Preparations To Take Before Buying Your First Banjo

Preparations To Take

Before Buying

Your First BanjoBefore Learning to Play the Banjo

-Alan Arnell

Buying a Banjo and What to Look For in That Banjo

When going out to buy your first banjo, for your best success, I suggest you look for a banjo that is well made and plays well.  For experienced banjo players, the best way to test out a potential guitar would be to play the banjo.  However, if you are a beginner testing a banjo by playing would most likely lead to disappointment.

Buying a Banjo and What to Look For in That Banjo

Luckily, for the most part, most student banjos are basically playable, but they can sometimes be made more playable by having a trained luther refine the setup.

A banjo luthier at work in his shop.

A luthier (/ˈluːtiər/ loo-ti-ər)[1] is someone who builds or repairs string instruments generally consisting of a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" comes from the French word luth, which means lute. The term originally referred to makers of lutes and is now used interchangeably with any term that refers to makers of a specific, or specialty, type of stringed instrument, such as violin maker, guitar maker, or lute maker.

Measuring a Banjo's String Action

Good Tips For The Beginner To Use While Buying a First Banjo:*

There are some simple tests you can do yourself when checking out a new banjo. Test the action: See if the strings push down easily, both at the nut end and up the fretboard near where the neck attaches. You don’t want strings that are so hard to push down that they feel like they will cut your fingers. Also, test the sound: When you pluck a string lightly near the bridge, you should hear a clear note.

*From http://www.gamlinsmusic.co.uk/

Banjo Bridge

More Info:

Bridge location on a banjo is critical.  When stringing a banjo the bridge’s placement is significant, because if affects intonation, or how in tune a banjo plays as you move up the neck.

Always check a banjo’s neck to make certain it doesn’t have any bow or twist in it.  Any twisting of the neck means you need to put the banjo back on the rack and keep looking for a better playing banjo.  When coming across a good buy on a used banjo that may have a neck bow, depending on the severity of the bow, you may be able to correct the bow if the neck is equipped with a truss rod.

That banjo you couldn't live with out!

If you come across a really nice banjo you can’t pass up for whatever reason and you find out that it has problems, don’t get too upset.  If not real bad, most setup problems can be dealt with (the action can be lowered, the neck adjusted, the bridge moved, the head retuned, etc.). With minor problems you usually can find maintenance or setup instructions on YouTube or other sites online that will fix the problem.  There may be books available online as well about banjo set up, but good luck finding any at your local business locations or music stores.  If you have any second thoughts about repairing or setting up your new banjo, by all means, take it to a  luther and have it set up properly.

Even More Info:

As you see, the joy and success of learning to play the banjo is determined upon how well your first banjo plays.  But, how do you know if the banjo is in good playing condition?

Mel Bay’s Frailing the 5-String Banjo an instruction Manual

Checklist of Important Factors to Judge if a Banjo is Playing Well*

1. If the strings are too high off the fingerboard, they will be difficult to fret.  If they are too low, they will buzz.  The string should be about ⅛ of an inch above the fingerboard at the 12th fret.
2. Use only light gauge 5-string banjo strings with an unwound 3rd string.  Heavier gauge strings will be difficult to play
3. Keep the strings free of dirt and rust and change them (at least) every three months.  Worn strings will make your banjo sound dull and difficult to tune.
4. The head should be so tight that the pressure of the bridge on it causes little or no indentation.  The head is very important factor in the tone quality of a banjo
5. Unlike many other fretted instruments the bridge on a banjo is not glued in place.  It is possible, therefore, for the bridge to move out of its correct position.  This causes the notes to sound ‘out of tune’ when played at the higher fret positions.
6. The tuning pegs should be tightened so they don’t slip
7. The neck should be joined firmly to the body of the banjo.  Strum the banjo and then gently pull on the neck in various directions,  If the musical tone of the strummed chord changes while you are pulling the neck is loose.
8. Do not attempt any adjustments or repairs unless you know what you’re doing.

*From; Mel Bay’s Frailing the 5-String Banjo an instruction Manual by E. Muller and B. Koehler,  Mel Bay Publications, Kirkwood, Mo., 1973

Would you like to know: The Names of the Different Parts of the Banjo and The Three Different Ways to String a Banjos? Here is a link to good blog post to learn:  http://www.classicguitarexperience.com/2016/09/the-names-of-different-parts-of-banjo.html

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