Gold Tone Irish Tenor Banjo 12"

Have only had this banjo for about a week but my first impressions are very positive. This model is hard to get hold of here in the UK and the price point is way above Thomann's in those few outlets that do stock it.

The first thing that impressed me was the quality of the fit and finish, particularly the inlay. Having only seen online images of the banjo I was fairly convinced the design on the headstock would be a transfer of some sort. Not a bit of it! The headstock is fully inlaid with a stylised Celtic horse design which is very attractive and the Gold Tone logo is also inlaid. The shamrock position markers on the fretboard are equally appealing.

For me the three key elements to consider when buying a fretted instrument are tone, volume and playability. Where tone is concerned I prefer the darker, plunky, woody sound and this model has it in spades. Playability was also fine for me straight out of the box (for those who prefer a very low action it is a relatively simple task to sand down the bottom of the bridge). Another thing I liked about this model was the zero fret which helps with tone and intonation. Plenty of volume, too, for all but the noisiest of sessions!

There were a couple of minor negative points. As you may be aware short scale banjos tend to have less sustain and resonance on the low G when compared to 19 fret banjos. I was hoping the larger pot might have compensated for this but I didn't find much difference when compared to a standard 11" pot (still a fine bass response by any standards, though!) The other niggle was the arm rest which for most people will be slightly too far from the tailpiece. This should be a quick fix but the design of the arm rest clamp was such that I couldn't release it without removing a couple of the tension hooks! Once installed next to the tailpiece, however, the arm rest was perfectly comfortable and I felt the wooden finish was a nice touch.

Over the years I have owned several Gold Tone IT-250s which are great workhorse banjos with superb tone and playability. My first impression of the IT-17 is that it matches, if not exceeds, the IT-250 in tone, volume and playability at approximately half the price - what's not to like?!

UPDATE 26th May 2021: In my original review I noted the only slight negative with the IT-17 was that the 12" pot didn't seem to do much to improve response on the low G string - a constant problem with short-scale tenors. Problem solved! I have now removed the .040 G string and replaced with an .044 - this has made a huge improvement to to the tone, volume and intonation of the low G. I did need to enlarge the nut and bridge slots slightly and I suspect having the string well-seated in the slots has contributed greatly towards this improvement. This is a relatively simple job which you can do with a set of cheap nut files you can buy online for around £5 or £6. Just remove very small amounts and keep checking until the string is well-seated in both nut and bridge slots and you will be amazed by the improvement!