"We focus on what we do best and do it at the highest level."
Deering has been building banjos in Spring Valley, California since 1975, and that's all they build. No guitars, no mandolins, no side projects. Fifty years of a family-run shop pointing every bit of its attention at one instrument, which is why a $700 Goodtime and a professional-grade Deering both feel like they came from people who actually care. Greg and Janet Deering founded the company, their daughter Jamie runs it now, and somewhere north of 180,000 banjos have come out of that building.
We carry Deering because they solved a problem that matters to us: a good banjo used to mean either a cheap import that fought you or a vintage instrument you had to hunt for and pay dearly to get. Deering made the whole range work - which means there's a Deering that will meet you where you are and stay ahead of you for a long while.
They only make banjos
Deering doesn't build anything else. Every craftsperson in that shop, and there's a lot of combined experience in there, works on banjos and nothing else. That kind of focus shows up in the details you don't notice until you've played a few: how the neck meets the rim, how the tone ring seats, how well the thing holds a setup.
Built in California, top to bottom
Every Deering is made in Spring Valley, at every price point. No overseas production, no outsourced necks, no model where the corners quietly get cut. The Goodtime that starts a beginner off is built in the same building by the same people as the professional instruments hanging next to it.
A real ladder, not a lineup
Goodtime, Deering, Vega, and Tenbrooks give you a genuine path from first banjo to last one. Each step up is a meaningful change in materials and tone rather than a cosmetic upgrade, so you can start where your budget is and know exactly what you're growing toward. It's the reason we can help a total beginner and a working player from the same wall.
