I have this separation crack starting along neck/fretboard of old Vega Fairbanks banjo. It’s pretty faint and not long but didn’t know if it’s something I need to address in the short or long term. It’s a 100+ year old Fairbanks Vega electric, so I’m not too surprised.
Any insight would be appreciated
Edited by - OldTymeEric on 03/15/2025 18:56:15
I bought a Fairbanks Special Electric banjeaurine about fifteen years ago at a great price because it had the same problem -- only much, much further along. I salvaged the fretboard, with elaborate inlay intact. I sanded the neck flat, replaced the decorative lamination, and replaced the decaying tuning head face and heel plate. (In fact, it's for sale -- https://www.banjohangout.org/classified/108521 -- because it's just that time.)
However, I'm pretty sure that the one shown in the photo above will be fine to play as is for a long time to come. Squirt some thinned glue in and clamp it? My guess is no harm done, might not work at all, but not much of an improvement if it did -- but probably something I'd do nevertheless.
Very cool! The is an Electric as well. Beautiful inlay on your banjoeaurine.
It looks as if the fretboard is loose from the neck. I believe that the tapered part of the new geared 5th string tuner is forcing the glue joint apart. With that section of the fretboard loose, it is higher than the rest of the board and probably buzzes in that area when fretted.
A simple solution might be removing the 5th tuner, injecting glue in the separation, then clamping the the neck with a flat fretboard caul with cutouts for the frets so they don't compress, and a form fitting neck caul so as not to damage the mahogany of the neck.
That might work, but unfortunately, the fretboard appears to be made of ebonized maple. The dying process used 100 + years ago to blacken maple to use for fretboards and peghead overlays as an ebony substitute destroys the cell structure of the wood. Over time the dyed wood becomes unstable and crumbles.
Gluing the loose spot may work temporarily , but I think it is playing Wack-A-Mole. You glue one spot and another loose spot will soon appear. I recommend replacing the ebonized maple fretboard with ebony. Done correctly you will have a better, more solid instrument.
Bob Smakula
smakulafrettedinstruments.com
Thanks for the comprehensive response, Bob. Pretty sure I bought these tuners from you years ago. They’ve worked great!
