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Banjo

Gold Tone AC-1

Name: Gold Tone AC-1
Brand: Gold Tone

Gold Tone · AC-1 Openback

Price: 286 EUR – 286 EUR

Price history

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 0/10 (Very rare)

A budget open-back banjo built around a composite (synthetic) rim rather than wood, chosen for consistent, weather-stable tone at a price aggressive enough to be called out at NAMM as a standout beginner value.

Where available? Go to the best price – 294 EUR About this instrument

About the Gold Tone AC-1

The AC-1's defining feature is its 11-inch composite rim - a synthetic material rather than the multi-ply maple used across most banjos including Gold Tone's own step-up models. Composite rims resist the humidity and temperature swings that can affect wood rims over time, and manufacturing consistency is easier to control, both factors in keeping the AC-1's price aggressively low without dropping the instrument to a genuine toy-grade build.

The neck is nato rather than maple, with a rosewood fingerboard across 22 frets, a two-way adjustable truss rod, and a 26-3/16-inch scale. Hardware includes a single coordinator rod, chrome-plated flat-bar tension hoop with 16 brackets, an adjustable tailpiece, and covered guitar-style tuners rather than banjo-specific friction pegs, making the tuning process more familiar to guitarists picking up banjo for the first time. It ships with a gig bag.

Where to buy

Reverb 294 EUR Best price View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/98535345-gold-tone-ac-1-5-string-openback-banjo-lightweight-beginner-banjo-with-gig-bag

Sound character of the Gold Tone AC-1

The AC-1 uses a composite (non-wood) rim rather than laminated maple, which tends to behave more consistently across humidity/temperature but has different resonance characteristics than a wood shell - generally a touch brighter and more even, without the warm complexity of tone-woods. Being open-back with no resonator keeps overall volume and projection modest, suited to beginner clawhammer playing.

Bright Mellow Delicate

Technical data for the Gold Tone AC-1

Rim	11", composite
Neck	Nato
Fretboard	Rosewood
Frets	22
Scale length	26-3/16"
Truss rod	Two-way adjustable
Weight	3.75 lbs

Price history for the Gold Tone AC-1

Cheapest seen: 286 EUR · Most expensive seen: 286 EUR

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Gold Tone AC-1

The AC-1 was recognized as a Best in Show / Must Stock pick at the 2016 NAMM show specifically for delivering a genuinely playable, well-set-up banjo at an unusually low price point, driven largely by the composite rim's manufacturing economics.