In this article, we list the best banjos to save you time in your search. Our 10 picks for the best banjos are as follows:
- Vangoa 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit – Click here to see it on Amazon – Our #1 Top Pick!
- Deering Goodtime 5-String Banjo with Padded Bag and Tuner – Click here to see it on Amazon
- Jameson Guitars 6-String Banjo with Closed Back Resonator and 24 Brackets
- Aklot Banjo Ukulele Concert
- ADM 5-String Banjo Beginner Kit
- Kmise 5-String Banjo
- Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Ukulele (Vintage Brown)
- Mulucky 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit
- Pyle PBJ60 5-String Banjo
- Ibanez B50 5-String Banjo
Read on to learn more about the best banjos, including their specs and features.
Also, we hope you find the links here useful. We may get a commission if you purchase something through a link on this page, so thank you!
Also, for an excellent banjo, take a look at our top pick, the Vangoa 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit.
Click here to see it on Amazon.
Best Banjos – Our Top 10 Picks
1. Vangoa 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit
First on our list of the best banjos is the Vangoa 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This banjo is not just a resonator banjo – it can also be an open-back banjo by detaching the back. The resonator banjo produces a mellower, softer sound, while the open-back banjo style produces a very bright sound. These two different banjo styles can also meet the different demands of banjo players.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Remo Drum Head – It uses a high-quality Remo drum head as its banjo panel, producing a sweet tone. You can also gently beat the head to fuse different timbres in your melodies.
- Adjustable String Height – It has a truss rod that can adjust the string height so that you’ll feel comfortable and can perform fluently.
- Durable Material – Built with a mahogany neck and beautiful wood grain sides and back. This banjo is also hard and unlikely to warp, making it durable.
- Smooth Decent Touch – It has a fine bright paint with a glossy and smooth appearance, giving you a comfortable playing experience.
- Economical Kit – Comes with a bag, guitar tuner, strap, pick up, strings, picks. You can also get these beginner accessories at a cost-effective price.
Vangoa is a musical instrument e-commerce platform first established in 2017. The company manufactures a wide variety of high-quality musical instruments. Now, Vangoa has grown far beyond the store and will be introducing more original products in the future.
2. Deering Goodtime 5-String Banjo with Padded Bag and Tuner
Next on our list of the best banjos for the money is the 5-string Goodtime banjo:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This banjo produces a vibrant tone from its natural finished violin-grade maple rim. It only weighs 4 lbs., making it ideal for both adults and children. Because of its weight, you can conveniently travel with this banjo.
This banjo is also easy to play, durable, and pretty easy to maintain. Professionals and teachers around the world recommend the Goodtime banjo for greater success in learning how to play.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Has a deluxe padded gig bag and a True Tune chromatic tuner
- With a blonde, slender rock maple neck and 22 pressed in nickel-silver frets
- Hardwood bow-tie inlays with sealed geared tuners, geared 5th string tuner
- Durable satin finish open-back
- Deering fiddle-shaped peghead
- 11-inch blonde, 3-ply violin grade, maple rim steel tension hoop
- 11-inch frosted top high crown head 5/8-inch maple/ebony Goodtime bridge
- 16 flat hooks with 9/32-inch nuts
- 16 bracket shoes with screw attachments
- Deering Patented Goodtime tailpiece
- Steel coordinator rod for adjustments
- 1 1/4 inches neck width at the nut
- 26 1/4 inches scale length nut to bridge
- 11-inch rim diameter
- Overall instrument length at 37 1/2 inches
- Approximately weighs 4.5 lbs.
3. Jameson Guitars 6-String Banjo with Closed Back Resonator and 24 Brackets
To make learning the banjo easy and enjoyable, you’ll be impressed with the Jameson Guitars 6-String Banjo with Closed Back Resonator:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This full-scale banjo allows you to tune and play it just like a guitar. It is also great for banjo players of any age or ability. Whether you’re a pro, a weekend warrior, a hobbyist, or a beginner, you will hear the clean sound from this Jameson banjo.
