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***The contents of these pages are for information only.  If you choose to follow any of the steps contained within these pages you do so at your own risk. ***


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Luthier Page

These are many banjo building, repair and useful maintenance tips that I think you may love to read.  Some are getting a little dated but all were a labor of love for me.  Not all of them are aimed toward the banjo, as I have many articles of interest to the person building and repairing guitars and mandolins as well.

 

Dotson A-5 model Mandolin

Installing Railroad Spikes

 

Relocating a 5th String Nut

The first Dotson F-5 Mandolin

 

Neck Notch Surgery

Filling Dings in a Banjo Finish   

 

Basic Binding Installation  

Installing Side Dots

 

Truss Rod Installation

Refretting a Banjo

 

Banjo Anatomy and Assembly 

Filling fingerboard chips

 

Shaping and drilling a Peghead

Strap Buttons on a Banjo are a Bad Idea

 

Left Handed 5th string Peg

Beware of Metal Side Dots

 

How to ship a banjo

Changing a Skin Banjo Head

 

How NOT to ship an instrument  

Changing a Plastic Banjo Head

 

Installing Binding on a Resonator

Building Banjo Bridges

Restoration of an old Tenor Banjo  

Correcting and setting up Nut Action 

Restoring an old 5-String Banjo Cutting a Nut Seat in a Newly Constructed Banjo 
Trimming a Banjo Fingerboard after Installation   Installing a Fishman Pickup in your Guitar
Removal and replacement of a 5th string tuner Gibson Style Binding Installation  
Retrofitting Inlay (inlaying an existing headstock)  Properly Fitting a Tone Ring to a Wood Rim
Setting the Bridge at the proper location Properly Changing Strings
Banjo Heel Shaping Tip Leveling, Crowning and Polishing frets
Rose Inlay Installation  Listen to how Resonators sound when you Ping them
Removing a tone ring that is too tight Sunburst Finishing
Missing Inlay Replacement on an old S.S. Stewart Banjo Binding a Banjo Headstock
Fitting a new banjo neck to a one-piece pot by hand Replacing a Friction Peg with a Geared one  
Listen to how Tone Rings sound when you Ping them  Artificially Aging Replacement Tuning Buttons
 

Which Banjo is a Pre-War and which  is a Reproduction?

Mastertone Pearl Block Refurbishment

  Bringing a MASTERTONE block back from the dead