Harley Benton HBJ-26

I saw Keith Urban playing a 6 string banjo, or Ganjo, a while back which peaked my interest. Same tuning as a guitar, but sounds like a banjo, making it an easy jump. The answer is yes and no. A Banjo doesn't resonate or sustain like a guitar, so the notes are literally there for a moment and gone, but here's where your finger picking needs to pick it up.

For my first foray into the Banjo market Harley Benton have done it again with a superbly made 'budget' instrument. Previous Harley Benton purchases have included a Resonator electro-acoustic and electro-acoustic Mandolin which have both been excellent which prompted the purchase of another instrument by this brand. The HBJ-26 is fitted with a proper remo head, and is beautifully finished with chrome wear, and supplied with an adjustment tool for tuning the head. The finish on the wood is exceptional and the fitted Banjo back makes for comfortable playing with it nestled up against you. That said, 3 thumb screws can be removed and the back can be taken off leaving you with a backless banjo should the desire take you.

Out of the box the Banjo played beautifully and has prompted some re-workings of some of my old songs and added extra textures in the recording studio. Listen to a lot of Nashville influenced records and more often than not it's a 6 string banjo in the background.

At a price as low as this it is a great instrument to add to the collection.

Great way to get a bluegrass sound without the bother of learning a complete new set of chords for a five string banjo, for a lazy guitar player like myself. I love this instrument. I was a little wary of buying a cheap banjo, and didnt know a huge amount about Harley Benton, but so far it holds its tuning very well, unlike my tenor banjo. Once I changed the strings to pyramid banjo strings, I got that bluegrass sound I was after. It was easy to make the adjustment, once I learned a few bluegrass picking patterns. I am very pleased with this insrtument. It s quite heavy compared to guitar, so it took a while to get it balanced correctly when playing. Love this insrtument, cant understand why it is considered the poor relation of the bluegrass family.

I started learning banjo on my father's 5 string Harley Benton but as a guitarist it seemed like a waste of time when I could just buy a Banjitar and chickin' pick! Safe to say it gets' everything right.

I must say, it's very interesting. Though I am not fully equipped to record yet, I'd love to have this on a record. Even for just one track, maybe just for one section because it really changes the dynamic for me musically.

It was a lil' bassier than I imagined at first, but I'll be getting some lighter strings before long. I may even consider forming a group which has a 'folk' set up playing classic hard rock and heavy metal songs.

My pals think it's a blast and they haven't seen anything like it, I'm also deeply considering buying one of these 'resonator basses' that 'Harley' have in stock because I'm acutally a bass player first and foremost.

The funniest and best part is when I cover tracks by bands like 'System Of A Down' with my muse-o pals and I say 'Guess this song' it's always a cracker of an event. I just love it, It really freaking rocks!

Well were do I start.

1st let me say that the product arrived in immaculate condition.

The wood grain finish is beautiful and very pleasing to the eye, all my friends gave it a "WOW" when they saw it.

All bolts, nuts, and screws were nice & tightly fixed (none were loose).

Everything about this banjitar looks pretty cool, but, the best thing about it, is, that the chord patterns are exactly the same as to those of a normal guitar. So no, you DO NOT have to learn new chord patterns if you are familiar or already play a guitar.

Again, I have only played it for a while,and, the only thing you have to adjust is your strumming, i.e. better sound is produced when finger picking or employing banjo "rolls" (YouTube vids can be of help). Other than that you are good to go and start playing some bluegrass, or simply be creative.

This product great is value for your money, hence I rated it with a total 5 stars !

Have fun !!