I know this subject comes up periodically. I have a 1930-something Stahl banjolin with a square dowel neck. No truss rod in the neck.
Never had a string buzz on this instrument before. I just changed out the old worn original tuners with Stew-Mac Golden Age A style tuners. The tuner buttons have no screws - they are pressed/glued on and not loose.
I used the the Stew-Mac bushing reamer to counter bore for the bushings. Roller holes were already the correct 1/4" diameter and spaced correctly. I did have to drill new pilot holes for the new tuner plate mounting screws.
I changed out the tuners with the new bushings that came with them. I've done this several times before, most recently with the same brand of tuners on my '30's Regal resonator.
After stringing up with new Ernie Ball light gauge (E's are .009; A's are .013, D's are .022; G' s are .034) strings and tuning up all courses evenly (tune them all to 2 steps flat, then 1, then 1/2, then full pitch). Both D strings buzzed, only when open. 7th fret on G strings gave no buzz. Definitely coming from the headstock. No other strings cause a buzz at any fret position. These strings are very long, but I always wrap a few times around the post, wild end through the hole, then bring up to tension before trimming the wild end.
I noted the G/D plate was not sitting completely flush with the headstock under the D course, so I pulled it off, ensured it was flat and remounted it. Tuned back up - it's sitting flush and flat but I still have the same buzz.
The actual note doesn't seem to matter - when tuned to C, C# or D both open D strings when played separately or together cause a buzz. No buzz when fretted. Pressing down on the "forelength" (string between nut and tuner roller) it still buzzes, so I don't think its a nut slot problem. When pulling one of the D's out of the nut slot and spacing it away from its partner the remaining string still buzzes.
Nothing on any of the tuners seems loose or rattling. However, my previous strings were Labella lights (E's were .009; A's were .012, D's were .021; G' s were .036). Could that extra .001" diameter in the Ernie Ball set do this? D's look like they're seated correctly in the nut slots. The A's are now also .001 bigger and the G' s are now .002 smaller, but they're not buzzing.
Who knows what string the previous owners used on this instrument? I've used Newtone .008's and various other string brands and gauges on this instrument in the 4 years I've had it, never buzzed before.
Yes I was sure I did NOT have my clip on tuner (or anything else) clipped on the headstock. Still buzzes.
I'll try the following in the morning:
1. Maybe fill in both nut slots with baking soda and superglue and re-file them.
2. Put the old tuners back in with the new bushings in place (again, old and new rollers are equal diameter, OR
3. Carefully press out the new bushings from the D tuners and see what happens.
Other ideas? Anyone just run across buzzy/rattly replacement tuners before? Thanks!
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