[Dixielandjazz] Banjo Tailpiece question

[Bruce Stangeland]

Elazar,

My tenor banjo has 19 frets and my ukulele has 14 frets.
So, I'm thinking your new axe is a tenor banjo.
The head, however, is considerably smaller than mine (11").

On my 5 banjos, there's a notch in the hoop assembly where the neck 
attaches.
This keeps the strings from hitting the hoop assembly.
Maybe you'll need to file down that area on the hoop unless your bridge 
is tall enough.

Good luck,
Bruce Stangeland
Berkeley banjoist

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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:40:58 +0200
From: "Ministry of Jazz" <jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Banjo Tailpiece question
To: "DJML" <Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Message-ID: <GCEMKDJIDPOOIABFPAMCEEAOANAB.jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="ISO-8859-1"

Shalom Banjo players!

I am repairing an old banjo for a friend. Not sure whether it's a small
tenor or a banjo uke. Head diameter is 9.25". Thee are 19 frets, and 4
strings. Might be home-made, as there is no name on it anywhere.

Please have a look at the picture online at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/elazarb/BanjoUke#5275864805761294866

I received it "no strings attached", with no bridge. Now I've cleaned it up
quite a bit and put on a new skin head (yes, I know the skin still needs to
be trimmed). My question is:

With the tailpiece mounted on the resonator, and sitting above it is a
fairly deep metal pot assembly, I don't see how to put the strings on
without running them over a couple of metal edges of the pot and tension
hoop assembly. This doesn't seem like a good idea. But I also don't see the
possibility of mounting another tailpiece on the pot, so the strings run
straight to the bridge.

Can anyone offer any advice on how the strings should be installed on this
old fellow? Please reply off-list to jazzmin at actcom.net.il.

Thanks in advance.

Elazar
Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Brass Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537