This banjo also has beautiful wood grains on mahogany with a nickel-plated armrest feature, often found on much more expensive models.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Sounds like a banjo but tunes and plays like a guitar
- 6-string banjo
- 7-ply maple neck and mahogany resonator
- Stunning high-gloss finish
- 24 brackets and diecast enclosed tuners
- Fun to play and easy to learn
- Excellent features at a great price
4. Aklot Banjo Ukulele Concert
Next on our list of the best-rated banjos is the Aklot Banjo Ukulele Concert:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This banjo ukulele is Aklot’s 1st opened back banjolele with a deep rim pump. Its sound resonates with your audience, making the banjo sound bright.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Remo Fiberskyn Drumhead – This banjolele has a warm, round tone described as plunky or with an Appalachian mountain sound
- Advanced Tuner Machine – Employed 15:1 geared tuner to tune your banjolele more accurately
- Two-way Truss Rod – Allows you customize your action
- Open-back design
- Sanded frets with low hard maple fingerboard for comfortable playing
- The package comes with a two-year warranty
The banjolele is a 4-stringed musical instrument with a fretted ukulele neck and a small banjo-type body. Sometimes, banjolele is spelled as banjulele or banjelele. It achieved its greatest popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. Moreover, it combines the small scale, tuning, and playing style of a ukulele with the construction and distinctive tone of a banjo.
5. ADM 5-String Banjo Beginner Kit
The ADM 5-string banjo can be a resonator banjo and an open-back banjo by detaching the banjo’s back. The resonator banjo produces a softer or mellower sound, while the open-back banjo style produces a very bright sound. These two different styles meet the different demands of banjo players.
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This banjo is also perfect for beginner students. It comes with a bag, three picks, strap, digital E-tuner, hanger, and extra strings. The lower part of this banjo is shaped like a tambourine, while its upper part is shaped like a guitar. It has four or five strings, and it can be played with a finger or plectrum.
Key Features and Benefits:
- High-quality Remo Drum Head – The banjo panel can produce a sweet tone. It ensures sound clarity and a stable bridge setting during fast fingerpicking.
- Superior Material – It is made of mahogany fingerboard and bridge. The sound is also more layered due to its sturdy and stable construction. This banjo is hard and not liable to warping or corrosion as well.
- Geared 5th Tuner – This feature is important for both tuning and playability as it brings you the classic tones. It is perfect for country, bluegrass, folk, and even modern rock. Moreover, it is an important upgrade over the common friction tuner.
- Thick Bag – Comes with a thicker bag to better protect the banjo. It’s ideal for traveling, camping, hiking, or a day at the beach. This banjo is also perfect for anyone who always wanted to learn to play this iconic instrument.
- Economical Kit – Comes with a bag, digital tuner, strap, strings, picks, hanger, and cleaning cloth. You can get these beginner accessories at a cost-effective price too.
6. Kmise 5-String Banjo
The Kmise 5-string banjo is another excellent addition to our list of best banjos for the money:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
Its unique five strings (four long and one short) enable you to play a continuous note in a certain key, whether it’s a grasping style or three-finger style.
This banjo also has a removable back cover, so you can choose if you want an open-back and resonator banjo. Open-back banjos have a softer sound, while resonator banjos have a louder, brighter, and more concentrated sound.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Uses high-quality Remo drumhead, which can produce a pleasant sound
- Sapele removable back cover (you can close or open the back at any time)
- Comes with an armrest that can provide comfort and arm protection while playing
- Shiny and durable because of its Okoume neck wood and Sapele back cover
- Comes with a gig bag, banjo strap, extra strings, digital clip-on tuner, polishing cloth, Allen wrench, and banjo picks as gifts.
7. Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Ukulele (Vintage Brown)
Another best banjo on our list is the Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Ukulele in vintage brown. This new tenor banjo uke is an affordable alternative to the Gold Tone Banjolele series, now available in a tenor scale length.
Click here to see it on Amazon.
