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NOTLguy
Aug-30-2014, 7:09am
I am looking for some advice on a problem that has to do with the hooks being bent and misaligned. It appears that someone in the past has tightened down the lugs from inside the rim so that they became embedded in the outer rim wood, some at an angle, and caused the hooks to be bent when applying tension to the head. See photo below.

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I considered using a larger washer to create a flat surface for the lug to mount to but that extends them outward from the wooden rim by the thickness of the washer and also adds weight to an already heavy instrument. I also considered a smaller washer with an outer diameter just smaller than the lug to be mounted under the lug and fill the space but some of the indentations are not parallel with the rim surface and are sunken on an angle.

Also considered drilling out the offending area and replacing it with a dowel drilled in the centre to regain the original rim thickness.

Any thoughts on this repair would be appreciated.

Bill

High Lonesome Valley
Aug-30-2014, 10:17am
Why not a wood washer? Maybe a soft maple that would bend into the divot.

From a preservationist point of view, I would avoid drilling and doweling.

An utlimate repair would be getting a thin washer of birdseye maple that's a best match, convexing the bottom which would fairly fit into the divot, removing the finish from the area, and compressing and bending the maple washer into the divot (using Hide Glue) with a through bolt as the clamp, planing down and spot refinishing. Soak the maple washer in boiling water before gluing. The repair itself will be almost completely hidden by the old washer. This is actually a removable repair (who would want to?) that does very little harm, esp. if it's a refinished rim.

NOTLguy
Aug-30-2014, 3:40pm
Although I call this a restoration, my intention was not to keep it all original. It will be a banjolele when it is finished and I will actively play it. Some things will be replaced and others restored.

Another thought was to use a forstner bit the diameter of a washer and make a round depression the thickness of the washer. Mount the washer and fix the lug which would now sit flush with the rim surface so the hooks would no longer bend.

Bill

NOTLguy
Sep-02-2014, 6:15am
The following pictures show the tuning mechanisms before and after they have been cleaned up and temporarily fitted to the neck. The neck is being refinished and has yet to receive the finishing coats.

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The tuning mechanism is solid brass and after polishing was coated with clear lacquer to prevent future tarnishing.

Regards,
Bill

NOTLguy
Sep-14-2014, 7:59am
Here are a few shots of the completed restoration. I still plan to replace the "J" hooks as they are not tensioning the head properly due to misshapen ends from years of use. It sounds amazing strung as a banjo ukulele.

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Regards,
Bill

High Lonesome Valley
Sep-14-2014, 10:16am
Nice. great job your doing.

NOTLguy
Sep-14-2014, 1:00pm
Nice. great job your doing.

Thanks. I guess I should have posted a before shot of the banjolin as I received it.

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Regards,
Bill

digitalshrub
Feb-05-2015, 3:54pm
Hi all,

Not sure if I should hijack this thread or start a new one, but it looks like I'm going with the former. I have a Washburn Style E mandolin-banjo that I got for free from a friend who paid a pittance for it on Craigslist. It's been sitting around my apartment for about three years now, unplayed, due to its condition (needs a new bridge, nut, head, and hooks, at the least). I mostly play my Gibson F9, but have been getting more and more into ragtime and jaunty old-time tunes, so I'm thinking about fixin' up this mandolin-banjo.

Is there a good resource for buying replacement parts? As a mando player, with no banjo experience, I don't know much about how to properly shop for replacement head/hooks, nor how to actually replace them. I feel I could probably handle the nut replacement, but there may be other restorative steps I haven't considered yet. Do you kind folks have any advice?

allenhopkins
Feb-07-2015, 3:56pm
Smakula Fretted Instruments (http://www.smakula.com) in WV handles both new and "vintage" banjo parts, and could be a source of the bracket hooks you're going to need. He also has heads in a variety of sizes.

The other possible source -- and where I usually go first -- is whatever local instrument repair person you have. Most of them have a "parts drawer" where they throw components they take off instruments, either "basket cases" that get cannibalized, or good replaceable parts (like bridges and tuners), where the customer has had a different part installed on an instrument, but the "old" replaced part is still usable.

You could find suitable bracket hooks and nuts there; can't quite tell from your pics, but you seem to still have the bracket shoes (the part that goes through the shell) all the way around. As for the head, you can get natural skin and mount it on your existing flesh hoop, or buy a pre-made skin or plastic head to fit. There are on-line tutorials for mounting a skin head.

digitalshrub
Feb-07-2015, 7:44pm
Thanks, Allen!

pops1
Feb-09-2015, 9:10am
If you are not looking for shinny new you could try to bend the old hooks and see if they will work better, you really only need about half of them to work.