hello there,
i searched in the discussions and could not find if anyone posted a question like that...so, i am ever so sorry if there is.
I bought a lovely old bacon banjo, but the tuning pegs are a bit stiff and of course still 1:1 tuners.
I would like to replace them with planetary geared ones. But i cannot find any place on the net where i can get them in the diameter i need. i am getting quite desperate - so i am not worried about if they are 4:1 or 8:1. they seem nearly impossible to find.
does anybody know where to get 7/32 planetary geared banjo tuning pegs?
I had exactly the same problem - I acquired a Bacon Peerless which had old Waverly geared (2:1) tuners, but these went through a very narrow hole, and were a bit rickety (tuning slipped, gears a bit out of alignment. So I decided to replace them with the 4:1 planetary Waverley tuners from the StewMac catalogue "handmade in Bozeman Montana" - cost almost as much as the banjo. These need 3/8" holes, and I redrilled the holes - this is what you are NOT supposed to do! The correct way I believe is to widen the holes carefully with a reamer, because a drill can tear into the wood and cause damage. My banjo is not in very good cosmetic condition anyway so no harm done, and the tuners have been installed for a while now and they are brilliant - worth every penny. I wouldn't use a drill in future though, but I think if you want to keep the narrow holes you have to look for newer friction pegs and they can be a pain - they became obsolete because they don't do the job. I think you should get top quality new planetaries installed, and you won't regret it (unless the banjo is really valuable and has to be kept absolutely original). Hope you get it sorted!
I think Tony Sullivan (Sully) still does AMD 7/32 "antique" style planetary tuners - I certainly bought some AMDs from him a few years ago to fit to an old banjo and they did the job fine. Give him a call or look at his website.
This raises the interesting point about whether you should keep an old and valued instrument 'original' or bring it up to a 'modern' and playable standard.
It's certainly worth while trying to find machines that will fit in the holes provided, and to keep the original tuners to hand for if you ever sell it on, to maintain the potential 'original' value.
On the other hand, to me as a musician, an 'original' but unplayable instrument is little more than a museum piece. Make it playable by whatever means possible might be my alternative response.
7/32 tenor banjo pegs
7/32 tenor banjo pegs
hello there,
i searched in the discussions and could not find if anyone posted a question like that...so, i am ever so sorry if there is.
I bought a lovely old bacon banjo, but the tuning pegs are a bit stiff and of course still 1:1 tuners.
I would like to replace them with planetary geared ones. But i cannot find any place on the net where i can get them in the diameter i need. i am getting quite desperate - so i am not worried about if they are 4:1 or 8:1. they seem nearly impossible to find.
does anybody know where to get 7/32 planetary geared banjo tuning pegs?
# Posted on December 9th 2007 by rollingwaves
Re: 7/32 tenor banjo pegs
You really need to take this conversation to the banjohangout. Here (http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101589) is a thread on the same subject.
Mike Keyes
htttp://www.banjosessions.com
# Posted on December 9th 2007 by mikeyes
Re: 7/32 tenor banjo pegs
I had exactly the same problem - I acquired a Bacon Peerless which had old Waverly geared (2:1) tuners, but these went through a very narrow hole, and were a bit rickety (tuning slipped, gears a bit out of alignment. So I decided to replace them with the 4:1 planetary Waverley tuners from the StewMac catalogue "handmade in Bozeman Montana" - cost almost as much as the banjo. These need 3/8" holes, and I redrilled the holes - this is what you are NOT supposed to do! The correct way I believe is to widen the holes carefully with a reamer, because a drill can tear into the wood and cause damage. My banjo is not in very good cosmetic condition anyway so no harm done, and the tuners have been installed for a while now and they are brilliant - worth every penny. I wouldn't use a drill in future though, but I think if you want to keep the narrow holes you have to look for newer friction pegs and they can be a pain - they became obsolete because they don't do the job. I think you should get top quality new planetaries installed, and you won't regret it (unless the banjo is really valuable and has to be kept absolutely original). Hope you get it sorted!
# Posted on December 9th 2007 by RichardB
Re: 7/32 tenor banjo pegs
I think Tony Sullivan (Sully) still does AMD 7/32 "antique" style planetary tuners - I certainly bought some AMDs from him a few years ago to fit to an old banjo and they did the job fine. Give him a call or look at his website.
# Posted on December 9th 2007 by millionyears_bc
Re: 7/32 tenor banjo pegs
This raises the interesting point about whether you should keep an old and valued instrument 'original' or bring it up to a 'modern' and playable standard.
It's certainly worth while trying to find machines that will fit in the holes provided, and to keep the original tuners to hand for if you ever sell it on, to maintain the potential 'original' value.
On the other hand, to me as a musician, an 'original' but unplayable instrument is little more than a museum piece. Make it playable by whatever means possible might be my alternative response.
# Posted on December 12th 2007 by Guernsey Pete