Hi everyone! This is gonna be a long post/ question since i want to give the full details at the start but please bear with me.
So ive been really wanting to learn how to set up, replace parts and do minor repairs on the banjo since I live in the middle of nowhere on the swedish countryside, so theres really no place where i could turn my banjo in either way without traveling really far. Plus i just find it facinating.
Either way back to the subject, i got a tip to just start taking one of my banjos completly apart and up again, and change a part or 2 to learn the functions, and i allways wanted a archtop banjo which are basically unavailable or at least verry rare over here so i ordered a flathead to archtop coversion ring for my flathead here on market place.
Ive now tried to set this up with the new ring 3 times with 3 failures. Each time with a different crown height on the head, H, M and L. Everytime the action ended up beeing WAY to low.
At first when i tried a Low crown, the head got super low and the strings wouldn't even ring a tone but just rattle against the fretboard. So i figured that the low-crown head standard didn't apply to conversion archtops.
So then ive tried both medium and high crown with each giving the same result, being that when the head is set to tension the neck wont fit properly, with the front of the heel hitting the crown of the head, this was maybe a stupid thing to even try but i lowered the tension enough so the neck would fit behind the crown but even then the strings would rattle, this time the action was high enough to be somewhat playable down the neck but after the 7th fret and up there was an absurd amount of fretbuzz.
Ive come to the conclusion that the crown of the head is getting to low becouse this tone ring changed the height of the whole pot, which tilts the neck at a far too drastic backwards angle.
I thought the point of a conversion-tonering was that the height would be fitting for a flattop and that way avoid the whole problem im facing right now. How would you guys go about it? Was this project doomed from the start or is it doable to get this working?
The banjo in question is a recording king rk-35, with a conversion-ring from "unmarked supply".
Im curious about your thoughts, and either way ive learned a lot from these failures about the banjo and how it works wich was my main goal from the beginning so if its screwed its not the end of the world and ill just put the old ring back on.
Can you measure the height of the rim with the original flathead ring and measure the rim with the archtop conversion ring on it? (I.e., measure from the underside of the rim to the top of the tone ring. That'll at least tell you if the height is changing drastically. You're probably right but measurements would help determine how much the difference is. And yes, tilting the neck back at more of an angle will bring the action down. Would a higher bridge make a difference? Lots of questions. Pics and measurements would help.
quote:
Originally posted by tomd7Can you measure the height of the rim with the original flathead ring and measure the rim with the archtop conversion ring on it? (I.e., measure from the underside of the rim to the top of the tone ring. That'll at least tell you if the height is changing drastically. You're probably right but measurements would help determine how much the difference is. And yes, tilting the neck back at more of an angle will bring the action down. Would a higher bridge make a difference? Lots of questions. Pics and measurements would help.
Yeah ive thought about a higher bridge, and i think i should at least try that, but ive as of yet ive found nothing here in eu under the standard size, might have to order from the US but the shipping fees are intimidating haha. Its pretty late over here so i cant get the pics and measurements right now but ill post it here sometime tomorrow
Silvio Ferretti makes Scorpion bridges in Italy if that helps at all.
quote:
Originally posted by tomd7Silvio Ferretti makes Scorpion bridges in Italy if that helps at all.
That definitely helps, thanks for the tip!
You have too much going on here with too little experience. First, head crown height has nothing to do with string height. All heads sit on top of the tonering, so string height is the same on all, as you discovered. The end of the neck sits against the edge of the tonering. All tonerings are not the same diameter. If the new ring is smaller, the action will be higher. If larger, the action comes down. Use metal or wooden shims at the neck mounting areas to reach the action you want. Be patient, it is fun!
It is likely that you didn't reassemble your banjo the same as it was.
Once you calculate and figure out the difference in height between the old rim/ tone ring and the new rim/ tone ring height, do you have enough room on the neck to raise your hanger bolts by that amount to adjust for the difference in neck height you now need?. It sounds like your neck is too high for the new pot. That's an easy fix with hardwood dowels to fill the original neck lag bolt holes and then redrilling for the repositioned lag bolts holes. The critical piece is whether or not you have enough room to reposition the top lag bolt which is on the neck extension above the flange. You should have plenty of wiggle room on the lower, heel lag bolt.
You might have gotten a conversion tone ring that isn’t a conversion tone ring.
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