Banjo repair

Manfred-Klose

lol, i am sure this qualifies as "other instruments"

so i visited skywalker yesterday to sort out arrangements for the cape town GFSA day, until i spotted this thing in the corner.

it might be fun to repair or it can turn out stressful..........

its a 6 string banjo/guitar or whatever it is, it looks vintage.

it is missing the bridge and the tailpiece, i strated searching for parts, but cant find much on the net.

it still has the tuners.

so i will keep this thing for a while until i have decided what to do with it(skywalker suggested we should have a braai with it........)

the only thing i can make out for identification is "WILLIAM. I. WATSON LONDON"

here is some pics, any suggestions welcome

i have no idea what that copper/brass pipe is for, its goes to the headstock, anyone ?????

Manfred-Klose

here is an angled pic

Nicholas-L

Lekker projek man ?

mmm a braai does sound good though ?

Manfred-Klose

ok i found something that looks like a banjos players paradise ?

http://www.billcampbanjos.com/banjo%20parts%20for%20sale.htm

turns out parts aint as cheap as guitar parts ?
but then again those are all vintage parts

AlanRatcliffe

It's a banjitar. No need to go nuts on vintage parts - the bridges are readily available and I'm pretty you can use the cheap archtop guitar tailpieces (bent steel type - MIDI Cape used to stock them). Ditto for guitar tuners - if the spacing isn't right for plate tuners (35mm post-to-post), just use the individual models.

Manfred-Klose

hey alan, yeah i looked at the archtop tailpieces, but all of them seem to big i need to find a small enough one that can take 6 strings.

the size of the zero fret is 35mm and at the neck joint its 50mm, so dont leave me much to space to work with

where would i find midi cape, no info of them on the net?

would i tune this like a normal guitar, and use guitar strings? or must it be banjo strings, i am a total noob at banjos ?

EDIT: i can always just engineer myself a tailpiece as it wont be much of a hasle

Ray

These opkes might have something you're after

http://www.goldtone.com/products/w/c/62/Bridges

AlanRatcliffe

Manfred Klose wrote: where would i find midi cape, no info of them on the net?

Part of the TOMS group. http://www.midimusic.co.za/contact_us.html
They used to have a branch in PE called MIDI Cape who handled all the smalls like D'Addario & Evans. They are a wholesaler, so maybe speak to someone in a store who knows spares like Gareth Travis at Marshalls.

Zulublues

That brass pipe may just be a "poor man's" conversion. Often the fifth, or in this case the sixth string only starts at the fifth fret with a separate tuner halfway down the neck. This looks like a "fret bypass" for the sixth string. Odd?? I wonder if you could ignore that and tune it to guitar tuning? Looks like a great project.

PS What is the best pick up to put on a banjo?...................... A Ford F250 !