space. Hell, none of my guitars ever meet their cases unless I am moving! Haha
To sum it up, I am no expert on banjos, but I do know quality and what it's worth per dollar. I have played $10,000+ guitars, and I have played $40 guitars. The difference is obviously there, but to an extent...you quit paying for what you're getting and start paying for a name. I think anyone can agree with me on that. WIth that being said, this is a very great banjo for someone starting out. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the instrument. There was a guy on Amazon who gave it a 1 star review, I think he didn't know what he was doing.
Here is a link to the banjo on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/SX-Country-5-String-Banjo-Bag/dp/B0011WFZHY
Here is a picture that I took of my personal banjo. I will gladly take some more detailed pictures if anyone is interested.
I hope this helps anyone who is interested.
Thanks,
Allen