Gold Tone BUT Tenor Banjo Ukulele (Vintage Brown)

This is what I sent to Goldtone. It pretty much tells the story...I just got one of your Banjo-Ukes tenor in vintage brown today, new from Amazon.com. I have a few suggestions:1. Use better strings like Aquila.2. Make sure your easy-string tailpiece is deburred, since mine cut right through the cheap original strings upon bringing up to tune. The strings had been knotted on a no-knot tailpiece which contributed to them breaking. I bought some $10.00 Aquilas after spending an hour de-burring the tailpiece and restringing without knots. Directions should have been provided explaining the proper stringing on a no-knot tailpiece.3.If you ship with the bridge flat, some directions should be included as to placement, intonation, etc. Perhaps a a slip of paper under the strings.4.The resonator back has a filler piece in the binding like someone cut it too short. The resulting joints should be finished more smoothly. The wood has waves and indentations which indicates the need of a better sanding job. I had to refinish it.5. The threaded inserts that hold the resonator back on were stripped out in the maple pot. I had to remove, apply thin CA/superglue and reinstall. That could be done at the factory to harden the wood.Good points:A very nice neck and geared tuners.I honestly can't say the quality justifies the price.

I bought this because I wanted a TENOR banjo ukulele. It seems to be the only one. I have two tenors and a concert sized uke.I have seen this product criticized for price. Frankly the case is worth $100 easily. It compares favorably with the case to my $1200 Kamaka. I'm addition, it locks and is beautifully padded. I hear hard shell cases for banjoleles are literally unheard of. How is the $279 instrument inside. I really like it. I personally think it sounds better tuned DGBE ("Do good by everyone") rather than GCEA ("Giant cockroaches eat anything."). You can't get much of an instrument in general in 2013 for less ( though I love my $80 Oscar Schmidt Concert Uke). I have tuned it up and feel I will have fun with this for m!any years to come. Has a good banjo sound and projects nicely. Instead of being open backed it has a flat "possum resonator". Visit the www.gold tone.com website, look under banjos/banjo ukuleles and hear Marcy Marxer play 12th Street Rag, a classic tenor banjo piece my mom used to play in the 1930's!:

I love this instrument. It's my second Gold Tone instrument. First was a tenor guitar. The neck is solid and weights a little more than most ukuleles but that is fine with me. It has a great tone that even won over my wife. It projects sound with good volume. Almost too much volume for my soft singing. A roll of tissue under the strings and behind the bridge quiets it down a bit when needed. I intend to use it to augment my tenor banjo playing in my dixieland bands. It came in a very good solid case. It was shipped in it's case, in a box, in another box. You can see this banjolele being played on my you tube channel "jazzbanjorex" if you are curious about it's sound. I may buy the baritone and tune it like a tenor banjo and just use the pair for performances. Hmmmm, that a thought.

I was impressed with the shipping speed I ordered the Gold Tone BUT Banjo Ukulele on Friday and it arrived in Australia from the USA the next Tuesday! That is incredible service from Amazon! However I am not impressed with the instrument. It looks great and I love the hard case. However there are a few minor imperfections in the finish and I am not at all happy with the sound. Particularly the bottom A string which is hitting the frets and sounding very plonky and awful as you go further up the neck. I took it to a local instrument repair shop and they said the action was too low and added some wood to the bridge. This has improved it very slightly but I am still not happy as it is not possible to get a nice clean sound on any of the strings past the 5th fret. I am going to try taking it back to the local shop see if anything more can be done. This is the first time I have ever bought an instrument online without playing it and probably the last! As a professional musician it is highly likely I will have to sell unless something more can be done to fix it. Disspointed  New Gold Tone But Tenor Banjo Uke Banjolele Ukulele w Deluxe Hard Case

Finely crafted tenor banjolele. Tuned it and it plays and sounds great. Excellent craftsmanship. Comes with a too quality hard case.

Now I need to mic my voice since the banjolele is louder than an ukulele. Well made and easy to play. Great hard case too.

Good quality instrument. Plays well with a nice tone. Probably hold its tune better with better quality stings.

Was everything I expected.