pauld - Posted - 04/28/2026:  16:15:45

My Prucha presto tailpiece has a tone at high F# (4th fret of 1st string) when I thump it. So when I play F# notes on the 1st and 4th strings the banjo makes a warbly "wolf note" sound. Doesn't seem to matter if tailpiece touches rim or not. Anyone else have this problem?

Brett - Posted - 04/28/2026:  16:29:47

Before you do anything, is the wolf note or resonant note there also with the tailpiece cover OPEN or not touching?
Glue a small piece of cork shelf liner material to the bottom of your tailpiece cover, or glue a piece of leather to the underside front of your Presto cover are ways I’ve seen folks stop resonant frequencies. If not touching fixes your issue, I’d do nothing and simply not push it down all the way closed.

Doug Knecht - Posted - 04/28/2026:  17:14:15

It's not a classical wolf note, it's rather your string "resonating sympathetically" with the Presto. You can angle the tailpiece down just a hair should take care of it.

pauld - Posted - 04/28/2026:  21:01:11

I had removed the tailpiece cover awhile back. I'll try angling the tailpiece down, but it's a presto, so that may be hard to do -- not even sure how.

chuckv97 - Posted - 04/28/2026:  22:50:57

John Boulding has a video on adjusting à Presto. ,,,,, not a Prucha , but 

youtu.be/LTkVeL795WI?si=r0mssZch_np2mTO_

Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/28/2026 22:53:17

banjoT1 - Posted - 04/29/2026:  02:23:29

I seriously doubt that your tailpeice is the direct cause of what you're reporting as unwanted resonance tone. Nor do I believe that most folks have heard, from a banjo, actual 'wolf tones' or 'beats' that can sound supernaturally loud and surprisingly ethereal and nearly fearsome.



But likely, to kill the perfect storm condition of unwanted in-phase and/or out-of-phase resonant vibrations you might need to make slight adjustment to head tension and tailpeice bridge pressure. From my experience only slight adjustments would be necessary - the resonance and phasing can be disrupted fairly easily but some curiosity to try this-n-that should resolve the monster within without being too heavy handed.

There's not much info on the internet regarding such banjo issues but the recommendations at the link below, although guitar related, still can generally apply to many air-chambered bodies.



myluthier.co/post/understandin...quencies.

Edited by - banjoT1 on 04/29/2026 02:25:49

Mastertone Banjo - Posted - 04/29/2026:  02:49:13

I have either a thin piece of cork, or more typically a thin piece of felt in all of my Prestos to prevent those noises. Actually, I think it is pretty typical to open a Presto cover on most banjos and find a piece of felt glued inside the cover. I prefer green!

banjoT1 - Posted - 04/29/2026:  03:00:28

By the way.......since the link above is predominately about guitars and not banjos then the info does not mention another possible fix for your problem....that is - without any description of what banjo unit you have - another alternative is to change the dimension of the air chamber. Depending on how yours is constructed (assuming a resonator style flathead) you could try lifting the rim/flange pot assembly up slightly from the resonator bottom - done so with washer-type shims, or other suitable spacers, etc., etc. And again, typically a very slight change of the air column might be totally adequate.

Ira Gitlin - Posted - 04/29/2026:  05:50:55

quote:

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Originally posted by pauld

I had removed the tailpiece cover awhile back. 

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Our late colleague Gabe Hirshfeld is smiling down on you from wherever he is now.



 

Pick-A-Lick - Posted - 04/29/2026:  06:09:36

quote:

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Originally posted by pauld

My Prucha presto tailpiece has a tone at high F# (4th fret of 1st string) when I thump it. So when I play F# notes on the 1st and 4th strings the banjo makes a warbly "wolf note" sound. Doesn't seem to matter if tailpiece touches rim or not. Anyone else have this problem?

Use self-adhering VELCRO or similar. Stick a piece of the fuzzy side of the VELCRO to the underside of the flip up cover of the tailpiece. This will isolate the cover from the tailpiece proper and the attached strings. 

Some say to use cork and glue but the VELCRO is less messy and more effective. 

As an aside: A strip of the self-adhering fuzzy VELCRO works great as replacement for the felt commonly used to line the neck notch in your resonator. 

Edited by - Pick-A-Lick on 04/29/2026 06:15:12

pauld - Posted - 04/29/2026:  06:58:34

Thanks everyone. There's no tailpiece cover. It's a '58 RB-100 with a Sloan tone ring (added by Clancy Mullins).