DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  09:56:26

---

First let me say hello..I just joined your lovely little banjo site,and just recently started playing banjo and am loving it..I've never played anything before so this is all new to me..Any way,the reason I posted in this section is I got my first banjo and it's used...It's all set up and play's and sounds great,only problem is the tuners are stripping/slipping..It makes it hard to get it in tune a bit and I'm sure causes it to need to be tuned more often.The banjo is a Gold Tone BG-250,not sure of the year but it doesn't look like the current ones,the head? is different,golden maple real pretty..So my question is...What tuners do I get to replace them??

Thank's for your time...
Don
P.S.What ever tuners I get I had the idea of drilling out dice to use as knobs..
would this work?Easily?

vintagewells - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:08:13

---

Tighten them up first and see if that helps.

steve davis - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:09:45

---

There are to easy possibilities of tuners slipping.
The most common is the little screw in the end of the button.This sets the tension.

See if they tighten a bit and hold the string.
Not too tight or they'll be hard to turn.

Another less common problem is the tension of the nuts on the other side where the shaft ends come through the peghead.
See if they are loose,too.

mtnpckr - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:10:49

---

Only problem I've had with tuners on either of my Gold Tones was one of the tuner buttons cracked, and Gold Tone sent me replacements, free of charge, even hough I bought them used.
Have you tried tightening the screw a bit on the slipping tuners?

I would think dice would be a little difficult on the fingers but to each his own.

rickshunter1 - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:16:55

---

I have recently just installed some new tuners and one of them slipped all I had to do was tighten the screw in the end of the tuner knob problem solved

DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:22:08

---

I've already tryed tightening the screws,there's still about 1/4 inch of play in turning the knob to left or right before it catches.

dickinnorwich - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:28:10

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by DonCherry

I've already tryed tightening the screws,there's still about 1/4 inch of play in turning the knob to left or right before it catches.

---

Well, Don, it may be time for some new tuners. When there is play in them the way you described and you've tried tightening the screws, unless they are actually rotating in the hole in the peghead (it happens), it probably is time to start to think seriously about a new set of tuners.

---

Edited by - dickinnorwich on 02/04/2011 10:28:59

rickshunter1 - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:31:29

---

Contact Goldtone you may get a replacement set for free Goldtones are guaranteed for life might be worth a try

DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:31:44

---

Cool..So what tuners do I go with if not goldtone?I plan on playing and having this banjo for a long time..So I'm not going to skemp..

---

Edited by - DonCherry on 02/04/2011 10:34:23

xomcat - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:32:33

---

Are you talking about all the tuners or just some of them? Have you replaced the strings or are they the second-hand ones?

DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:37:13

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by xomcat

Are you talking about all the tuners or just some of them? Have you replaced the strings or are they the second-hand ones?

---

Ok..after fine tuning and tightening,I've come out with it's only the fifth string tuner that needs replacing...

steve davis - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:41:22

---

Sometimes the 5th string tuner spline gets loose in the neck and needs to be reset.

DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:54:28

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by steve davis

Sometimes the 5th string tuner spline gets loose in the neck and needs to be reset.

---

how would I go about determining and curing that?



Also.I emailed Gold Tone,Wayne say's they will sell me a new set for 75$is that a good price?

dickinnorwich - Posted - 02/04/2011:  10:57:08

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by DonCherry

quote:

---

Originally posted by steve davis

Sometimes the 5th string tuner spline gets loose in the neck and needs to be reset.

---

how would I go about determining and curing that?



Also.I emailed Gold Tone,Wayne say's they will sell me a new set for 75$is that a good price?

---

A set of four or a set of five?

DonCherry - Posted - 02/04/2011:  11:18:04

---

all 5

dickinnorwich - Posted - 02/04/2011:  12:16:29

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by DonCherry

all 5

---

Well, $75 sounds pretty good for 5 tuners... IF THEY ARE DECENT QUALITY.
Personally, I'm a 5 star tuner guy but that doesn't mean that the Gold Tone tuners won't give you good service for many years.

xomcat - Posted - 02/04/2011:  12:32:23

---

quote:

---

how would I go about determining and curing that?

---

I would take to a luthier and, hopefully, look over his shoulder while he's repairing it. It's a two minute job, if you know what you're doing and have the proper tools. I'm not sure why you'd want to replace all the tuners, but it's your banjo and your money.

wb4yal - Posted - 02/04/2011:  13:02:18

---

I would call Gold Tone first. They are great to help. Ask for Wayne or if he is not available, ask for Phil.

