Hey folks, I've got a weird, old banjo. The pot is a Gibson Trapdoor, and the neck is a repro Whyte Laydie. I love the sound and feel of the body, and the neck is interestingly cool, but I do sometimes wish that I had a neck with a more traditional feel, and that it had Gibson on the headstock.
Is there anyone currently out there making/selling old-style Gibson 5 string necks? Ideally, I'd like a snake head style, but I'd be open to other told time headstocks.
Thanks!
A heads up if you have a 5-string neck made with a snake head peghead; if you use planetary banjo tuners on the peghead, the 2nd and third tuning knobs could bump in to each other. That peghead shape was designed for guitar style tuners.
Bob Smakula
Carl Arcand has done several such conversion necks, if memory serves. And (at least) one of them (#1229-4) has the snake head shaped peghead. Will Seeders has done one or more with that peghead shape too, I believe. You might check those to see if they’d suit.
Edited by - srrobertsiii on 07/13/2026 06:34:54
quote:
Originally posted by Bob SmakulaA heads up if you have a 5-string neck made with a snake head peghead; if you use planetary banjo tuners on the peghead, the 2nd and third tuning knobs could bump in to each other. That peghead shape was designed for guitar style tuners.
Bob Smakula
Wow, that's great advice! I just checked Retrofret; they have a 5 string for sale, and it does look like the planetary tuners would hit each other.
My old guitar teacher sent me a photo of his matching set of 4 string and Mando, and both have guitar style tuners.
This is actually good news as it means I could put guitar tuners on a repro neck, enjoy the easier tuners, and have it look period correct.
Thanks for the info!
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