When the Goodtime banjo was first released in 1996, it revolutionized the banjo world cementing its place as a lightweight, affordable, great-sounding American-made banjo, heralded for its affordability and great value.
Today, the Deering Goodtime banjo is as popular as ever, continuing to be the choice among musicians of all skill levels, thanks to its excellent craftsmanship, superior sound quality, and affordable price point. It is also the most recommended banjo for beginners!
Central to the success of the Goodtime banjo is the construction which utilizes high-quality materials and components, including a three-ply violin-grade maple rim, and an exceptionally stable and slender hard rock maple neck, ensuring that it delivers a rich, full sound with excellent clarity and projection. The Goodtime tailpiece is our own design, the tension hoop is rolled in-house from raw metal. We took time to source the best possible tuners to compliment the Goodtime affordability and topped it off with the best banjo strings on the market.
This emphasis on quality also makes the Goodtime banjo incredibly easy to play, thanks to its slim neck profile, low string action, and smooth fretwork. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced player, you'll appreciate the Goodtime banjo's comfortable feel and excellent playability.
All Goodtime banjos are made by skilled craftsmen in our only facility, located in San Diego, CA. And at only 4 pounds, the weight makes it ideal for both children and adults to play and travel with conveniently.
Even when you eventually step up to an upperline model, we are certain that your trusty Goodtime will remain a go-to banjo.
Neck Wood: Rock Maple
Neck Shape: Comfortable "D" Shape
Stain: Natural Maple
Finish: Satin
Nut Width: 1 1/4"
Nut Material: Lexan Polycarbonate
Tuners: Sealed Geared Tuners
5th String Tuner: Goodtime Geared 5th String Tuner
Frets: 22 Pressed In Nickel Silver Frets
Inlays: Hardwood Art Deco Inspired Inlays
Rim: 3-Ply Violin Grade Maple
Rim Diameter: 11"
Tone Ring:
Head: 11" Top Frosted High Crown
Tension Hoop: Beveled Steel Tension Hoop
Hooks & Nuts: 16 Flat J-Hooks with 9/32″ Nuts
Armrest: US Bronze Powder Finished Goodtime Armrest
Hardware Plating: US Bronze Powder Finish
Bridge: 5/8" Goodtime Smile Bridge
Tailpiece: Deering Patented Goodtime Tailpiece
Finish: Hand Rubbed Polyurethane with Carnuba Wax Finish
Neck Width at the Nut: 1 1/4"
Scale Length Nut to Bridge: 26 1/4"
Rim Diameter: 11"
Overall Instrument Length: 37 1/2"
Weight Approx.: 4.5 lbs
The trust and pride we share in our product gives us the confidence to grant every owner of a Goodtime banjo an Eight Year Warranty ensuring the quality of our materials and workmanship.
Click below for more information.
Comes strung with Deering Light Gauge Strings
String gauges: 10, 11, 13, 21w, 10
Comes tuned: G, D, G, B, D
Can easily be tuned in other tunings as well.
Gig bags and hardshell cases available below.
Overall rating: 4.9102564 / 5 from 78 reviews.
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"Everything i could hope for. Seems like i hooked up with a reliable company. Like i always tell people, But American made products, you can’t go wrong. A few dollars more goes a long way and eliminates having to spend time trying to straighten things out."
"Love the banjo.........can't play much yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Absolutely a beautiful instrument. I hate to put it down. Thanks for a great American Made product."
"I've been playing a Deering Boston 6-string for several years to add a banjo flavor to the folk music my wife and I perform . . . but I've been playing the Boston like a guitar with 3 fingerpicks . . . finally, at age 68, decided to bite the bullet and learn to play 5-string . . . absolutely delighted with the Goodtime openback!!! . . . great quality starter banjo . . . sounds amazing . . even with a clunky picker like me . . . can hardly stand to put it down! Superb product!"
"I bought this banjo for my husband’s birthday, fully expecting it to be a sometimes instrument. I was wrong. This banjo has become a lifestyle. A personality trait. Possibly a third member of our marriage. He plays it every day. Morning banjo. Afternoon banjo. “I’ll just play for a minute” banjo (spoiler: it’s never a minute). Our house now has a permanent soundtrack that ranges from front porch Appalachian vibes to someone accidentally summoned a hoedown. Am I slightly annoyed? Yes. Do I know the same riffs by heart now? Also yes. Am I secretly thrilled that he’s having the time of his life, grinning like a kid every time he picks it up? Absolutely. The sound is great, the quality is solid, and it clearly sparks joy—perhaps too much joy—but that’s a price I’m willing to pay for seeing him this happy. Five stars for the banjo. One extra star deducted from my sanity, but still worth it. Highly recommend if you love your spouse, enjoy musical enthusiasm, and don’t mind living in a bluegrass-adjacent household."
"Banjo is perfect and plays great"
"First of all, I want to say how impressed I am with the excellent quality and playability of my Deering Goodtime banjo. I am a beginner and started with a banjo from a company known for folk instruments. It was serviceable, but had limitations. After a bit of research, I purchased a base model Goodtime open back, and the difference was noticeable right from the start. Great action and intonation all the way up the neck, and really excellent tone. The build quality is first-rate as well. My progress as a player has improved because of this, and I would recommend Deering banjos to all you beginners out there looking for the right instrument. Plus, they are made right here in the U. S. A."
"I purchased the open back banjo to learn clawhammer style. My goal is to learn old time American music. The banjo arrived well packed for protection. Deering has a good website with much information and videos for learning about banjos."
"Great banjo for me, a first time player looking for a high quality instrument I can enjoy playing and be challenged by for years to come."
"I am 35 years old and new to banjos. I did a fair bit of research online regarding entry level banjos and decided to try a Deering goodtime. It is a little more expensive than some of the other entry level banjos that I looked at but I felt like it was worth the extra money, I am glad I did. It sounds and feels great. I am from Canada and the shipping was great, I placed the order on Jan 29 and it arrived one week later on Feb 5th. I am learning clawhammer style on a youtube channel called brainjo and it is going great. The last thing I will mention is their customer service. I haven’t needed anything after the ordering process since everything arrived in great shape, but I can tell from placing my order over the phone that they are amazing to deal with and would handle anything that may pop up easily. I spoke with Jamie, she was very knowledgeable and delightful to deal with. Overall, great company, great banjo. 5/5"
1. DEERING GOODTIME SMILE BRIDGE
The responsive sensitivity of the maple, with the hard, dense ebony top contributes to the Goodtime banjos clear, resonant responsiveness.
2. QUIET TAILPIECE
Specially selected metal is used to prevent the tailpiece from making “its own sound” and muddying up the banjo’s tone. The violin maple rim is supposed to sing, not your tailpiece.
3. STABILITY ENHANCING J-HOOKS
The proprietary Deering J-hooks are wider at the top to prevent twisting off the tension hoop when tightening the banjo head.
4. QUIET COORDINATOR ROD
Made of special alloy that is strong and does not interfere with the singing resonance of the violin maple rim.
5. 3-PLY VIOLIN GRADE MAPLE RIM
The maple in the Goodtime rim is the exact wood used in the finest violins in the world. Only Deering puts this professional grade 3-ply maple rim in a banjo in this price range.
6. SEALED GEARED TUNERS
Five high quality geared tuning machines make tuning the Goodtime banjo easy, accurate and fun. Too many student banjos are cursed with poor quality tuners, so the students blame themselves for an out of tune banjo when it’s the tuner that is at fault.
7. ROCK MAPLE NECK
This fine grained, dense, extremely hard, wood creates a stable neck, and imparts a bright, crisp quality to the Goodtime banjo tone.