Klondike Waldo - Posted - 02/04/2011:  13:14:30

---

Depending on the type of tuners you have, the solution could very very cheap and dead simple. Besides tightening the screw at the knob, some tuners have a leather washer between the knob and the gears. You might have to rub a little rosin into the leather if they're slipping.

Bronx banjo - Posted - 02/04/2011:  13:45:45

---

I suggest that you get the best tuners you can afford. Go on line to some of the most reputable sites such as Elderly Instruments or Janet Davis Music and splurge. Good tuners make playing much more fun. If some day, you upgrade, you can decide if you want to transfer your tuners to another instrument.

DonCherry - Posted - 02/05/2011:  14:19:06

---

next question..I followed the steps in the hangout instrument setup/repair section for bridge placement..and it intones all the way to the fifth string then it goes from g to d...Do I need a compensated bridge?If so,maybe there's one that would be good to cure what ails me?

Ken_in_IN - Posted - 02/05/2011:  14:24:48

---

Hi Don,

Welcome to the forum! I had the same problem on my B string - almost a quarter turn of play before the gearing engaged.
I changed it out with an old tuner that my local shop had on hand and it seems to have cured it.

Helix - Posted - 02/06/2011:  06:45:40

---

Don't fret, get it? Welcome to the hangout.

You have a nice medium grade Maple banjo, real adjustable, and they start with entry level tuners.

I'm sure you've looked at their website and seen the different levels of tuners. The people at Gold Tone have an on-shore shop, an international agreement and they make parts available to people like me who build radical stuff with their chrome. They make American jobs.

With the BG 250, they start with entry level tuners, it's literally like a new set of tires. Mongoose mountain bike racing team used BMX headset bearings and changed them after each race, it was cheaper than better bearings.

But ALL the other parts are very good in nickel or chrome.

Bridges are a hoot to make, people send me Lilac, Crabapple, look around your yard, Persimmon, Teak, exotics.

But I spec the Stew-Mac compensated bridge on all my builds, then the Grapefruit bridge with a Bloodwood top strip shows up in the pictures.


Now any other wild ideas like using dice drilled out for tuner buttons, well, take note, that's illegal in some counties, check with your local Sect. of State, banjo division.

Using other than standard materials and ways to get music out of a drum on a stick - yeah, well, that's just the ticket. And thanks ahead of time for helping all the rest of us. Pictures of dice buttons would be cool. I have an idea for fingerboard inlays that use dice, dream up some new stuff. cool, huh?

( ))===='=== ::}

---

Edited by - Helix on 02/06/2011 06:52:30

mike gregory - Posted - 02/06/2011:  08:56:40

---

Fancy looking plastic coat buttons, glued back-to-back with JB Weld, a hole drilled in the seam, more JB weld appiled, and the stuner shaft slid into the hole and left to dry.

If you use guitar pegs with non-adjustable buttons, drilled dice should work as well.

If you're planning on using tuners with adjustable buttons, you'll probably have to take a square needle file to shape the holes so the flat edge of the shafts have a flat inner surface of the dice hole to fit against.

OR, perhaps you could drill through the center dot of the 3, and put in a pin that would nudge up against the flat side, to prevent spin.
(Kind of like the set-screw on a pulley on an electric motor.)

As for inlaying dice on the fretboard, I think it would be great fun to have a 3 at the 3rd fret, a 5 at the fifth, 5+2 at the 7th, and so on up to the 12th.

DeepSouthBanjo - Posted - 02/06/2011:  09:42:09

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mike gregory


Fancy looking plastic coat buttons, glued back-to-back with JB Weld, a hole drilled in the seam, more JB weld appiled, and the stuner shaft slid into the hole and left to dry.

If you use guitar pegs with non-adjustable buttons, drilled dice should work as well.

If you're planning on using tuners with adjustable buttons, you'll probably have to take a square needle file to shape the holes so the flat edge of the shafts have a flat inner surface of the dice hole to fit against.

---

I will try just that...thank you..

DonCherry - Posted - 02/06/2011:  09:44:45

---

thank you all for the help and for the advise...I've been thinking of building a banjo,and this site and all of you are the biggest help I could need..

Bart Veerman - Posted - 02/06/2011:  09:49:51

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by DonCherry

I just joined your lovely little banjo site

---

I can see Eric cringing for a couple of tylenols here...

A BG250 shouldn't need a compensated bridge if you have positioned the bridge properly. You might consider a quality aftermarket bridge though once you set the head at the proper tension, the original bridge is kinda underwhelming.

Welcome to the Hangout.

DonCherry - Posted - 02/06/2011:  10:50:45

---

1-4 are in proper tune and intone correctly at the 12th but the 5th is in G but at the 12th goes to D..?..?