AKLOT 5 String Banjos Full Size Open Back Banjo Adjustable Maple Body Remo Head with 2 Tuning Wrench, 4 Picks, Strings, Tuner, Strap Ruler, Cleaning Cloth, Gig Bag for New Beginner Professional

Some 50+ years ago, I played an old ukulele and have great memories of the fun. I recently had an urge to play one again, but with a twist. I have always appreciated the sound qualities of banjos. When I realized that a banjo ukulele was available and within financial reach for a casual, fun instrument, I elected to get one.After researching the market, I settled on the AKLOT, which is the higher grade instrument in the Kmise line. Both trade names were favorably reviewed, but the AKLOT was generally preferred for it's louder projections and excellent fidelity for an affordable uke.I have been very please with the AKLOT product! It arrived in two days in a double-packed shipping box. I think it was packaged to survive importation as well as UPS! Well done, AKLOT!I unwrapped it, inspected the contents, and everything in the kit was pristine. The banjo uke was strung, but not tightly. I checked the location of the bridge using the supplied gauge, which proved to be a great method of checking the setup. The bridge was right on!The electronic tuner made it easy to bring it up to the "my dog has fleas" tuning. Over these past weeks, retuning has been needed less frequently as the strings and neck settled in to their longer-term stable positions. I still check it often, as it's quite a lot of fun to use the tuning tool!!It has a great sound! No, not as abrupt as steel strings on a full-sized banjo, but also much sharper than a ukulele, with that great banjo twang!It has a fine, uniform and blemish-free finish, and great workmanship all around. No burrs on the metal parts, especially the frets, and no hint of roughness or splinters anywhere. The banjo head has a consistent tension over all sections, and I haven't had to touch the neck or head tensioning.After a couple of weeks, the electronic tuner became intermittent, so I called Amazon and emailed with the supplier. A couple of days later, a new tuner showed up in the mail. No muss, no fuss, no disagreements. They just took care of me with great customer service!The strap is very comfortable and has a silky consistency. Much better than I expected. I planned to buy a new strap, expecting a pretty cheap crap strap, but I had a great surprise with the strap included in the package.The bottom line is this: It's been a great purchase and I'm having fun with my new banjo uke! It sounds great, easy to tune, and I have a great supplier behind me if I should need additional assistance. It doesn't get much better than this in today's rather mixed up market. Thanks, AKLOT!

Opening the big box to behold this banjo is like being introduced to someone for the first time yet feeling as if you've known the person your whole life. I'm newly meeting an old, old soulmate!Just initially bridging and tuning this AKLOT 5-string, open back banjo is an overwhelming experience. I'm shocked at the beauty and substantial heft of the instrument as well as the ugly import of its cultural weight.This AKLOT feels sturdy, solid and well-crafted. At 38" from top to bottom, the banjo is slightly longer than many other models -- which works for me, since I have long arms. The tiger stripe maple wood head, honey-colored maple body and distressed REMO drum head give the instrument a bright, new, clean yet old-timey vintage look.While the thin carrying case, bizarrely colored neck strap and other accessories aren't much to speak of, that doesn't diminish the excellent price -- or the elegant sound quality of this beauty.Unlike the tinny, jangling twang of most inexpensive banjos, this model has a modest, mellow and almost muted sound. Perfect for late-night playing at home. Although I've only had it for a few weeks, the banjo seems to hold its tuning well -- and its solid construction assures me I'll have many years of strumming, stroking, plucking and playing around. To say that I'm happy with this baby is a big understatement. I'm beyond thrilled with my new banjo!

Bought this for my wife as a gift. Well built and plays really well. All in all a great purchase.

Overall I'm very pleased with my banjolele. It arrived in 2 days with Prime shipping and was very well protected in its packaging. The instrument is solidly built and feels really good to me. I have a tenor and 2 soprano ukuleles that I enjoy already. This was my chance to try the concert size while also getting into a very new and characteristically different type of sound. I'm glad I did. The size is the most comfortable of all 4 of my instruments and the sound is fantastic for a lot of the music I like, particularly folk tunes and country songs. The strings broke in quickly and hold their tune well. Unlike most, I got my banjolele with the bridge already installed at just the right place. What really surprised me is that the intonation of this instrument is spot on, and even slightly better than my comparatively more-expensive tenor. The action might be just a little on the high side, but not so much that I notice in the normal course of events. I've certainly played much worse since picking up the uke a year ago.So, what's not to like? A few things, as it turns out. The strap that this thing comes with is HUGE and seems more appropriate for an electric guitar than for any instrument with a name ending in "lele". Not only is it long, but it's also very wide. I gave it to my son for his cigar box builds, and he loves it. The tension on the head is not consistent all the way around. It only took a minutes or two to fix this (the correct tool is included which is nice), but I found it annoying. I love the shape of the head, but those 2 indentations could have used some attention from some sandpaper in my opinion. You'd never notice from 5 feet away, though. Lastly, and really the only thing that really bothers me, is that the fret ends are rather sharp, and don't seem dressed at all from the factory. At this point that hasn't slowed me down at all, but I can already tell that as my skills increase I will not be sliding my hand up and down the neck unless I get this addressed. It's just bad enough that I scratched myself pretty badly on one particular chord change the other day. It's just rough enough that the reach for something like a Bbmaj becomes a bit uncomfortable. I may have to invest in some files and address the fret dressing myself at some point. It's a project I don't have time for now, though and I'm not looking forward to the scratches I'll inevitably put in that nice edge binding as I learn a new skill that someone else should have done for me.Overall - expect to spend a little time on setup, be careful about the sharp fret ends, and have a good time. Definitely worth the price and possibly even then some.