Deering Artisan Goodtime Special Banjo

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

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.”

Deering Artisan Goodtime Special Banjo Specs

• Five-string resonator banjo
• 11-inch pot with three-ply maple rim
• Maple resonator
• Metal tone ring
• Maple neck
• “Midnight maple” fingerboard
• Enclosed chrome geared tuning machines
• Nickel plated hardware
• Made in USA
• $1,199

deeringbanjos.com

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