Dean Backwoods Banjo, Six String Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been a guitar player for over 30 years, and never played the banjo. I bought this as an experiment, as I may need it for a few upcoming shows. I wanted to get a true banjo sound, but didn't want to bother learning a whole new instrument.
This "Gitjo," for the money, is a great instrument. I had to modify the bridge slightly, having to make a slightly deeper cut for the 6th string with a utility knife (it would pull off its 6th position, and move towards the 5th) and I had to place the bridge into the right position (which was a snap, since you can check positioning against harmonics).
The neck is very clean. It plays very well, and is perfectly straight. It is machined beautifully, and the fret positions are perfect. The mother of pearl Dean "Wing" design on the 12th fret is very cool.
The mahogany body is seated with 4 inset screws that were a little loose. I took those out (by hand, piece of cake) and hot glued the insets so they would sit firm. That took a few minutes, but once again was a snap to do. Since the body was off, I took the opportunity to tighten the drumhead a bit with the tool they provided. The instrument is now absolutely solid. BTW, the body is beautifully lacquer-finished mahogany.
Finally, as a result of the experiment (for those that are curious...) the top 4 strings are absolutely indistinguishable from a banjo. The 5th string sounds like a banjo when you play it on the 7th fret or higher, the 6th string isn't all that "banjo-ey." If your going to strum this a lot, i wouldnt change much, but would focus on playing higher inversions of chords, and focus on the top 4 or 5 strings.
If you are going to pick it, I would recommend the following: Replace the 5th string "A" with a guitar "B" string and crank it up an octave to the "A" a full step above the G string, and possibly will do the same with the sixth string (using a D string) to the E above the D.
I would also recommend using very bright, nickle wound strings (probably medium gauge like those starting with a .10 E string). You might also want to buy a set of banjo strings for the top 4, and take a cheap set of acoustic guitar strings and use thinner strings for the 5th and 6th strings.
All in all, the Dean is a great buy if you dont mind doing the last minute tweaks. I think this Gitjo is a great instrument to add to my collection and sounds great!

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Dean Backwoods 6string banjo.Tunes and Plays like a guitar! Now all guitar players can play banjo with the Dean BW6. Uses 9 gauge electric guitar strings!BW6~25 1/2" Scale~Mohagany Neck~Rosewood Fingerboard~Die Cast Tuners~Chrome Hardware~Celluliod Binding~Pearl DOT/Wing Inlays~6 String

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