Deering Goodtime Banjos
Made in the Deering shop with the same tooling that is used to build the top of the line Deering, Vega and Tenbrooks banjos, the Goodtime banjos are the lowest priced American made banjos. The playability and tone is so good even professionals record with Goodtime banjos. There is a Goodtime banjo to suit all styles from old time to bluegrass and now 17 fret short scale tenor banjo models are available in the Pickers Plus range for jazz or Irish styles.
The standard Goodtime family can be divided into four categories as follows:
The Goodtime - Open back
The Goodtime 2 - With resonator and Vega style armrest
The Goodtime Special Open Back – with tone ring
The Goodtime Special – With tone ring, Vega style armrest & resonator
(See end of this section for details of the Pickers Plus range)
The Goodtime Banjo …
The Goodtime banjo has a slender, low profile neck that is easy to finger and comfortable for large and small hands. The fret work is accurate and precise to ensure accurate intonation over the entire fingerboard. The single coordinator rod in the pot easily and effectively adjusts the playability so that the strings are close to the fingerboard and are easy to press down. All five tuners are geared and easy to tune. The tailpiece is extremely strong and easily adjustable to maximize tone by raising or lowering it.
Weighing in at about 4 pounds so it is light enough for children to hold and play and is ideal for travelling, camping, hiking, taking to the beach and provides a vibrant singing banjo tone in any situation.
The multi-ply pot is made of birch and maple. Both woods are hard and dense and contribute to the bright crisp sound of the Goodtime banjo.
The Goodtime 2
Fast and easy to play due to the slender, low profile, rock maple neck. The single coordinator rod in the pot allows the player or technician to adjust the action to suit the players needs.
The standard 11" diameter rim is a combination of birch and rock maple. The 16 brackets and standard rim diameter make head adjustments easy and simple and the availability of replacement heads is simple since the heads are the same size as almost all modern banjos (11" high crown).
The maple resonator has a natural blond maple finish with a single black binding strip around the back edge. The resonator fastens to the banjo by machine screws that thread into brass wall lugs on the side walls of the resonator. Access is easy and simple.
The Goodtime 2 is equipped with all geared tuning machines for easy, accurate, and stable tuning. The maple and ebony bridge and top frosted head give a crisp, bright sound.
