DrG says:
1/1/2015 6:47:14 AM

UPDATE: I still have not received my new tuner from Washburn. One week would have been by Christmas, it is now January 1st and I have not received anything or heard anything from Washburn after talking with their manager on the phone. The problem with tuning my new banjo, it's inability to stay in tune, involved more than one tuner and the inability to tune the banjo with proper intonation was a frustration that involved the tuners,tailpiece and bridge.
(1)The tuners are not very good quality apparently. They won't hold a tune. They slip some even when tightened, one of them visibly so. I was not able to play for 3 minutes without going out of tune.
(2)The bridge is uncompensated and can not be placed anywhere on the head to allow for intonation. Normally one should be able to measure the distance for the bridge to be placed on the head properly, then fine tune for intonation by using the 17th fret for the string #5,and the 12th fret for strings #4 #3 #2 and #1.
(3)The tailpiece is very lightweight and rests on the rim of the banjo along with a single anchor to the flange area of the banjo by a long skinny bolt and nut(I don't know how else to describe it).The tail piece feels like it is made out of tin (I'm sure it is a different metal, but is very light and has a tendency to buss due to string cover plate, plate is secured by screws that work loose after tightening).
(4)The construction of my old Washburn B 12 was different than the new Washburn B120. Both had nice woods but differ in other ways. The B12 banjo had a larger diameter pot/head with larger bolt hooks to hold the head down. The pot was heavier and perhaps thicker. I think the artwork on both banjos is very good on the neck and inlays. There is only one minor mistake on the inlay of the new B120 that is insignificant to me. I think the person doing the inlay by hand did a pretty good job on the B120.

SOLUTION:
(1) I bought new Waverly V2 gold tuners(match the B120 aged antique color better than nickel) from Janet Davis Music. They shipped the tuners right away, I had them in 2 days except for a backordered 5th V2 tuner that will be shipped as soon as it arrives. I was quite impressed with Janet Davis Music and would highly recommend giving them your business! The Waverly tuners were excellent and installed quite easiliy. The bright gold does not match the antiqued gold of the B120 but hold the tune and do what they are designed to do. They are real easy to turn for tuning and are a pleasure to work with. They have ivory buttons.
(2)I bought a new 1934 Parallel gold plated Tailpiece with an XYZ gold plated mount from Bob Fultz to replace the B120 tailpiece. Bob Fultz was a pleasure to work with, called me back right away and had the order shipped immediately...very impressive! I highly recommend his product, attention to detail, and wonderful quality. I feel I certainly got my money's worth! The tailpiece is beautiful, very well built/solid, mounts cleverly and solidly to tension hooks rather that at the flange area. It was so easy to setup. The mount is so adjustable(and did I say SOLID/ not flimsy at all).The tailpiece and mount were a pleasure to work with and it was easy to adjust the intonation and vary the sound of the head to my liking. Definitely give Bob Fultz your business! You really will not believe what a difference it makes until you have one yourself! Thanks Bob Fultz.
(3) I used a Snuffy Smith "S" compensated bridge to correct the intonation. The intonation is not perfect but very close now. I may choose to have a custom compensated bridge made in the future to have it be perfect. I really expected the Washburn factory to provide the correct bridge for proper intonation when they offer a new product/banjo.
(4) Happy days!!!! I am playing again, the sound is much better, the intonation is much better and the B120 is holding the tune. This banjo is not the same as banjos that cost $3000-$7000.00, however I am a beginner and need a banjo to be a workhorse for practice until I am proficient. I expect any new banjo to hold it's tune and have proper intonation, even if it needs a compensated bridge(which should be provided by the company that made it). The improvements that I have added have been excellent, somewhat costly, and have made a profound difference in playing.
I would NOT recommend buying a new Washburn B120 without making these improvements and figuring in the cost of the improvements.

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