I have a '25 tb-4 conversion which currently has a flathead ring in it. The rim is uncut. I do not own the ball bearing ring/skirt/bearings/springs/etc, but I would like to put it back to a ball bearing if possible.
I understand the ring/skirt design changed part way through 1925 and stayed the same through 1926. This banjo (batch 8146) is from the 74th batch of 108 made during 1925, according to Joe Spann's book... so to me that would suggest that I should be looking for the later design. Any advice, opinions or suggestions ?
If anyone knows of where I could find a ring set/bearings/etc., please let me know. Thanks !
8 Comments |
 | gdoc says:
10/6/2012 2:04:10 PM
John, there is a set on Ebay right now.
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 | John Steele says:
10/6/2012 3:10:34 PM
Sharp eye ! haha Thank you
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 | Fathand says:
10/6/2012 6:09:34 PM
Here is a link to # 8215 which would be later than yours and it has the shotgun skirt on it.
earnestbanjo.com/gibson_banjo_...15-19.htm
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| John Steele says:
10/6/2012 8:55:58 PM
Thanks, Fathand... that's very interesting.
It seems this banjo of mine falls directly into that "gray area" between shotgun skirts and no-hole skirts. If you look at the banjophiles chronological listing, there are many no-holes listed prior to #8215, and several before my 8146 batch. On the other hand, shotgun skirts are reported after both of these numbers. So, once again, there is no standard, it seems. In my case, I guess the only way to be sure would be compare it to another of the same batch, which is sadly improbable.
Do you think all banjos within the same batch had the same skirts ?
Wow, man, I'm way in deep, and I haven't even got a spring in it yet! haha
-John
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| John Steele says:
11/3/2012 12:16:26 AM
Update: I bought the ring set which gdoc drew to my attention (thanks, it's in great condition). The banjo was out on loan, so I got it back and that very night disassembled it.
To my relief, when I removed the flathead conversion ring I found the holes had not been plugged. I was apprehensive about getting all the springs and bearings in, but it's really not a big deal. Everything went together pretty smoothly, and I took my time to get everything straight and line up. When I put the neck back on, the neutral positions of the co-rods left the action at a fair height, but manageable, so I left it that way to settle for the night.
Today it hadn't seemed to loosened to any problematic degree ,so I took a chance and took it on my job tonight, which was a small room job with a quiet stage. It performed just fine !
The action could be fine-tuned to make it a little easier up the neck, and I find you have to work a bit harder to yank what you need out of one of these old guys, but I was proud to put an 87 year old ball bearing mastertone back in service tonight !
When it had the flathead conversion ring in it, to me it still didn't act like a flathead... it still had a delicate tone, and it wasn't very loud. I am convinced that it lost neither volume nor it's basic tonal footprint by putting the bb ring back in it.
Anyway, since y'all were so kind to help, I thought I'd share that with you. All the best,
- John
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| gdoc says:
11/3/2012 5:36:14 AM
John, that's great to hear! Another BB banjo lives on.
I think you will be in for a very big and wonderful surprise. Everytime I ever took my BB banjo apart for what ever reason, new head, bored, whatever... when I put it back together it would take about 2 weeks for the true sound to come back. I have no idea why. Maybe the parts just have to greet each other again or something. But after a couple weeks the sound would sweeten to that perfect sound. Let me know if yours does this.
Also on mine, I had action that was just a tad too high for me and I didn't want to tweek the rim that much to lower it, so I loosened the strings and neck attachment. DO NOT TAKE THE NECK OFF. JUST BARELY LOOSE. Then I slipped in a piece of paper from an index card the width of the neck and only where it touches up by the head, (Two if necessary neck width and 1/4" high.) and tightened everything back up. The action was perfect in the neutral position. The late Larry Brown in Santa Monica showed me that.
Also congradulations on being brave enough to re-assemble it yourself. There's a lot of parts!
Gary
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 | Ks_5-picker says:
12/18/2012 7:06:17 AM
quote"
Also congradulations on being brave enough to re-assemble it yourself. There's a lot of parts!
Gary"
That's true......one ill timed sneeze and you've got parts everywhere. ;-)
I think I'll put my bb ring back in.I've got a couple good flathead banjo,and it just doesn't compare,even with a flathead ring of it's own. Might be that one piece flange is the culprit,I don't know.
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| John Steele says:
8/31/2013 10:39:23 AM
I got this banjo back together today at last. John Boulding demonstrated both his skill and his patience in adding the pearl "Mastertone" to the peghead. So it's back to the way it should be, sounding and feeling great. I did post a pic on my homepage of it, but I'm not sure how to link it here. - John
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