Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Proper setup is so important!

#1

Someone local listed a Recording King RK-R20 for cheap, so I bought it. I got it home and had my wife video me playing it before I messed with the set up. Here’s that recording.

Then I pulled it apart, adjusted the single coordinator rod, used a drum dial to dial the head in to 90 all around (it started out anywhere from 79 to 85) shimmed the neck for a better action and put on a fresh set of strings. Here’s the same banjo, same song, same iPhone recording it in the same room.

It has never been more obvious to me how important a proper setup can be. This little banjo now plays and sounds like banjos I’ve played that cost 5 times as much. If I can make this kind of a difference, imagine how much more @Jake can do on the stuff we buy from him!

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#2

Whoa!!! Great demo, buddy!

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#3

Thanks Ben! This morning I decided that it was time that I start methodically going through all of the banjo lessons on the site. I literally started with the first video in the Beginner’s section and started working my way through them. I actually picked up a couple of little nuggets along the way, one of which was Mr. Huber’s demonstration of how to scratch the head to hear what note the head is tuned to. I did that on this little R20 and found that it was tuned to G. So I went back and got it up to G#. Man, it really opened up! I would have thought that a tighter head would make it more thin sounding, but when I hit that G#, not only was the brightness still there, but some warm tones started coming through.

This little R20 is turning out to be a great banjo, especially for $200!

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#4

@Mark_Rocka that’s crazy how much BETTER it sounded after you gave it a “tune-up”
Do you live in Texas… I need some work done on mine…lol.

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#5

I do, actually. About 20 minutes north east of Houston.

#6

@Mark_Rocka I’ve been to and through Houston(not very often, traffic sux). I wish I was a tad bit closer to you, I don’t have anyone here in the S.A. area that I know of that works on banjos, I just need someone to go through it and be sure everything is in order…I don’t really have any major problems except a buzzing on some of the frets up the neck portion and a couple of other things that I am not sure is correct or not and I am soooo afraid to send it to someone through UPS or USPS. Its the only one I have and I cannot afford another one…yet.

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