Musima

I bought this a couple months ago on a secondhand sales site in the netherlands for 65 euro . I would rate myself as a beginner player. The man i bought it from had a couple guitars for sale 2 affinity squires and this lead star guitar.I never heard of it ,did some google and every where i saw only good revieuws so i bought it.When i came home i brought it straight to a luthier who adjusted a upbow,leveld the frets and intonated the guitar.cost me 120 euro but the result is grazy.This guitar sounds very nice and plays great. It has a hugh brass tremelo block in it that makes the guitar feels heavier then my other guitars. The tuners hold,and feel good rotating them ,very smooth.The bridge sadels look like they are made from steel,good quality. The elctronics work good ,i like the five way switch ,you feel it fallung in place when you switch.The guitar makes no humming sound or buzz when i dont play and it is noisless. I found many puctures online from the.musima lead star guitar and they al seem too have a decal that says Musima 1,2 or 3 on it,this one.just has lead star ,writen on it.I have no idea how to date this guitar on any site online using the serial number. It has a sticker on the back reading Made in GDR . German Democratic Republic . Very nice too have a piece of that era and the reason i bought it instead of the affinity squires that were selling almost same price. ....

(Originally written by cykklop/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Made in East Germany. 22 frets. Low-quality machine heads. I replaced them with a Schaller B4 set. Unknown head size. UTILIZATION Comfortable neck. It's my first Bluegrass banjo so I cannot compare it with better quality instruments. I like the playability. The neck allows an easy playing, the body has a standard size and you feel comfortable with this instrument. SOUNDS Typical banjo sound... It sounds like a banjo! But I did notice several cons (it's a low-end product). When you stop playing you can hear some annoying overtones. Like a loud feedback. The low-quality of the wood rim (I know it's not a Gibson but I expect a minimum quality, like the wood used by Harley Benton for example) explains the poor sound quality. OVERALL OPINION I've owned this banjo for many years. The body quality is very bad (unlike the neck, which is PRETTY good). It seems it was made in a hurry on a Sunday afternoon... Another problem is the head, which can't be replaced because of its special size. Before buying it I tested a Fender FB54 (excellent sound) and a FB59 (looks wonderful) but they were too expensive (although much cheaper than Gibson or Sullivan). That's why I chose this banjo (which is about 10 years old). I bought it secondhand at a very low price (including a wood hard case). I thought it wouldn't be that bad but it was a mistake because it's not pleasant at all!! I keep it because of a family thing...! UPDATE: This open-back banjo is ok considering it's an old-time instrument. The unpleasant overtones are not audible anymore and it's ok to play clawhammer. I also play an excellent 17-frets Saga Travel and they complement each other!