Ortega OBJE356-SBK

It's a cool little banjitar, well made for the money you invest.
It's a very decent and honest product. A slight disappointment regarding the pickup, which isn't great. I can't get much volume out of it, maybe a D.I would fix it. ( hence 3 stars one the sound) . BUT: it sounds fantastic naturally! It's loud and clear :)
The neck is feels nice, the whole instrument looks sturdy. Of course there are many other options, but much more expensive.
I would recommend this product for an intermediate player, or a beginner looking for something decent .

J'ai voulu tenter l'expérience banjo.
Je suis vraiment déçu par ce produit.
Je trouve que le son n'ai pas au rendez-vous et la qualité est très moyenne.
Je pense passer par la case luthier pour voir s'il est possible de le régler pour que cet instrument sorte un son plus convenable.
Je possède un dobro qui me satisfait amplement.
Acheter sans avoir tester un instrument c'est quitte ou double.

Disclaimer: I'm just a guitarist, looking for a different sounding instrument, I know next to nothing about banjo playing, I don't even do much finger picking. That being said, I'm completely satisfied and I'm never going to sell it. Although...

1. I wish the neck were wider, this is exactly as narrow as a 5 string banjo neck. Anyway, all the manufacturers make 6 string banjos like this, for whatever reason, so the only way to get a wide neck would be a custom instrument - out of question for me.

2. I wish there was a 22nd fret - why not? There is room for it... no big deal anyway.

3. The pickup is a little bit pushing against the head. It's weird, but maybe it doesn't matter at all.

Contrary to what another review says, the pickup seems fine to me. I played this thing a couple of times live (some gigs in a small pub) and it didn't let me down. But when I record in the studio, I just use two microphones - the pickup sound is ok, while the mic sound is first class.

One last detail: I was lucky to get this head, which does not make any scratchy noises from my right hand fingers resting on it, like a friend's banjo used to. A true banjo player probably never does this anyway.

So, I don't know about banjo professionals, but for guitarists like me, I highly recommend this instrument.