HBJ-25 : Great Sounding Banjo

This banjo comes with a resonator. The action needed a slight adjustment at the nut and I set the floating bridge using instructions from a forum so that the intonation was excellent. It stays in tune well and also has a truss-rod in the neck which I adjusted to make the action perfect for picking. I tried using finger picks and thumb picks and they worked well. If you combine playing this instrument with a good music book on the five-string banjo you will make excellent progress. The tone sounds very folky and traditional and suited old-time tunes the best. The resonator certainly adds extra volume and projection. The notes are accessible right up the 22 fret scale. Tuning requires purchase of a clip LED digital tuner and you may wish to purchase a strap. The Banjo comes with an allen key for the truss-rod and a tool for tensioning the skin. The metal components are well made and sturdy. The neck appears very straight and is also smooth and tapered to allow for easy movement of the fretting hand and fingers. There are dot markers on the side binding of the neck and on the rosewood fretboard which is bound. The strings are nice and light and tuned up well. I was able to play simple banjo tunes straight away. The tuning pegs are open geared and simple but showed no slippage under tension. The Harley Benton Logo is on the double cutaway head-stock. Highly recommended that you play simple tunes from a banjo song book first if you are a beginner. You need to get used to the tuning especially if you have been a guitarist like me. That said, once I was used to the GDGBD which is commonly used on the five string banjo I could quickly learn the simple one finger barre chords and you can of course use partial chord fragments which are fully movable shapes up and down the neck. A beginner should learn banjo rolls and this technique will be quickly picked up on using this fine Harley Benton HBJ-25 Banjo. Very pleased as a new banjo player.