Vangoa 5 String Banjo 26 Inch, MINI Travel Banjo Beginner Kit with Remo Head, Open Back & Closed Solid Back with beginner Kit, Comfortable Carrying Bag

Got this for my GF. She's just learning and seems to like it very well. It's economically made. But not a cheap toy. Tone is good and holds tuning quite better than expected. I'm might get one for myself in the near future.

We have an update from the previous review. We received the banjo initially because it did not come with the beginner's kit. This made the banjo unplayable because it had no bridge or picks. The company reached out to us and offered a full refund. After a couple of days of back and forth messaging, they offered to ship us the missing items. We received the package within a week or so and everything is going great! I really appreciated the customer service reaching out to us after seeing our old review and issue! Just for others to know, this banjo is about the size of a ukulele. Be sure to tune it correctly (and frequently) to the notes you want. If playing like a regular banjo of DBGDG it does have more of a "twang" sound to it when playing on different frets which changes how it sounds overall. This is good for beginners with all the included components and extras.

This banjo was to be ready to play right out the box but mine came and the bridge wasn't installed i had to loosen the wires to get the bridge in and the tuner that came with it does not tune a 5 string banjo only electric , guitar , violin, and a ukulele all of them had more cords then my banjo so as a beginner I was under able to re tune now will have to pay a professional to tune it very nice banjo but not easy to set up for a beginner

I'm an advanced banjo player and have owned and played many banjos over the decades. I bought the Vangoa mini because my grandsons, age 8 and 5, have expressed a desire to play but aren't big enough to play my full-sized banjos. In other words, this is to be a starter banjo for these children, and as such it seems to me to be ideal. The banjo arrived fully set up; just needed to be tuned to be fully playable. On line there is information about setting the bridge and adjusting the tension rod, but none of that was necessary. This instrument was ready to play out of the box. Some reviews indicate that purchasers were beginners who bought this as an adult starter instrument. It is NOT recommended for that purpose: the spacing on the strings is not ideal for adult-size fingers, especially for a novice player. An advanced player might want this as a novelty instrument, but I see it as best for a child, and for this price, WOW! I couldn't ask for more. The tone, by the way, is high pitched, plunky, and perfectly acceptable. I'm delighted with this purchase. Highly recommended for the purposes described above.

This is a great little 5 string banjo ukulele. it has the sound of a ukulele which doesn't sound like a quality banjo, never the less is a very pleasant sounding instrument. For a small child wanting to learn to play the banjo, this might be the right size to start out with. If your an adult wanting to learn, it really is to small to try to learn on. For an experienced banjo player, this little instrument is a lot of fun to play. I had to move the bridge back about an inch to correct the intonation and tune it but very little else to start playing it. You won't need to take it to a professional to set it up. quick tip. measure the distance from the nut to the 12th fret and then move the bridge so there is the same distance between the 12 fret and the bridge. Then tune the strings and start playing. I bought it to take on a cruise, just to keep my fingers in condition without having to lug around 20 lbs of banjo and case. After the cruise, I have a grandchild or two that may want to learn to play.

I bought the 26 inch Vangoa mini-travel banjo. Even when carefully and repeatedly properly tuned with the strings open, any fretted string or chord is dissonant. Other experienced musicians examined it too and they also could not correct the problem. On the positive side, it is cosmetically well made and appealing. But unfortunately you can't make good sounding music with this pretty banjo, probably due to a design error where the frets are not properly spaced. Too bad, I very much wanted a nice travel banjo.

The banjo itself is very nice. It came with everything and the tune is beautiful. Nicely packed. You can tell care was taken. The issue I have is the carry bag that came with it. It was moldy, inside and out...and the banjo was inside, Thankfully the banjo was wrapped in plastic and not damaged by this. I sprayed the bag with lysol laundry sanitizer and washed it on delicate. I need to note the box was not damaged and didn't have any signs of moisture. So I'm not sure if the bags are stored separately and plucked before shipment? I do recommend this product but pay attention to this mold/ possible moisture issue.

Ok for a child tried to return it post office said it would cost me 60 pounds to send it back what a ripoff stuck with a banjo i don't wont

The bottom-line is that this is a high quality instrument at a fantastic price. Pop in the bridge, tune it up and start playing real banjo tunes, because this is a real banjo. This is about the size of a tenor ukulele and has a higher pitch than a standard banjo, although you can loosen it up a bit. The bindings are nice, not cheap looking, and the fret work is solid and finished. The tuners are high-quality no-name brand, you will have no trouble with them keeping tune. All other metal gear is likewise high-quality, no-name brand steel and the wood is indeed real.

EL INSTRUMENTO LLEGÓ EN LA PARTE TRASERA CON UN FISURA, PARA EL PRECIO QUE TIENE, HUBIERA ESPERADO EL PRODUCTO EN BUENAS CONDICIONES

This was the perfect gift

As a beginner, I had no idea which banjo to select. After spending weeks reading about the instrument, I decided on this one because i) versatility - I could remove the resonator if I wanted; ii) price - hard to beat; iii) it came with a good selection of accessories; and iv) some good video reviews online. What I didn't expect i) how incredibly well made this was (I'm no expert, but I think most people would agree this is a very well constructed product); ii) how nice it sounds (again, no expert, but this sounds very pleasant to me; iii) the included finger picks (if you're going to learn picking first) are poor - it would be advisable to pick up a set of National metal/plastic picks; iv) the strap has a chemical smell to it and was completely unusable; v) buy a stand - at least for me, I'm far more likely to play if all I have to do is pick it up instead of struggling to take it out of the zippered bag; vi) after about a month of fine tuning, I have barely touched the tuners! I've had it now for about five months and I actually find it easier to play than a guitar and not significantly more challenging than a ukulele (I started guitar, banjo and uke at the same time.) The uke, I purchased based on advice that it's the easiest string instrument to play, but now that I've had both for about the same time, I would say the learning curve is about the same; different technique, but similar technical difficulty. Most beginner uke lessons start on strumming chords and accompanyment (sing/play); being a poor singer, I had trouble finding *complete* songs that sounded good solo/fingerstyle on the uke. Not so with the banjo. Even though I had never previously heard many of the songs I'm learning, the banjo sounds great and I'm enjoying it much more than the uke.