Gold Tone CC-Carlin 12 5-str.Banjo

Positive thing first:
Gold Tone CC Carlin 12 is a surprisingly good sounding affordable 12" openback banjo. It's loud, rich, clear and very balanced. There's a decent amount of low end, but treble strings still sound pleasently bright while not harsh at all. Sustain is also unbelievable.

As a rather tall person with long arms, I find 12" rim really comfortable. Banjo sits nice on my lap and it feels much more balanced than 11" banjos that I've played. Wider nut and string spacing suit very well for clawhammer playing.

Unfortunately there's some real setbacks. I find the overall design of the banjo somewhat flawed. String spacing of nut and saddle are not ideal for fretboard width. Outer strings sit really close to the edge of the fretboard, so especially the first string slips very easily over the edge of the fretboard. This makes playing techniques such as hammer offs, pull offs and slides really hard to execute.

Hardware is decent. Guitar style tuners and vintage style tailpiece are okay. However brackets and bracket shoes feel somewhat flimsy, but they get the job done. Gigbag is nothing special. It's lightly padded and offers very little protection. Mine was also already rather dusty and dirty from inside.

Setup was rather sketchy. Head was properly tensioned and bridge placement was roughly correct so I guess intonation was set. However tailpiece wasn't tightened and aligned properly. Also neck was slightly tilted. Since coordinator rods had to be adjusted to align the neck, a complete beginner might have needed luthier's help to get the banjo properly set up.

However the biggest issue is awful quality control. So far I've gone through two of these banjos. Both were differently flawed but equally awful.

On first one the string slipping issue was really bad. Nut was cut and aligned poorly, so the first string was really close to the edge of the fretboard. String slipped off of fretboard everytime it was fretted. Crooked tension hoop (caused by really bad weld seam) worsened problem since it pushed tailpiece out of alignment and guided treble strings off-centre.

Unfortunately the second banjo was almost as bad. Finish of the neck was really bad. There was 15 centimeters long rough spot in the lacquer, which felt like neck had been scratched with steel wool. Not something that I'd expect from brand new instrument.

However even more frustrating were badly drilled holes on the wooden rim. Holes for the coordintor rods were not properly aligned. All four holes were drilled somewhat off-centre. Since coordinator rods are somewhat askew, they're not properly aligned with neck's threaded bolts. Basically coordinator rods are cross threaded, so adjusting and removing them is difficult.

Overall I feel really disappointed with this banjo. Great sounding instrument is basically ruined with bad design and awful quality control. I wouldn't recommend buying this instrument, unless you're willing to go through several banjos to possibly find one that has no major issues.

El pedido me llegó muy rápido y bien empaquetado, una caja grande rectangular con relleno de papel y dentro otra caja del tamaño del banjo, que venía en la funda envuelto en un plástico. Estaba ya montado, solo tuve que afinarlo y tocar.
El banjo es una maravilla, tiene un sonido rico y profundo y es muy fácil de tocar, por la separación entre cuerdas y por el ajuste del instrumento, la acción perfecta.
Pensaba que sería más ligero, pesa bastante y es muy robusto.
Me alegré mucho de ver que trae las clavijas por debajo del cabezal, en vez de a los lados.
También es muy sensible, tanto para afinar como para tocar, los slides y pull-offs suenan increíbles.
Además de todo es precioso, con la madera clara, el mástil oscuro y la forma del cordal.
En general, un instrumento fantástico, fácil de tocar y con un sonido envolvente y profundo.
Muy contenta con la compra.

Szukając informacji o tym banjo przekonały mnie opinie, że jest to najbardziej sensowne banjo o średnicy 12 cali w tym przedziale cenowym.
Nie pomyliłem się. Tone ring wyzwala magiczne przydźwięki przy grze placami / clawhammer. Moim zdanie nie bardzo nadaje się do gry pazurkami (3 fingers), jest to "tradycyjne" banjo.
Jeśli akompaniujesz na banjo i śpiewasz będzie to świetny wybór.
Banjo jest bardzo "czułe" - można wydobyć miłe smaczki, ale też błędy słychać wyraźnie.
Wykonanie dobre, jedyny minus który zauważyłem - przy progu zerowym delikatnie uszczypnięte drewno - do zaakceptowania.
Pokrowiec dołączony w zestawie to taki materiałowy z delikatną tylko pianką, nic specjalnego.