Artisan Goodtime Banjos | Goodtime by Deering

Banjo.com is excited to announce the addition of a new line of Deering Goodtime banjos, the Artisan Goodtime Banjo collection – a beautiful lineup of banjos offering exception craftsmanship and a stunning aesthetic that you might typically only see on significantly higher priced banjos.

Deering research and development is always hard at work designing and developing the next generation of well constructed banjos. One particular feature in the new Goodtime Artisan series is worth noting.

This noteworthy addition is the Midnight Maple fingerboard – Deering spent four years researching and developing a high quality, hard wearing fingerboard that is ethically sustainable, easily sourced from the United States and manufactured in house. Deering pioneered the technology necessary to completely penetrate the tight grain of the rock maple, all the way through the wood. This results is a completely dyed, highly durable fingerboard.

No two fingerboards are the same; the natural maple grain shines through here and there.

Artisan Goodtime Openback

The stunning new Artisan Goodtime banjo embodies Greg Deering’s lifelong vision for the Deering Banjo Company – to make the best sounding, best playing, best looking, and best value U.S.A. made banjo that he possibly could. It is a never ending quest that Deering pursues every single day. So with improved tooling and a higher than normal dose of creativity, we bid farewell to our old friend the Classic Goodtime and welcome with open arms the stunning aesthetic of the new Artisan Goodtime Banjos.

The familiar rich dark brown stain, planetary tuning pegs and the addition of 5th string spikes at frets 7, 9, 10 for alternate tunings allows this light weight maple banjo to exceed the features customers wanted and needed. The violin-grade maple rim is made of the same wood used on the professional level Deering models and gives the Goodtime banjo a rich, full, round note distinction.

Light weight enough to travel with, convenient enough to keep by your easy chair at home, the Goodtime Artisan is great for hours of practice with a neck that is both comfortable to play and accurate to fret. This Goodtime banjo is not only beautiful to look at but will bring you hours of musical enjoyment.

$859.00Select options

Artisan Goodtime 2

With a bluegrass resonator back for projection, the Artisan Goodtime Two banjo has a 3-ply violin grade maple rim and produces a bright and clear tone that projects well and is louder than its open back counterpart. The Artisan Two is enhanced with a rich brown stain, white detailing and spikes at 7, 9, and 10. The use of spikes enables you to expand your playing from the key of G to easily play in the keys of A, B, and C.

Here is a banjo you can have right there by your easy chair or take out an play in a jam. It holds its own as a bluegrass banjo for anyone looking for a lighter weight option and has the looks to boot! It’s great for hours of practice with an accurate neck that is as comfortable as can be. You’ll appreciate how light it is when you reach over to pick it up and enjoy playing it.

Most people who get a Goodtime banjo keep it because they love it even when they step up to their beautiful Deering banjo. The Goodtime banjo still maintains a special place in their life and this is why you don’t see a lot of Goodtime banjos on the used market. It’s a banjo you can take anywhere.

The stunning new Artisan Goodtime banjos embody Greg Deering’s lifelong vision for the Deering Banjo Company – to make the best sounding, best playing, best looking, and best value U.S.A. made banjo that he possibly could. It is a never ending quest that Deering pursues every single day. So with improved tooling and a higher than normal dose of creativity, we bid farewell to our old friend the Classic Goodtime and welcome with open arms the stunning aesthetic of the new Artisan Goodtime Banjos.

$1,179.00Select options

Artisan Goodtime Special Openback

The patented Special Tone Ring found beneath the beauty of the Artisan Goodtime Special Openback makes it louder and brighter than the standard openback model and is great for players who like to jam and want to be heard. The rich brown stain, planetary tuners, and Deering peg head shape gives the classic look of a vintage banjo. This versatile banjo can also be played in the keys of A, B, or C by using the spikes which are already installed and a capo. If you enjoy playing standing up this is perfect as it weighs 6.5 lbs and you can stand up play it all night long!

Being an openback banjo, this is great for the Clawgrass style of playing because the tone ring gives it that brighter tone needed for Clawgrass music and other modern openback styles that need a banjo with sustain that projects freely. It is first and foremost a very playable instrument, that is built to be durable and travel easily, while being a superb sounding banjo that pleases audiences.

The stunning new Artisan Goodtime banjos epitomizes Greg Deering’s lifelong vision for the Deering Banjo Company – to make the best sounding, best playing, best looking, and best value U.S.A. made banjo that he possibly could. Pearloid vintage artisan style inlays pop off the new Midnight Maple fingerboard, while the peg head is adorned with a beautifully engraved design.

Made at our factory in Spring Valley, California (outside of San Diego), this is a comfortably playable banjo with a wonderfully bright tone. It is a solid dependable instrument that is immensely playable with excellent tonality and clarity.

$1,399.00Select options

Artisan Goodtime Special

The vintage look and vibrant tone of the patented Goodtime Special tone ring set this banjo apart, as clearly louder than the Goodtime Two and great for playing in a band setting.

The Artisan Goodtime Special has the look of an older banjo with the rich brown stain, Deering fiddle shaped peghead and planetary banjo tuners. The Artisan Goodtime Special can be heard with a sweet voice with sustain that compliments all the instruments in a band. Tuned to an open G Chord, with the spikes already installed, you can easily play in other keys.

The Artisan Goodtime Special banjo is an achievement in keeping the cost down while providing an instrument that will stay in tune and perform reliably because it is made with precision by skilled American craftsmen. Made efficiently at our factory in Spring Valley (San Diego area of California), this is a comfortably playable banjo with a wonderfully bright tone. It is a solid dependable instrument that is immensely playable with excellent tonality and clarity.