Ross at Banjoteacher.com knows his stuff and is great to talk with. Being a new adult beginning student of the banjo, he offered advice on the different banjos for beginners as well as professional banjos that were great quality and built for longevity. I wanted a banjo that was well built, looked great and that I would not grow out of as I hopefully progress on the banjo. After several calls to Ross, we landed on the Gold Star GF-100FE. The Flying Eagle pattern looked great on the website and it is a stunner in person. The pattern was meaningful to me as my life verse is Isaiah 40:31, please look it up. After placing my order on Saturday evening, the banjo was in my hands on Wednesday. The build quality, look and feel of this banjo was even more than I expected. Gold Star also offers a lifetime warranty through Saga Instruments who is the parent company for the Gold Star brand. The owner of Saga is a banjo player and with great players like J.D. Crowe and Russ Carson with Kentucky Thunder endorsing and playing Gold Star banjos, I am in great company as a Gold Star owner. The sound of the banjo is wonderful and certainly loud (you might need a mute if you have a wife like mine), and with the package that Ross includes in the purchase price, you can't go wrong. I look forward to learning to play banjo and this one will be around for me to pass on to the next generation! Thank you Ross and may God continue to bless you and your support of the banjo community!