Bales Maple Reviews

Bales Maple submitted 10/23/2008 Submitter Okinell (see all reviews from this person) Where Purchased Bales Banjos Year Purchased 2008 Price Paid 3895.00 ($US) Sound Awesome traditional bluegrass sound and tonality. This is the first maple banjo that has a balanced rich full sound, but with that brightness you expect from maple. All of Ronnie Bales banjos project more than enough sound. This instrument has that loose growly pre-war sound on the low D string all the way to the 5th/G string, both up and down the neck. Sound Rating 10 Setup Ronnie sets all of his banjos up himself, but he has learned from some of the best set-up guys in the business that trust him alone with their own prized personal instruments. The bridge is marked with a thin pencil mark on the head and once the bridge is in place you can count on one great sound. He does advise his clients to check the head tension and if you own a Drum Dial, he recommends something around 90. Setup Rating 10 Appearance This banjo was made similar in appearance to a pre-war Gibson that is a favorite of one of the Bluegrass artists who Ronnie works for. Having said this, the instrument that my banjo was fashioned after was one of the plainer banjos you'll see. It's stained fairly dark as is the rosewood fret board. The mother of pearl inlays are pretty standard too. But, the lacquer finish is standard world class craftsmanship that Ronnie know for, as is the precise fit of all the components. Appearance Rating 10 Reliability All the hardware is Prucha. That should say it all. The frets, binding, inlays, tuners, nuts, etc. just don't get any better. Reliability Rating 10 Customer Service First off, the warranty on all Bales banjos are lifetime. That is, as long as Ronnie Bales is alive. All you have to do is call Ronnie and you can answer this rating for yourself. You just couldn't find a more dedicated individual than Ronnie and Myra Bales. Going the extra mile is the only way he knows how to do business. Customer Service 10 Components This was really answered in the "Reliability" section. But one thing that I haven't mentioned and you can only find on Bales banjos is the Bales Tone Ring that is made by Bill Blaylock. Once again this is a unique machining design Ronnie has developed. It produces one remarkable sound. Components Rating 10 Overall Comments I just can't begin to describe how satisfied I am with both my Bales banjos. This is my second one......... Does that tell you something? I love them both and both of their sounds. I would scramble to order another Bales banjo if some fool decided to steal it. This may sound odd, but what I really love about both of my Bales is that the finish just has some sort of a warmth when you have it in your hands. You'll just have to buy one and find out for yourself. Overall Rating 10