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Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 09:16:42 -0500

Hi,
I have been visiting your website since I purchased a 5 string banjo. I
need to find a good teacher. I live in the Walterboro SC area,
close to Charleston. Any suggestions?

You might check with your local music stores...and, if they can't assist you, try leaving it on their bulletin board. We, ourselves, have a bulletin board for locals to seek each other out...

Additionally, you might also check the phone book...you never know, there may be a music school that offers banjo as a course.

There's also a website dedicated to teacher listings on acoustic instruments:
http://home.earthlink.net/~theresonator/bu4.htm

Hope this helps...Mickey

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Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 01:57:19 -0700

If Mickey (or another banjo specialist) down there is planning on hosting
some sort of banjo workshop (or something like that) at some point. I'd be
willing to drive the 500 miles to spend the weekend learning "at the knee of
the master" so to speak. I am a beginner (since June this year) and could
really benefit from some tutoring from a seasoned player. There are no
banjo teachers (at least that I've been able to find) in my area, so I've
been teaching myself out of books up to now.....not that learning this way
is a bad thing. Janet Davis' Mel Bay series of books/CDs are super tools,
but they're not enough.

Thanks a lot.

Bob Janiak

Greetings Bob,

Yes, we were hoping to bring in a couple of banjo workshops...however, we are currently buried under with retail details...please stay tuned next year for possible upcoming workshops...we've discussed this with Bill Keith...the inventor of the melodic banjo style also called Keith style...

Thanks again for your interest...

If you're ever in Albuquerque, be sure to look up Wayne Shrubshall...he'll be happy to give you an orientation lesson...

Good luck with your future research...Mickey

Encore Music
5314 Menaul NE
Albuquerque NM 87110
505-888-0722

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Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 00:21:14 -0400

Greetings Steve,

Glad to assist if I can:


Hi Mickey,

Greetings from Buffalo, NY, actually a good little hotbed of Bluegrass. Have enjoyed reviewing your site and had the opportunity to speak with someone from your place on Saturday regarding banjos. I don't have his name, but he was most helpful.

Wanted to ask you a couple of regarding instruments. I'm in the Coast Guard, do a lot of travel in my current assignment and anticipate doing even more in my next assignment out of New Orleans (by the way, do you know of any good instructors down there). 

Sorry, I'm not sure of any in the New Orleans area; however, you can probably check with a local music shop as soon as you arrive...most shops will always have a list of instructors to choose from...

I currently have a Gold Star that my wife got me as a wedding present 19 years ago. It's a beautiful instrument and very heavy with the bell bronze tone ring and other quality parts. It's a real chore to take on trips.

I love Gold Star and even know the originator personally. These are sold made banjos with high quality parts in Japan. Held in high esteem even to today...their value exceeds what they originally sold for...

I'm looking for a lighter banjo as a travel instrument. It took getting to Buffalo to find an instructor, so my skills have grown a lot with this past year of lessons. I want to keep the consistency. My instructor has a number of banjos, but teaches with a Goodtime. That initially got me interested in either that or the Goodtime II. As I looked over your site, I became interested in the Gold Tones as a possible alternative. I'm looking for an instrument I can put in a good gig bag and carry over my shoulder. I want a full size banjo rather than a "travel" banjo to maintain the hand positions and general feel, a good sounding and good playing instrument; it doesn't need the power since if I need that the Gold Star does quite well. 

I would recommend the CC-100R...if you're looking for a light-weight resonator model. They offer the best value since they even come with a brass tone ring...if you want to shave off further weight, you might want to go with the CC-100 without resonator...be aware, the tone ring will had an added weight factor over the Goodtime II.

Guess you could say my style is primarily Bluegrass, which would suggest a resonator, but I can go with an open back for my purposes, too. I'm looking at the $400 range and my research has lead me to either of the Goodtimes or the Gold Tone Maple Classic or Cripple Creek. Listened to the Cripple Creek video, but there weren't any for the Maple Classic. I have a couple of questions about the Gold Tones:

Are either of these models assembled in the US as the higher quality Gold Tones are?

On all models final assembly and final set-up are completed here in the US...such as planing the neck, polish the frets, adjust the nut, adjust tailpiece, truss rod, and the coordinator rods...


I understand that many of the parts come from Korea, are they all?

All parts are from Korea...the majority of the parts are made from the tool and die system Gold Tone sent over themselves...


In August 2000, you had this to say in the Goodtime FAQ section: "The neck action is excellent and I can ensure you that you will not get frustrated because of difficult playability (normally encountered with export banjos).  Does this apply to the Gold Tones?

Most definitely! They all come with ease of playability...if an action happens to be abnormally high, we adjust them before sending them out. Fortunately, Gold Tone does quite a bit of set-up work on their end before we even see the banjos.

What is the cost of changing the guitar style tuners to planetary ones?
Based on the info I've given you, can you make a recommendation? I'd expect that with the experience you have, you've successfully put a lot of people together with instruments.

It's a very reasonable upcharge for planetary tuners in place of the guitar tuners...call our toll free number 888-209-8434 for current pricing...


To help me continue to develop after I leave Buffalo and until I can find a new instructor, what teaching videos, books, CDs, etc. do you recommend the most to people? I'd consider myself an "intermediate beginner" (how's that). Also, what technique(s) can you recommend to memorize songs (hardest part for me)?

I love the Alan Munde series since everything I've ever heard Alan do has been phenomenal. He has a great series of tapes that we carry starting from beginning Bluegrass banjo on up to advanced.

A book that is a must-have is Peter Wernick's "Bluegrass Banjo"...which we carry...see the review on our website. (This book just recently went out of print in June of 2002)

If you're looking for a banjo video that goes beyond teaching only Bluegrass, and delves into other styles on banjo such as rock, ragtime, jazz and classical, check out my "Intro to the 5-String Banjo" video...the reason I put this one out was to fill a void in the banjo video market which almost always covers Bluegrass and not the many other styles of music which can also be achieved on 5-string.

Final comment, I listened to many of the video clips of many different brands and instruments on your site (a real treat, great playing--you looked so at ease). Was totally blown away by the Stelling Red Fox. What a different sound than anything else I heard. If I ever get good enough......

Thanks for the kind words...I agree, the Red Fox is nothing short of phenomenal! Remember our trade-up policy...

Thanks in advance for your time and help, and hope to chat with you at some point,


Steve Hardy

Nice to have met you by e-mail...please stay in touch with further questions...

Mickey

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Subject: RE: Still haven't heard from ya
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 15:18:45 -0700

Greetings,

I bought a couple banjo things from you guys last fall. My wife, child, and
even my dog are now pleading with me to take some lessons. Do you know of anyone
in the Albuquerque area that you might recommend for teaching banjo?


Greetings Gary,

Sure, there's a phenomenal banjo teacher in the Albuquerque area: Wayne Shrubsall...he used to play with the Big River Boys in your locality. He's well-versed in 5-string and even writes a column for "Banjo Newsletter": www.bnl.com...

I'm sorry I don't have his number at hand; however, if you enquire with a couple of music stores, there's bound to be someone who knows him and can connect you.

Be aware, the next best thing to a banjo teacher, or even a great tool to use in combination with a live teacher, would be an instructional video...there's a vast selection of banjo videos available...go to www.melbay.com or call our store at our toll free number and we can relay to you what we have in stock...

Let us know how we might further assist you...Mickey