I'm thinking about buying a #1 SS Stewart, but I live in Taos, NM, at 7000 feet... very high and dry here... Any thoughts on this???

Posted - 11/14/2009 :  19:09:13          

I don't know if the mods put you in this forum, or if you chose it. However, I think you might get more appropriate traffic if you put it in the Swap/Shop or Collector's Corner forums. Just a thought, Ted

Handsup8

Posted - 11/14/2009 :  19:28:20        

thanks Ted.... got it!!!!!!
newbie annie

Posted - 11/14/2009 :  20:44:39      

No, the mods sure didn't. This quite obviously IS banjo-related.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

Posted - 11/14/2009 :  22:12:14          

Buy it, play it. Don't over think it...period. Don't sweat the small stuff and its mostly all small stuff. Just my $0.02. I would not worry about the dry air....just yet. Get it first.

Mr. B

Wind me up and watch me go!

Posted - 11/14/2009 :  23:43:36    

Id be much more worried about a new acoustic instrument like a guitar or mandolin, the Southwest can CRACK tops and backs in short order

For safety sake just get a case hunidifyer, available at most mail order shops like Elderly for as little as a few dollars and USE it

I see people buy these things and put them in their case and forget about them, then wonder why their guitar cracked. You have to keep them moist or they cant work

An old vintage insteumnent has had a long time to get used to changes and you shouldnt have a problem but a nice old banjo like that deserves a three dollar humidifyer in extreme dry conditions just for peace of mind

Scott

Desert Rose Musical Instruments
www.desertrosebanjo.com

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  09:20:41        

Frank, your article was excellent! Thank you for calling it to my attention.
~Julio

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  09:24:46      

Hi Annie,
I think I have a practical and easy solution for you.

I fly with my banjo several times a month. At 40,000 feet the air has NO humidity. And when I land the temperature and humidity could be all over the place. And in hotels, the AC and heaters change the humidity as well. Taos can be no worse.

In addition, I play with calf and goat skin heads.

So, my solution, which has been working really well, is to keep the banjos on the humid side ALL of the time (rather than the dry side). I achieve this by using a Dampit (brand name).

Check out my photo page for more info:
http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...44&albumid=0

So buy your #1 SS Stewart with confidence and put a Dampit in the case (or pot like I do). Do this for all your instruments. The Dampit Company makes large Dampits and little Dampits for all wooden instruments.

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  09:38:17  

I've lived at a drought-stricken 7000 feet (Flagstaff AZ) for 10 years, have modern and vintage instruments. My old Gibson acoustic, which had plenty of old cracks when I bought it (in humid Ohio) has been completely stable up here. And my original Vega 5 string too (although there's an acceptable amount of relief in the neck that hasn't gotten worse since I bought it (in Denver) which could probably be remediated by some humidifying). The only issue I've had was a crack in a nearly new classical guitar when I left it in a over-heated dorm room, but I think that would happen anywhere.

I'm no expert on humidifying, but I don't humidify my instruments because my belief the wet-dry cycling would be worse for them that a stable low humidity. If I bought something from a humid clime, however, I'd probably gradually dry it out for the first month or two.

My 2 cents...

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  16:54:17        

OK!!!!!!!!!I'M buying it!!!!

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  19:28:05        

Annie, the old Stewarts make fine playing banjos. I'd put a plug in for using nylon or gut strings on that puppy, though. It is what the original cherry wood necks were designed for by S.S. Stewart himself.

If you do decide to use steel strings, expect to left-twist your neck within about 5 years, and expect to rut your original frets in 7 to 10 years. If your banjo has those nice original violin-style tuning pegs, steel strings will also garrot the heads off of them in pretty short order. Nylon or gut strings won't do any of this.

Best,

-- Don
http://www.youtube.com/user/dh5string
http://home.att.net/~dhergert
http://mysite.verizon.net/don_hergert


"If you must use your banjo as a snow shovel, do so:
only don't wonder if it sounds dull afterwards."
-- S.S. Stewart catalog, 1896.

Edited by - dhergert on 11/15/2009 19:49:39

Posted - 11/15/2009 :  21:50:37      

My old (vintage) banjo was brought from MI by my dad in 1946 to Phoenix, AZ. and has been in AZ ever since. I now live in Show Low AZ where the air is very dry and it is doing just fine kept in a newer case when not being played. Of course it has had 63 years in AZ to make the adjustment.

Bob