Harley Benton BJO-35Pro 5 String Banjo OB
5-String Banjo

Latest User Reviews
Great sound
Great sounding banjo. Enjoyable to play.
can't fault it
had this for a couple of years and it's great value for money, full sound and no issues!
Best Beginner Open Back Banjo!
For the price you just will not beat Harley Benton. I've played guitar & bass for years, I decided to try my hand at the Banjo! Arrived perfectly set up, no need to adjust action or drum tension, good set of factory strings, near perfect intonation. Lovely tone, not too loud, perfect for practice. Cannot fault it for the price & would recommend!
Best ever value and sound.
I was a bit worried that , when it arrived , it would sound " tinny " or always slightly out of tune no matter how it was adjusted. I could not have been more wrong. It has a wonderful quality to a full sound and I just can not stop playing it. A real gem .
Harley Benton BJO-35Pro 5 String Banjo OB
Jeg købte denne banjo for lidt tid siden, og den er helt perfekt.
Det eneste problem er tunerene er meget billig men de
holder tonen fint.
Good for price.
I bought this as it was cheap enough that if I don't get along playing the banjo I wouldn't be too much out of pocket.I have to say I'm very happy with it so far.What would be a good improvement would be if it came with an arm rest.Not too big a problem as I managed to get one easily and cheap enough.
Can't go wrong for the price.
You get what you pay for (Which doesnât mean it canât be fun!)
It won’t leave any long lasting impression. It has its flaws that comes with such an affordable instrument.
Tuners feel very cheap and are very imprecise while tuning but after that they stay in tune fine.
The pot which is made out of some very cheap wood wrapped in rather plasticky looking veneer but it’s OK to look at, it’s darker and actually nicer than photos here would let you know.
The biggest flaw is that the pot wood is so soft that hooks holding screws just keep sinking deep into the wood making it impossible to keep the head tuned tight. I had to buy metal washers from hardware store and install them under all those tiny screws heads inside the pot which, luckily, solved the issue for me.
With installing washers, armrest and putting on a heavier set of strings I’m actually having a lot of fun learning the banjo.
Would I buy it again if it got stolen? No, I’d go for something more expansive made out of a solid wood. But I’m glad I have it. For such a low price it’s a fun first banjo for learning basics of playing, setup and maintenance.
If you’re not sure whether you’ll stick with a banjo and just want something budget friendly to try it out, this is what you’re looking for.
A banjo so nice, I bought it twice
This is the perfect banjo for non-banjo players, I just wanted to get something cheap to play around with, and this one really surprised me, I had to sell mine to pay the deposit on my apartment, but now that I'm settled in, I ordered another one
Lovely open back banjo with a nice ring to it, decent strings, ok set up out of the box.
My first banjo
The banjo is a great instrument. And I always wanted to play it. Its hard to master, but this is a great start. Its a fair price for good quality, If you want to start off with learning banjo. Its a great start.
+ Good quality for price.
+ good sound
+ nice weight
Technical Data
- Manufactured by Harley Benton
- Released in 2014
- Average price : $162
- Build type: Open back
- Bluegrass Series
- Rim: Mahogany
- Neck: Nato
- Fretboard: Blackwood (Pinus radiata)
- Dot fretboard inlays
- 22 Frets
- Scale: 670 mm
- Nut width: 32 mm
- Remo skin
- Bracket with 18 tension rods
- Deluxe machine heads
- Graphite nut
- Bridge: Maple/Blackwood
- Colour: Natural, high gloss