New banjo Help

[Lee_G]

Hi All

I’ve just got a nice used Gold Tone CCR 100 and started to change the 5th string but it won’t stay in the plastic nut just before the peg

Any help appreciated

[Archie]

Check the position of your bridge. The string looks way too close to the edge further up the neck. Also check to see if the string is caught under a fret wire.

[Dragonslayer]

Along with what @Archie said, I would add make sure you’re winding the string down on the peg to provide downforce on the nut

[Archie]

Hey @Dragonslayer Good point. I wasn’t thinking about the string winding round the capstan. and pulling the string out of the slot.

[Lee_G]

Thanks for the advice but I can confirm that the string is on the saddle ok and wound going downwards

It look to me like the plastic groove has lost a side or something

[Lee_G]

[Dave_Long]

A couple things:

1. yes, the side of the slot is lower on one side of the 5th string nut…it shouldn’t be that way

2. the string is wound so that it goes higher each winding…it should be so it goes lower each winding.

Try re-winging the string as low on the tuner as possible first and see if it will stay in…if not you may have to have the 5th string nut replaced.or repaired.

I’m not sure, but it seems the tuner peg is leaning farther toward the bridge than it should be (this could cause the string to creep up instead of down like it’s supposed to)…is it loose or adjustable?

It looks like the string has crossed above the other windings…

[Lee_G]

Thanks fiddle wood I have just wound the string under and I think the leaning of the peg was just camera angle on first picture

I think it’s the plastic but that’s at fault and wandering what’s the best fix as I’m quite handy

[Dave_Long]

That’s a question for someone who works on instruments…sorry I have mine worked on…but I’ll guess it’s best to remove it and make another…

[Dragonslayer]

If you can spin it 180° it might work, but that should only be done as a temporary fix

[Archie]

Ah! The bottom picture unearths the problem. The fifth string peg is not seated properly. See the groves on the shaft.? Ease off the tension on the string. Remove the screw and plastic thumb twister and with a rubber or wooden mallet tap the shaft lightly. If the peg is loose in the hole you may have to remove it and apply some glue

[Lee_G]

Thanks all for your help… I’ve resolved the issue by taking the peg out and turning it round and gluing in with some superglue

Many thanks

[Archie]

That’s great news Lee

[Lee_G]

Finally I can have a practice

[_Tye_Stick]

@LG1 I think that’s why I would love to have a tunneled 5th string. wouldn’t have to worry about things like that

[Treblemaker]

Congrats Gunnar! Now that’s thinking out of the box.

[Archie]

As a former engineer, experience has taught me pretty much anything mechanical will at some point wear down or break due to usage. In the image shown, over time there is a potential for that brass piping forming the tunnel to wear due to the harder steel string rubbing against it. Like wise the fret wire pin securing the pulley has the potential to wear or break off with the tension from the string and the friction as the pulley rotates. It is fair to say that it may take years.

I worked in the print industry before I retired and I was amazed to see paper cut through steel conduit pipe over a period of six months. The pipe was being used to guide a continuous roll of paper exiting a printer and into a guillotine. Most people cant understand how this is possible until I explain that the fibers in the paper are abrasive and file away the metal.

[_Tye_Stick]

@Archie I agree with you, I used to do some Mechanical Fab. work eons ago and you are right EVERYTHING will eventually wear out. As for the photo, I cannot confirm/deny that that is a new(er) banjo, I just was googling 5th string tunneled banjos and that was one of the photos on there. I have never seen a tunneled 5th up close, so I am not really sure how it enters the hole. You are right, I couldn’t imagine paper doing that to steel, so you just kind of go…Hmmm, Ok.

[5stringpreacher]

Here’s a video of Ben talking about his tunneled banjo.

[_Tye_Stick]

@5stringpreacher My next banjo is going to have some xtra things on it. I would really like to try a radiused fingerboard. All the info I have heard about it is they are easier to play, But unfortunately not a WHOLE LOT of banjo stores around here. I am pretty much leaning towards a Bishline, but there is a guy in Houston that also makes only 3 different banjos also, They are “Allen Banjos”. My former teacher had one of his banjos and swears by it. But got to have the $ first.