International Jazz Banjo Newsletter

A question of banjo maintenance.
Time and time again I have watched my youngest son take out his guitar, play it like a dream and then put it straight back in its case. The next time he plays it he complains that the intonation is lousy and he has to keep changing the strings. Those of you with sons know that they rarely listen but sometimes, just sometimes, Dad can give some good advice. We all like to keep ourselves clean but with the best will in the world the grime builds up as the day wears on. I always wash my hands before I play otherwise the tiny bits of unseen grime on my hands transfer themselves to my instrument's fingerboard. When I have finished playing I wipe the metal and wood work with a clean cloth. With another cloth I thoroughly clean each string, especially under them, with Fast Fret. If I do not have any of that to hand I use olive oil which I keep in a small bottle in my banjo case. I guess the average player needs to change the strings every 3 months, it all depends on how often you play. I knew one professional that changed his strings before every show because he maintained that his banjo always sounded best with brand new strings. Old strings stretch over time and begin to lose their elasticity, they can no longer make the wave forms and the sound from them becomes blunted and dull. New strings sound crisp and sharp giving the banjo its distinctiveness. I play quite a bit and I change my strings about once a month, I use this time to do a few other essentials.

When the strings are off I polish the entire instrument. Prior to lemon oil I was obliged to tediously remove the grime around the frets with the wooden end of a match stick. Take a pencil with a sharp point and colour the grooves in the nut. The graphite will lubricate the nut slots. If a nut slot is too deep and the string is buzzing on the first fret then try this. Using thick super glue and a tooth pick carefully apply one drop in the slot, let it dry for 8 hours. This will slightly raise the slot and get rid of the string buzz. Check the bridge is not bent in the middle. Carefully examine the tailpiece adjustment, it should be as close to the skin as possible but never touching. If the tailpiece does touch the skin you can say goodbye to any tone your banjo is capable of producing. Check the skin tension and tighten it if necessary. To do this tighten a tension rod one quarter turn then tighten the opposite one in the same way and so on. Check the bridge placement ensuring it is positioned in exactly the correct place. The distance between the nut and the 12th fret is equal to the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge. Next, touch the first string lightly above the 12th fret with your left index finger and gently strike the string with your plectrum or finger. You will hear a harmonic. The harmonic at the twelfth fret should have exactly the same pitch as the note when you fret the string at the 12th fret. Repeat this on the 4th string. If the harmonic has a higher pitch than the fretted note then the length of the string is too great. Move the bridge slightly away from the tailpiece. If the harmonic has a lower pitch than the fretted note you need to move the bridge towards the tailpiece. Check the action, if it is low, too light of a gauge string may cause fret buzz because the string is too loose. The thicker the string gauge the less it will bounce after being struck.

Folk often ask for my advice on skin heads and I suppose I am about to set the cat among the pigeons yet again. There really is no reason to subject yourself to the misery of a calf or pig skin vellum. The invention of the plastic head solved all the problems of the old skin heads. Years ago I walked into a warm venue from the freezing cold to perform a show. I opened the banjo case and the skin had split, no money for me and no show for the audience. Back then that's all there was. They were expensive and a real pain in the arse to put on. They don't stay tuned to a tension for long, they make it hard to keep the banjo in tune and they crack as well as split. The only thing that recommends them is nostalgia. I have met a few players who liked the sound but they were always griping about them. A fiberskin head will produce a darker sound like the old vellum, a sound very desirable for some types of banjo playing, most important of all, it will not let you down.

Finally here's a little tip regarding the banjo bridge which I picked up from AP Sharp many years ago. The bridge is crucial to the sound of the banjo and you should choose a bridge with the density that suits your style of playing. Look at the end of the bridge, the more lines in the wood the denser it will be. These lines in the wood show the yearly growth rings of the tree. A dense bridge is hard and will give your instrument more treble. On the other hand a less dense bridge will give your instrument a mellow sound. It is all a matter of personal taste. As a solo banjoist I go for a more mellow sound. However, if I were to play in a jazz band I would change my bridge for a denser one knowing my instrument would be heard loud and clear through the brass and reed players. Happy banjoing one and all.

Clem Vickery. 2008.