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BanjoMc - Posted - 06/06/2017: 07:30:13
So I'm familiar with, have played or owned many of the Japanese banjo brands from the 70's. Some are better than others, many are the same banjo with different imprints. I get it. My backup banjo right now is a Bradley. I also understand that there were two or three primary factories that produced the bulk of these banjos. But this week I had not one, but two Yakima banjos offered for sale to me...and I know there is a third that may have sold already. I had never heard of Yakima banjos. They aren't listed on the Hawthorne website and even a search here on the hangout seems to bring up nothing. Anybody know anything about them? Are they Kasuga? Here is a photo of one of them.
Edited by - BanjoMc on 06/06/2017 07:31:40
beegee - Posted - 06/06/2017: 18:12:36
Yakima was a house brand of Willis Music, a venerable music store started in the 1890's. Don't know who made the banjos for them. They don't look like Kasuga. Maybe Matsumoto? Scott Zimmerman may be able to shed light on this.
banjonz - Posted - 06/06/2017: 22:12:27
Is the brand name on the peghead an add on or is it an inlay? I know that Tama guitars have been branded 'Ray Durant' as a metal plate pinned over 'Tama'. Perhaps 'Yakima' was merely a distributor instrument rebranded as required.
MFoB - Posted - 06/27/2017: 21:28:27
This post made me make an account. I have one of the Yakimas as well, and would love to know more about it, but theres NOTHING online about them. Here's some more photos:
BanjoMc - Posted - 06/27/2017: 21:43:47
quote:
Originally posted by MFoB
This post made me make an account. I have one of the Yakimas as well, and would love to know more about it, but theres NOTHING online about them. Here's some more photos:
I haven't been able to find out much about them. They look like an intermediate banjo to me. There are two for sale near me, and I went and looked at one. It played well enough, but I have to say the inlays on the ones I looked at did not impress me. There was a lot of filler around the inlay. More than I had seen on any other intermediate level banjo. The neck itself was pretty and I felt good in my hands. The one I played had an unremarkable tone, but looked like it would benefit from a good setup job.
Can you tell me your impressions of yours? Do you like the sound and playability?
John
MFoB - Posted - 06/27/2017: 21:51:11
I'm "Banjo 101" new, so I cant really give much of an impression. I'd agree it's probably an intermediate level rig. The inlays, as you pointed out are definitely sloppy, which you can see in my photos. That said, it HAS got a tone ring, wood rim, and a true flange, so its a step or two up up from cheap/entry level. Mine needs a good professional set-up job done as well, I just picked it up the other day. But it feels and sounds (even with a bit of a loose head and rusty strings) worlds better than the Epiphone MB-200 I had been learning on.
EDIT: Spelling
Edited by - MFoB on 06/27/2017 21:55:35
