Deering Goodtime submitted 7/5/2008 Submitter Bernie P. Where Purchased Mtn Music Old Forge NY Year Purchased 2007 Price Paid $300 ($US) Sound This banjo has excellent sound considering the price.Easily the best in it's price range and better than many costing considerably more.With a good setup it holds up well when playing up the neck but cant stand with pro level banjos in this area.All in all real nice sound for either Scruggs style or clawhammer.I base the sound rating on the price range/others in its class. Sound Rating 10 Setup Al Worthen is the owner of the shop where I bought it and one of only four "Master Deering dealers" in the USA.He's a very skilled luthier and does a great job setting up all the instruments in his shop.He likes his customers to bring their banjos back after a couple months of playing to check and make any adjustments if needed. Setup Rating 10 Appearance It's a very basic looking banjo.No fancy inlays or woods are used.Pretty much all maple.I'm not real crazy about the peghead shape but otherwise it looks pretty good. Appearance Rating 7 Reliability Theres not a whole lot that could go wrong with such a simple design-so far so good.The tuners are simple geared units and hold tune very well.All the other hardware is holding up fine to. Reliability Rating not rated Customer Service I've never had a problem so I cant comment on dealing with Deering/warranty issues.From what I hear they are great to deal with and stand behind their products.Same goes for Al at Mtn. Music. Customer Service not rated Components Nothing fancy here.All the components are well made and should last a long time.All parts are made in the USA. Components Rating 8 Overall Comments This is an excellent banjo to start out on and a keeper to knock around with should you decide to upgrade to a pro level banjo later.It's a quality banjo regardless of its basic,simple design with great sound.I do wish the neck was a bit meatier to fit my hand better but othwise I'm very happy with it. Overall Rating 9