Have been chatting to a chap in my country about a Hondo 2 banjo he obtained real cheap from FB Marketplace in his town. He contacted folk on an NZ banjo FB page about parts. He had some questions and with the photos he sent me, I can see why.
The co-ordinator rods are of two different types. One is an adjustable arrangement that shows up in cheapy Asian entry level (the top rod) instruments and the other (bottom) is a standard rod.
This banjo appears to be from the 80-90's when these were getting close to being discontinued. It appears they used whatever they had on hand to complete the banjo inventory, sort of like a Gibson 'floor-sweep' instrument.
He has stripped it all down to clean it and will reassemble it. I advised that he doesn't need to add the top rod arrangement, instead he can just use a nut that will fit the threaded rod to tighten the neck against the rim. Just when ya think you've seen it all!!!
Tee many martoonies ?!
Give an example of an Gibson floor sweep banjo.
My first banjo was a Hondo 2. I bought it new in 1980 or 81 and it had this exact same setup.
quote:
Originally posted by banjobob36Give an example of an Gibson floor sweep banjo.
quote:
Originally posted by banjobob36Give an example of an Gibson floor sweep banjo.
From what I understand, a 'floorsweep' is made from leftover parts that the configurations don't match the catalogue descriptions
Omitting a top rod will kill some sustain and often compromise tuning stability too.
Also you're increasing the chance of pulling the rim out off round under string tension,, eliminating the tonering's slip fit and probably losing some low end tone.
My RB-1 orginally had no upper rod. It became a better banjo after replacing that nut with a real coordinator rod.
Other banjos benefiited from that upgrade as well, so the opposite seems like a bad idea to me...
quote:
Originally posted by RB-1Omitting a top rod will kill some sustain and often compromise tuning stability too.
Also you're increasing the chance of pulling the rim out off round under string tension,, eliminating the tonering's slip fit and probably losing some low end tone.
My RB-1 orginally had no upper rod. It became a better banjo after replacing that nut with a real coordinator rod.
Other banjos benefiited from that upgrade as well, so the opposite seems like a bad idea to me...
I may get to see this banjo at some stage so will inspect it. May discuss with owner about fabricating a rod. It is after all, only an Asian cheapy
quote:
Originally posted by banjonzquote:
Originally posted by RB-1Omitting a top rod will kill some sustain and often compromise tuning stability too.
Also you're increasing the chance of pulling the rim out off round under string tension,, eliminating the tonering's slip fit and probably losing some low end tone.
My RB-1 orginally had no upper rod. It became a better banjo after replacing that nut with a real coordinator rod.
Other banjos benefiited from that upgrade as well, so the opposite seems like a bad idea to me...
I may get to see this banjo at some stage so will inspect it. May discuss with owner about fabricating a rod. It is after all, only an Asian cheapy
Even so, you'll be amazed what a good set up (including the points I mentioned) can do to a cheap banjo....
Just when you think you have seen it all, another one crops up exactly the same. I have it apart on my workbench. It will be advertised for sale here on behalf of. I have decided not to attach the 'top' rod but use the big long nut to anchor the neck to the rim. Will see how it all goes.
Having stripped it down, cleaned everything and reassembled, I decided to do away with the top rod and just anchor the threaded anchor bolt with a spring washer and the large nut. When attaching the lower co-ord rod to the lagbolt, there was a lot of thread showing so I added some nuts. Everything seems to work. The smaller top threaded rod was badly deformed due to over tightening. I still don't know what they were thinking by having this arrangement.
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