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

This Banjo is gorgeous!! First of all, it was carefully packaged and wrapped. It came in a card board box, then in it's case, then in a bag and all the strings were wrapped in waxrd paper. It comes with so many extras like a tuner, shoulder strap, finger picks, extra strings and a wall holder!! The banjo sounds so great and I can't wait to start my lessons. It's a beautiful instrument at an AMAZING price.

I love this mini. But I had to take it to my music store to get it playable. They had to tighten the head shave the bridge and deepen the slots on the nut. Then tune it a note higher than a regular banjo. It has a sound of its own. I love it.

Was a housewarming gift for my husband. He loves it!

I have to say, for $125 I wasn't expecting much. And out of the box it was very difficult to play. As I travel ALOT in my job as a touring guitar tech, I wanted a banjo that would fit in my suitcase, and figured it was worth a roll of the dice.Being a professional guitar tech, I was afforded the ability to make this little banjo (what I would call) usable.1st I had to shim the neck a bit to bring down the action. Then I put heavier gauge strings on it, so I could tune it to open G and still feel some resistance while picking. I built a set of strings that are 11, 28, 18, 14, 11. Also I had to cut down all of the nut slots significantly, (including the high G 5th string). The high G should rest ON the 5th fret. It was way too high. In fact all the nut slots were so high, that when you fretted any string on the first few frets, it would press the string so far sharp, the fretted notes were very sharp and out of tune.Due to it's size (and my fat fingers) it's still going to take some getting used to.As it sits now, it plays fairly well. For $125 I'd say, after a proper setup, it's well worth the price. And there's a ton of accessories included.I'm quite happy with my purchase.

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.

I got this for an upcoming trip on which it would be impractical to take a full-sized banjo. I didn't have high expectations for the Vangoa but it really surprised me! I'm a clawhammer player and the strings are spaced far enough apart that playing it is not a different experience for the right hand, which is where the rubber meets the road for what is a practice instrument. The width of the strings at the bridge is 1 11/16", which is exactly the same as a regular banjo.At the nut it unfortunately gets narrower than a regular banjo (13/16" versus 1"), but you can't have everything...certainly not at this price. It is still quite playable for the left hand. You may have to play some things you'd normally play with the left pinky with the ring finger instead; but since this is really just a keep-in-trim instrument it's not that big a deal.The playing experience for the picking or clawhammering hand is about the same as a full-size when it's tuned to C or B.The only beginner I would want to get this instrument is a very young child. A kid 10 and above, or an adult, should not be learning on this instrument, as the distance between the frets is way narrower than a full-size.There's some other goodies included--gig bag, strap, contact pickup (!), plastic thumb and plastic finger picks, an extra set of strings--which one might get some use from even if they found the instrument useless.In terms of use for other than a practice instrument, its voice and size make it a lot like a mandolin or a ukelele. Uke players would probably enjoy this banjo a lot. So it could certainly find its way into a player's arsenal as a novelty instrument.For what it is, to me it's great value for the money.

My son was wanting to learn the banjo so I got him this and he loves it even more that its a banjolele. Sounds great. Built with live and quality. Would recommend to anyone

You have to set up this banjo. The instructions say if you're not familiar with setting up a banjo, don't. Another $50 by a luthier to set up the banjo. I would not have purchased this banjo if I knew. Caveat emptor