“Well folks, it’s like this,The Deering Sierra banjo, while being our least expensive completely professional banjo, is truly the flagship of our entire line! How is it that this is so? Well I’ll tell you.
The pot assembly of the Sierra, the violin grade maple 3 ply rim, the -06- tone ring, the one piece zinc flange, the notched tension hoop,the Deering tail piece and armrest are exactly the same as our whole line all the way up to the Gabriella,with just a few exceptions. The only exceptions are; the Golden Era has a different zinc flange, the Hartford has a Grenadillo wood tone ring, the Terry Baucum has an -06- tone ring that is just a few ounces lighter than the standard -06- tone ring, and the Tenbrooks banjos have the Swiss Jens Kruger tone ring.
The G.D.L. has the exact same pot assembly as the Sierra, The Ivanhoe, except for cosmetic differences such as gold plating, has the exact same pot assembly as the Sierra.The Maple Blossom, the Deluxe, the Calico, the Black Diamond all have the exact same pot assembly as the Sierra.This means that the Sierra is truly a top professional banjo. PERIOD! When I first introduced the Sierra I kept the cost down by keeping the cosmetics simple. I put the money into the pot assembly. I wanted to build a top professional banjo at a price that I could have afforded when I was a kid going to the music store on my way home from school every day.
The Sierra has been tremendously successful. But it is no longer cosmetically simple. With the implementation ofnew technology I have been able to make the Sierra exquisitely beautiful without raising the price. I have beengreatly inspired by the art work of the old masters of the Boston banjo era from the turn of the last century. Withthis inspiration in my blood I have brought art to the Sierra that is usually reserved for banjos costing much, much more. And I have kept the cost down using state of the art technology.So now the Sierra is a truly professional master piece of both sound and art at a price that is within your reach. We sell more Sierras than any other model and that makes it our flagship banjo!”
Sincerely, Greg Deering