I have a couple of older banjos with a dowel stick that are missing the ebony shims that sit between the bracket and rim, is there somewhere anyone has found that might have replacements, or is this going to be a DIY effort?
Attaching a picture with a similar dowel that has the shims for reference
cliffordessex.com/product/wedg...ny-wedges
Clifford Essex in the UK has the above. Personally I prefer to make my own.
Edited by - Stephen John Prior on 10/12/2026 10:25:11
I've always made those when I needed a set, and it's not hard. Sometimes it took a few tries, but with scrap material it's okay to have to do it over. If you don't have ebony I'll be happy to send you a few offcuts from the end of fretboard blanks, just send me your address.
What Zach said--note the "it took a few tries" acknowledgement. Requires producing small pieces of wood with angles to serve as wedges on the appropriate sides. Helps if you have one to copy. A saw, vise or similar, and a very sharp knife are the minimum tools needed.
I make my own out of old ebony piano keys. I use this as a guide. I have found that not one size fits all.
I make mine out of bamboo. Great material. For that job I use the darker strand woven bamboo.
Making ebony wedges is very straightforward. And as other posters have said you don’t have to use ebony; oak, beech, rosewood all do the job equally well and look good. You can stain any hardwood to the exact colour you want.
The one-size, bought ebony wedges from CE are quite large and are likely to need some filing and sanding to make the appropriate fit.
Edited by - EEB on 10/13/2026 04:40:49
Good to know that CE has them, but doesn’t seem worth it to import it if they’re going to need some reshaping anyways. DIY is the way to go it seems for me then, thanks everyone!
quote:
Originally posted by EEBMaking ebony wedges is very straightforward. And as other posters have said you don’t have to use ebony; oak, beech, rosewood all do the job equally well and look good. You can stain any hardwood to the exact colour you want.
The one-size, bought ebony wedges from CE are quite large and are likely to need some filing and sanding to make the appropriate fit.
I think they make them for CE banjos. However, not one size fits all. I am currently restoring a J.A.Turner banjo and I have to make larger ones to fit.
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