Harley Benton BJ-55Pro 5 String Banjo

Quality per price cannot really be beaten. Even considering second hand market. Had some proud frets, tone loop had burrs, pot had delamination issues(was doing some grafting/turning kung fu installing proper tone ring, so had to cut it in half). Nut had to be adjusted. Needs 50-70 euro worth of setup by proper banjo tech. For this price its a steal.
Would consider adding second coordinator rod - seems like it was meant to be there at some point, so job is like 85% done.

The first thing I understood about this banjo from the pictures that it is a very good looking one.
When the box arrived quick and problem free for Germany, I react upon the very ligth weigth. I have owned 2 banjos before and they was really heavy. This was like....almost no weight in comparison. I would later find out why.
This banjo have no tonering. I was not put off by that, actually I like the sound of a let say Gibson tb 11 that has also no tonering. I set up the banjo, the tailpiece was tighten down so brutal I had to use a plumbers wrench to unscrew it. Not so good, this is suppose to be tightened by fingers only. The skin was tighten Ok. Someone had use a toll I think to measure equal tightening around the rim, because the tone was as it should be, the same all the way around. many players will say you shall be able to push down the middle of the skin about half an inch with no problem. This is much tighter than that but it's Ok, I leave it as is.
The sound:
I have been a professional musician some years ago and I know exactly what I want from a instrument. A banjo without tonering will not have a large portion of the sound placed in the very ultra highest frequencies, like we all have heard from many bluegrass recordings. many prefer that, the high pitches all the time can be a bit much for many. I was hoping for a more plucky "quacky" quality over the tones, This banjo has that. It is also very loud.
Then the biggest surprise. The netpage say the banjo body ( resonator) are mahogany. It is not ! It is plastic ! Or composite material to make it sound nicer. Therefor the light weight. This is against the consumer law in my country. description must tell facts on the product.
At least they made a fantastic job in making it look like mahogany. It fooled me. So do I now have a toy ?
No, many instruments like Ovation guitars f.eks use composite materials, many banjos these days comes with synthetic resonators. But they tell the truth on what their product is. All this being said, the banjo has its own sound. I like the sound. Those people who have heard it, like the sound also.
Small things to be expected, the neck needs adjustment, the action are low at your left hand and like almost 1 cm. high at the right hand neck. A beginner will struggle withthis, I just fixed it. Tuners are simple, I needed to tigthen them as well so they should hold the string in position.
All in all I will use this banjos at places we play. For the price I am contented, I got a banjo that had a bigger not so -jump in you face-high pitched banjo sound.

First one arrived damaged in transit, signs of a rough ride from the carrier. Second banjo had damage along side of neck / edge of fret board which I believe was caused in the factory when the frets were being finished. This should not have got past "QC" and by now I'm looking close, so it had to go back.

Thomann have responded well, handled the shipping and correspondence but it has taken a little while.

So Banjo no.3. Arrived safe and sound and reasonably finished. I say reasonably, there are areas that could be better and the build quality is a bit 'iffy'. I suspect that with budget instruments coming from the far East, the priority is external appearance, but when you look close up...

This is my first banjo and maybe this is how they are but I find the further up the fretboard you go the duller the clarity of the note played. So I'm trying to improve the 'set up'. The action was very high on arrival - to adjust you remove the resonator back and turn the connector rod. Having opened up the banjo, I am disappointed with the build quality, the fitting of some of the components is not too clever - not a precision instrument at all. At this point I also realise that some of the chrome fittings are in fact plastic. If they were metal the instrument would be even heavier but as a result I can foresee changing or adjusting tension of the head becoming a problem.

Lower action, better string/fret 'breakover' , it is sounding a little better, but still a bit dead above say the 9th fret - I'll try different strings. Tuning is tricky, it seems very on-off with these tuners. The fact that they are a bit notchy does not help and a couple unwind of their own accord - learnt via the net, you adjust the screw in the middle of the key to increase the 'brake', so that's sorted.

I'll try and sum up. I realise, now that I own one, a full resonator 5 string banjo is a complex piece of equipment and to sound good / be well built inside and out, it has to cost some money - wherever it was manufactured. Having read plenty of positive reviews about the quality/value for money of the Harley Benton range I decided to buy the top of "their" range, full fat model. If your going to have one...... and I liked the added decoration etc. But fundamentally it's too cheap. 198 euros is not an inconsiderable sum of money but can you really build an instrument of this complexity for this price to a reasonable quality.

I had hoped that the "Pro" in the title meant I'd be getting something reasonable. I do not believe a professional musician would be happy with this instrument. I am a novice looking to amuse myself in the garden and annoy the neighbours, so for that the banjo will suffice. Value for money at 198 e - not sure.

Finally if you order one check it over carefully on arrival. The body is very heavy ! but the neck and bridge are very delicate. I have discussed the internal packing with Thomann, which in my opinion could be improved. If it gets bounced by the carrier I believe it is bound to suffer.