Deering Goodtime

About the Deering Goodtime

The Goodtime's defining feature is what it doesn't have: no resonator, keeping weight down to roughly 4.5 lbs and cost well below Deering's resonator-equipped models, while still using the same violin-grade 3-ply maple rim construction found across the company's higher-end instruments rather than a cheaper laminate substitute. The neck is slim rock maple in a comfortable profile, with a maple fingerboard (rather than rosewood or ebony) across 22 frets at a 26 1/4-inch scale.

Hardware includes a beveled steel tension hoop, 16 flat J-hooks, a 5/8-inch Goodtime smile bridge, and Deering's own patented Goodtime tailpiece, finished in hand-rubbed polyurethane with carnauba wax. As an open-back instrument it suits old-time and clawhammer styles best, though many beginners of all styles choose it purely for its combination of genuine US manufacturing and accessible price.

Where to buy

• eBay 5 String Openback Banjo, Deering D-G Goodtime Deco, Banjo's at Hobgoblin Music 533 EUR Best price View details
• eBay 5 String Openback Banjo, Deering D-G Goodtime Deco, Banjo's at Hobgoblin Music 533 EUR View details
• eBay 5 String Openback Banjo, Deering D-G Goodtime Deco, Banjo's at Hobgoblin Music 533 EUR View details
• eBay 5 String Openback Banjo, Deering D-G Goodtime Deco, Banjo's at Hobgoblin Music 533 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Left-Handed Open Back 5-String Bluegrass Banjo, Natural Blonde Maple 557 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime G Violin Grade Maple Openback 5-String Banjo 557 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Openback 5-String Banjo - Made in USA - Authorized Dealer 557 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Americana GAM Violin Grade Maple Openback 5-String Banjo 696 EUR View details
• Reverb New Deering Goodtime Two Left-Handed 5-String Bluegrass Resonator Banjo, Natural - Made in USA 789 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Two 5-String Resonator Banjo - Made in USA - Authorized Dealer 789 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Two G2 Violin Grade Maple 5-String Resonator Banjo 789 EUR View details
• eBay Deering Goodtime 2 Special 5-String Banjo Kavanjo Pickup Resonator Made in USA 806 EUR View details
• eBay Deering Goodtime 2 Special 5-String Banjo Kavanjo Pickup Resonator Made in USA 806 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Artisan Goodtime Openback 5-String Banjo - Made in USA - Auth Dealer 882 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Goodtime Blackgrass 5-String Banjo - Made in USA - Authorized Dealer 1.291 EUR View details
• Reverb Deering Blackgrass Special 5-String Banjo with Tone Ring - Made in USA - Auth Dealer 1.477 EUR View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/4826819-new-deering-goodtime-two-left-handed-5-string-bluegrass-resonator-banjo-natural-made-in-usa

Sound character of the Deering Goodtime

The original Goodtime is fully open-back with a plain 3-ply maple rim and no metal tone ring, making it Deering's lightest (4.5 lbs) and mellowest model. Without a resonator to project sound forward or a ring to add metallic sustain, it produces a soft, warm, intimate tone favored by clawhammer and old-time players over loud bluegrass projection.

Technical data for the Deering Goodtime

Price history for the Deering Goodtime

Cheapest seen: 533 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 1.477 EUR

The history of the Deering Goodtime

Deering introduced the Goodtime specifically to prove that a genuinely well-built, American-made banjo could compete on price with Asian-import beginner instruments, and it has remained one of the most consistently recommended entry banjos in bluegrass and old-time teaching circles for decades.