I finally replaced the missing dot. In fact I replaced all of the plastic dots with abalone. There is still one hole in the fifth fret area where I am going to put a star. I have the star but I ordered another one to be placed in the headstock and will do them both at the same time. I figure I will need to remove the strings, and rather than use two sets of strings I will get away with one, I will also sand down the dots at that time. I replaced the first dot using wood glue, but at the advice of many on the forums, I did the rest with super glue. I think if I were to start over I would use pearl dots, the abalone is pretty, but the bluish colors are almost camoflaged on the dark fretboard.
Initially I thought the neck was at an extreme angle and shimmed it, by sight. Today I removed the shim and found the angle to be exactly five degrees, and retuned. I still have an intonation problem with the third string and will have that to look forward to. the third string has been a series of issues, when I first strung the banjo the third string tuner wouldn't work. I ordered a five star tuner from StewMac and then I had an awful buzz, I replaced the bridge with a compensated bridge and lost the buzz but it is still sharp on the 2nd fret.
I will be thankful for a few problems since I bought the kit as a learning tool. I still have the star inlays to do and solve the pesky intonation problem, and I will be done. I already have my eyes on the Gold Tone kit and I can hear it starting to call my name.
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