This banjo model features a maple neck, bound rosewood fingerboard, geared tuners, a single adjustable coordinator rod, and a plate-style resonator. It also includes a hardshell case.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Maple neck and resonator
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Grover style metal gear tuners
- EZ string tailpiece
- Four nylon string
- Weighs 2.8 pounds
8. Mulucky 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit
The Mulucky 5-String Banjo is next on our list for the best beginner banjos:
Click here to see it on Amazon.
It is an open-back full-size banjo that comes with a beginner kit. This banjo is also highly durable, even in outdoor use. It is one of the best open-back banjos for the money.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Remo Fiberskyn Drumhead – This classic brand enables stable, open, resonant, and bright sounds.
- High-quality Wood – Has a beautiful wood grain and built with a maple body. It is hard and not liable to warping or corrosion. Its anti-corrosion chrome-plated pegs also stand the test of time and keep the banjo strings in perfect tune.
- Excellent Sound – It comes with a 5th tuner that brings the classic tones. Also, its 24 brackets ensure the fusion of melodious percussion timbres.
- Easy to Learn – This 5-string banjo offers a distinctive sound that most banjo players can easily grasp. Its chrome-plated closed tuning pegs are also easy to tune and hold.
- Warranty – Full refund or replacement if found defective.
A young, creative, and driven team founded Mulucky. Since its establishment, the company has provided OEM production services for many international musical instrument brands. They have their own production workshop with an area of 5,000 square meters.
9. Pyle PBJ60 5-String Banjo
The Pyle PBJ60 5-string banjo features a classic and traditional-style binding design. Its rich wood and high-gloss finish have accents of white jade machine head tuner key pegs and chrome-plated hardware.
It is made of high-quality components, such as the Remo M1 drumhead, shabili wood body, and rosewood fretboard. This banjo is definitely designed to sound as good as it looks. Banjo players will surely reminisce its iconic upbeat banjo tones and enjoy its classic sound.
Click here to see it on Amazon.
Key Features and Benefits:
- High-quality – Made of rich wood and high-gloss finish with white jade machine head tuner key pegs and chrome-plated hardware accents. It also has a mahogany neck, back, and side – not to mention a rosewood fingerboard and maple wood bridge.
- Excellent Tone – This banjo brings you all the classic tones of a traditional 5-string banjo. It’s perfect for bluegrass, country, and folk, including modern rock.
- Geared 5th Tuner – This premium feature is important for both tuning and playability. High-end banjo features are usually found on more expensive banjos. This geared 5th tuner is an important upgrade over the common friction tuner.
- Lightweight – Full scale and lightweight that’s ideal for traveling, camping, or hiking.
- Classic and Traditional Style – It’s styled after the early 20th-century innovative models.
10. Ibanez B50 5-String Banjo
The Ibanez B50 Banjo delivers a sweet 5-string closed-back banjo at a price that won’t break the bank. It features a 24-lug configuration and mahogany back and sides. Its mahogany neck also has a rosewood fingerboard with dot position markers. Moreover, this banjo’s open-gear tuners lend a vintage note while keeping things in tune.
Click here to see it on Amazon.
Key Features and Benefits:
- 5-string banjo design
- 24-lug configuration
- Mahogany neck, back, and sides
- Remo 11-inch coated Weatherking banjo head
Conclusion – Best Banjos – Top 10 Picks
So to recap, our top 10 picks for the best banjos are as follows:
- Vangoa 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit – Click here to see it on Amazon – Our #1 Top Pick!
- Deering Goodtime 5-String Banjo with Padded Bag and Tuner – Click here to see it on Amazon
- Jameson Guitars 6-String Banjo with Closed Back Resonator and 24 Brackets
- Aklot Banjo Ukulele Concert
- ADM 5-String Banjo Beginner Kit
- Kmise 5-String Banjo
- Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Ukulele (Vintage Brown)
- Mulucky 5-String Banjo with Beginner Kit
- Pyle PBJ60 5-String Banjo
- Ibanez B50 5-String Banjo
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