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I was wondering if someone could help. The neck angle needs adjusting and I am wondering if the metal gizmo on the back is used for this purpose. The end of the fingerboard is just about touching the skin head. I will change to tenor banjo strings. Thanks for your help.
Hi Steve, If I remember correctly you can adjust the action by using the "gizmo" - but to a point. (I'm away from my weymann banjo-uke which has the same mechanism: I'll check when I get back to it tomorrow) From what I can tell from the photo yours may need a neck reset because the action looks quite high.
You might want to check this recent thread on banjo-mandolins with some folks talking about set-up. https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...light=oxymoron
Check this post out. I know it is probably forbidden to refer to banjo hangout, but it is a banjo matter. https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/151999.
Remember, even though this shares some aspects of a mandolin, it is built like a banjo. If you can't find what you are looking for here, I would suggest going to banjo hangout. The people on banjo hangout say it was designed to adjust action. Another person said it was the worst possible way to adjust the action. It warps the rim and can cause cracking with adjustment. Even if you where to use it, even though I don't recommend it, it would not change the neck angle enough to be sufficient. What you need is a banjo dowel reset. The part of the fingerboard touching the head is the fingerboard extension. Is it bent at all? if it is bent towards the head, than you might actually have to have a luthier somehow bend it back if the dowel reset doesn't work. No matter what you do, the repairs will probably cost more then the mandolin-banjo would cost. It is up to you whether you want to spend that kind of money. Do you have metal strings? I would suggest slowly down tuning until the tension is slack. It might need extra light steel strings or nylon strings. I personally would not change to another pair of steel strings. Depending how old it is, it could have been designed for lighter strings, or the wood has just been under tension so long that it bent. You got to remember how much tension mandolin tuning exerts. You could try going to stringjoy and go to their tension calculator. Even though it only has six strings at a time, you can insert the gauge for only 1 note. Make sure to insert scale length. This is just the measurement of the nut to the bridge. When you have all that done, add up your values. The double your final value. Hope this helped.
Thanks guys, will check those things out
Happy to help! Hope your issue gets resolved!
Nope. No reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by notamandolinist
I was just messing around!
You can adjust the neck with the device on the back. As long as you don't crank it so you warp the rim it's not a problem. It helps stabilize the neck. An adjustment there of 1/64 will move the neck 3-4 times that relating to action at the 12 fret. You don't want to move it that much, i'm just using that as an example. See if it is loose and snug it up. Just don't be superman and make sure the heel of the neck is snug to the rim, use a thin feeler gauge. In banjos without this the dowel may be slipping, and a dowel reset would be necessary. You would have to take the neck off to check the dowel, even then it may seem tight, but have slipped enough to change action.
Thanks pops1. I may pm you if I can figure out how.
sureQuote:
Originally Posted by Steve Mead