Epiphone MB-100 First Pick Banjo Natural

I have been playing a banjo since 1962 and have had several of them (including a Gibson Mastertone, Vega long neck, two high-end custom made bluegrass banjos, an English 5 str. and lastly this Epiphone I bought as a "travel" banjo). I play folk and bluegrass styles. I can say with experience that this mod. MB100 is a terrific banjo when a few modifications are made. I can honestly say that mine now sounds better than other big name mfr's. banjos in the $1000 range!!! and it has a "real" fingerboard; not one that is just the top surface of the neck!!! Upgrade #1: change the bridge to a high end bridge (yeah, in the $35 range!). I have a Snuffy Smith 11/32" bridge. You'll be amazed at the difference this alone made! Upgrade #2: tighten the head as much as possible before the hooks begin to yield (straighten out) or their ends begin to contact and dig into the mylar head. Upgrade #3: lower the action. I used a thin (~1.4mm) silver shim at the end of the neck rather than fiddle with the coordinator rod. String ht. is now about 3/32" high at the 12th fret. In fact, I was so pleased with my results that I added some upgrades that had little to do with tonal improvement; like a nice Presto tailpiece and Schaller D Tuners The banjo is now a "sleeper" that I don't mind traveling with. Don't sell this banjo short, its got a lot of potential! Even with my improvements, its still far cheaper and better sounding than those $400+ banjos! El Chino

I bought this banjo about two years ago. It's now my go-to. Once you get this properly set up and make a few modifications, it turns into a fantastic instrument. Pros: - Some great tone from this open back banjo. In fact, I'd say the tone on this is better than most resonator banjos priced under $500. It's nice and mellow when you lightly strum. But it has Scruggs-style punch if you put on some picks and dig into the strings. - The quality of the materials seems pretty good. The finish on the neck feels like satin (which I like). The wood looks and feels like decent quality. The tuners are great--never had an issue with slipping out of tune. Unfortunately, the bridge and the tailpiece are both poor quality, but those can be easily (and inexpensively) replaced (see below). - The banjo is very light weight. A resonator banjo feels like a sack of bricks compared to this. - You can keep the volume very low if needed. I stuff a couple of dish towels behind the head to deaden the sound. Then you can practice into all hours of the night. That's not something you can easily do with a resonator banjo. Cons: - The bridge and tailpiece both need replaced. Starting with the bridge, it seems to be made of plywood. You can almost feel the splinters coming off of it. More importantly, the intonation is all out of whack with the stock bridge, no matter where you place it. So I bought a 5-string compensated bridge from stewmac to replace the stock one. Only cost like $7. Makes a noticeable difference in tone. And the intonation is perfect all the way up the neck with the compensated bridge. - As for the stock tailpiece, it's a complete nightmare. Trying to get the string loops onto the hook was literally like threading a needle with one hand tied behind your back. The hooks just didn't seem like they were machined evenly. But that's another very easy replacement. I bought the no-knot banjo tailpiece from stewmac for $15. Easy fix.

I'm an old guitar player. I lucked into this banjo as a free fixer-upper (missing thumb key, no strings) and got the late great Sandy of Cambridge to fix it up. It was an Epiphone, so my interest was piqued. Then I found that even after several minutes of experimenting I couldn't play it , so I leaned it in the corner with all the other stringed instruments I can't play. I was given another banjo and suddenly had a good incentive to learn. The day came when I realized my two-finger picking from parlor guitar works quite well on banjo, and suddenly something clicked. Maybe you know the feeling. Now I play this thing night and day. I love the mahogany with the matte finish, don't care that it has a guitar-style headstock. The neck down in first position is so slim that it will prove irresistible to most guitarists. Bass players too: beyond Jazz Bass! It's quite loud considering it has no resonator, which I wouldn't want anyway. And it's a people magnet. When you play this thing you get a circle of people, no matter how inept you are. Banjos are fragile. Two truss rod adjustments so far, both after travel in severe heat with no case, but no problem; with a neck about the thickness of a one-inch dowel, that's to be expected, and the adjustment takes seconds. So far this has withstood some careless and even severe treatment. As a whole, I wish I had had this banjo 50 years ago. At the listed price, this is a real bargain.

A nice quality banjo to learn on

great product for first timer

I absolutely love this banjo and would totally recommend it for a beginner. It came ready to play out of the box and was in perfect working order. I even took it to the local music shop and they said the strings looked fine (even though they were factory). It's really easy to play, you don't have to hammer down on the strings too hard to get a nice sound out.