Deering Artisan Goodtime Special Banjo

Bill Evans demos Deering’s newest Goodtime five-string banjo.

May 3, 2018

Deering’s line of affordable Goodtime banjos started out with a single open-back five-string model that was built with quality materials and produced excellent tone. From the success of that model has come a complete family of Goodtime instruments, and Peghead Nation banjo instructor Bill Evans recently had a chance to sit down with the Artisan Goodtime Special, one of four banjos from the new Artisan Goodtime line.

Artisan Goodtime banjos have a more traditional appearance than the Blonde Goodtimes, which have a distinctive natural-colored maple neck and fingerboard with hardwood bowtie inlays. For the Artisan line, Deering has developed a new process of staining maple on the fingerboard (the company calls it “midnight maple”), which looks a lot like ebony and allows for the use of light-colored pearl position markers. The maple on the neck of Artisan banjos is stained a deep brown to give the banjos their rich, traditional look.

The Artisan Goodtime Special has a three-ply violin-grade maple rim, bluegrass-style maple resonator, Deering’s patented metal Goodtime tone ring, a steel tension hoop, and an 11-inch frosted top head. All the metal hardware is nickel plated, and it has geared tuning machines. Thoughtful features include pre-installed fifth-string spikes at the seventh, ninth, and tenth frets. In this video, Bill explains the banjo’s features and plays Earl Scruggs’ “Fireball Mail.”

To learn banjo with Bill Evans, enroll in one of his courses today! (Beginning Banjo, Bluegrass Banjo, Earl Scruggs: A Player’s Guide, Melodic and Single-String Banjo, The Banjo Style of J.D. Crowe)