'nuther Tubey

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Vega Banjos

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A group for all things Vega.

169 Members, Created 1/27/2011 -

Administrators: Couchie (owner)

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From Crusty on 6/3/2014 4:42:16 PM

I bought a 1918 Style M tenor on Ebay and I just finished putting an Eastman WL neck on it this weekend. The rim is 10 3/4 ", the same size as the Eastman WL and the neck fit like it was made for it. I jigged everything into alignment and then glued the dowel stick and it all has gone together nicely afterwards with low action using a 5/8" bridge, though I may buy a taller one because I like how it sounds with an 11/16".

It sounds like my big Tubey, but subtly different and not as loud, and I like to play it just as much plus the reduced weight and size is a welcome feature.

It came with a Rogers XXX skin head on it and John Balch tells me these are the holy grail of skin heads. I've kept the tenor neck with original dowel intact and it can be converted back in 30 minutes.

The Eastman neck is surprisingly good and is close to an identical copy of a WL neck from that era. The necks sold by Bernunzio have some cosmetic flaws but mine wasn't shabby at all and it plays fast.

If you want a 5 string Vega Tubey relatively cheap, I recommend that you look for a Style M in 10 3/4" or 10 15/16" and put an Eastman neck on it.

If you want more info about what I did, shoot me a PM and I'll give you a blow by blow account of what I did and how I did it.

I like it a lot and I've hardly put it down since I first strung it up.

1 Comments
	Crusty says: 7/13/2014 9:23:49 AM I've spent a good deal of time getting to know my new Tubey and it's become my favorite to play out of all in my herd. I recently contacted David Cunningham and a bridge since I had a persistent resonance rattle on my 3rd string that I didn't like on an otherwise fine sounding banjo and he recommended that I try a Zebrawood/Katalox bridge and after letting it settle in I think I've found the best tone that this banjo can make, and it's very good. The Zebra/Katalox is different than maple and it has a nice characteristic of removing excessive vibrations and my little Tubey now sounds loud, clear and rich with significant ringing. The setup for a 3/4" bridge plus a Kirshner tailpiece has allowed me to put a little downforce on the strings and set my string break angle right at 15º and it sounds ideal for OT style to me.
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