I have a 1928 Style 3 conversion which is my main workhorse banjo. About 10 years ago it fell (on stage!) out of a stand and the neck broke at the headstock. I found a local luthier retired from Gibson and he made a great repair which has held up to lots of playing. The conversion buildersneck is a mystery but plays very well. The frets are so worn now they can’t be redressed and need replacement. I really like the neck but I have a couple of concerns.
Is it worth regretting the neck with the reglued headstock?
Can it be refretted with or reusing the white binding now on the neck?
I suspect the neck is about 45-50 years old, is it too old to repair?
I live in a banjo luthier desert (Wisconsin) and the local guitar techs really can’t help much.
Any advise is appreciated
Yes. Ain't nothing wrong with the neck. It's a good neck for you.
Yes. A competent repair person won't need to do anything to the binding in order to just refret.
No. It's not that old. As long as the fingerboard is not disintegrating.
I think it takes a level above mere competence to save binding nibs on a refret. I'm pretty sure the existing nibs must be lost when the fretboard is leveled after the frets are removed.
Most(?) refrets on bound necks have the fret ends extending over the binding. This adds to the labor cost because the luthier has to remove the tang at both ends.
I've seen a photo essay or video of a luthier who added new binding nibs by making them out of a paste of binding and glue or acetone. The other way to have Gibson-style binding nibs after a refret is to replace the binding so the new frets can be installed ending at the fretboard edges and the new binding can be installed and then scraped down between the frets leaving the nibs.
The 1920's Vega #3 in the photo was unplayable when I bought it for a song because of extreme fret wear. I read a LOT of articles. (There weren't YouTubes then.) And I plotted out a way forward. I did all 22. They overlap the binding. So, I did what pros do and used a (homemade) tang nipper - a PITA. Now, many years later, I upgraded the tuners to geared Gotoh's. Bob Smakula made the wonderful offer to turn down the shafts so that the original buttons fit on the new tuners. (They're much smaller and a deeper color than new ones.)
My own job title includes the word "theoretical." I had built a couple of crude banjos but never attempted a re-fret before. (Repair is a very different endeavor than new build.) So, I figure, if I can do it, anyone can. I know that's not true, but certainly there're lots of people who could.
Just get it refretted. The instrument is player's grade. No collectible value, so paying someone to (painfully) protect the nibs while refretting is silly. Just have it refretted without the nibs. A guitar oriented luthier can refret it.
Someone with a lot of patience could remove each fret and cut each new fret wire to the length of the original fret wires, this will allow the new fret wires to sit without overlapping over the binding.
quote:
Originally posted by ChunoTheDogSomeone with a lot of patience could remove each fret and cut each new fret wire to the length of the original fret wires, this will allow the new fret wires to sit without overlapping over the binding.
That would require not leveling the fretboard after removing the frets. Sanding and cleaning up any tear-out would be very difficult without touching or losing the nibs.
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