Banjo-care and feeding

[RBSinTo]

Just for something pleasurable and theraputic to do, I just bought my third musical instrument kit, a five string banjo, which I'll soon begin to finish and assemble.
I've never played one before, and know virtually nothing about them, so please excuse my ignorance.
While I will undoubtedly have more questions as I go, to start off, I'd like to know if I should keep a humidifier in the kit until I assemble it, and then inside the case or bag afterward?
Please and thanks,
RBSinTo

 

[Opsimath]

Sounds like fun! I know nothing about them either except that there are two under the bed from back in the 70's or 80's when husband briefly waded into banjo territory by taking lessons for a while. At least one of them is quite heavy.

Sorry I can't enlighten you with any banjo wisdom.

Good luck with your kit. I hope you enjoy building it as much as learning to play.

 

[RBSinTo]

Cynthia,
Thanks for your kind wishes.
I was hoping someone here could enlighten me regarding my question, but after about 50-odd views and no replies, I decided to try another site, and sure enough, got some useful advice elsewhere.
Truly surprised that there aren't any Banjo players among the Guildsters.
RBSinTo

 

[adorshki]

Cynthia,
Thanks for your kind wishes.
I was hoping someone here could enlighten me regarding my question, but after about 50-odd views and no replies, I decided to try another site, and sure enough, got some useful advice elsewhere.
Truly surprised that there aren't any Banjo players among the Guildsters.
RBSinTo

You just didn't give it enough time. The 4th was only 12 days ago.

 

[HeyMikey]

Sounds like a fun project. I know zip about banjos so can’t help you, but am looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Good luck!

 

[RBSinTo]

You just didn't give it enough time. The 4th was only 12 days ago.

adorshki,
I appreciate the sarcasm.
51 views in 11 days before today, and no replies until Cynthia's today, is more than long enough to lose patience, and assume that no help is forthcoming from the Guildsters.
We're talking via email here, not through letters sent via the post office, so I expected a reply long before today.
Hell, even FrannyBollocks didn't bother to give me 19 paragraphs on the Thermodynamics of Banjo design and the Physiology of finger-picking without actually answering my question.
RBSinTo

 

[RBSinTo]

Sounds like a fun project. I know zip about banjos so can’t help you, but am looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Good luck!

HeyMikey,
I'm assembling it just for fun. If I learn to play it when finished, it will be a bonus.
RBSinTo

 

[adorshki]

adorshki,
I appreciate the sarcasm.
51 views in 11 days before today, and no replies until Cynthia's today, is more than long enough to lose patience, and assume that no help is forthcoming from the Guildsters.
We're talking via email here, not through letters sent via the post office, so I expected a reply long before today.
Hell, even FrannyBollocks didn't bother to give me 19 paragraphs on the Thermodynamics of Banjo design and the Physiology of finger-picking without actually answering my question.
RBSinTo

I wouldn't think humidifying the kit would do any harm, and it's standard procedure anytime repair is needed, to ensure the wood is as close to original design dimensions as possible.

Not sure if it be an "assembly fitment" issue for banjos although neck straightness would certainly be an important spec to check and preserve. 'Hog is supposed to be a very dimensionally stable wood across a wide range of humidity, if the body's 'hog.

Oh yeah, I missed this myself until Cynthia effectively "bumped" it, so it might have simply gotten buried. Otherwise, yeah 50 views no reply probably tells a story.

 

[fronobulax]

adorshki,
I appreciate the sarcasm.
51 views in 11 days before today, and no replies until Cynthia's today, is more than long enough to lose patience, and assume that no help is forthcoming from the Guildsters.
We're talking via email here, not through letters sent via the post office, so I expected a reply long before today.
Hell, even FrannyBollocks didn't bother to give me 19 paragraphs on the Thermodynamics of Banjo design and the Physiology of finger-picking without actually answering my question.
RBSinTo

Sometimes when I have nothing to say I actually say nothing.

You should share the answer you got elsewhere.

If I thought my opinion would be useful I would ask about the humidity in your planned storage area. If the "ambient" humidity was between 30% and 70% then I would not worry about the kit until it was time to actually build it. At that point I would make sure the wood was properly humidified just so that parts that were supposed to fit actually would.

Most of what I know about wood, humidity and building comes from LTG although I do have a friend who was once a cooper and has some stories about what he did to make barrels that were watertight without needing caulk or any other substances between the staves.

 

[RBSinTo]

Sometimes when I have nothing to say I actually say nothing.

You should share the answer you got elsewhere.

If I thought my opinion would be useful I would ask about the humidity in your planned storage area. If the "ambient" humidity was between 30% and 70% then I would not worry about the kit until it was time to actually build it. At that point I would make sure the wood was properly humidified just so that parts that were supposed to fit actually would.

Most of what I know about wood, humidity and building comes from LTG although I do have a friend who was once a cooper and has some stories about what he did to make barrels that were watertight without needing caulk or any other substances between the staves.

Franny,
And often you don't.
I was advised that because my inexpensive assembly kit instrument doesn't have a membrane of material that would be affected by changes in humidity, my only concern would be the condition of the wood portions of the Banjo, and humidifying them both before and after finishing would be wise. My guitars cases have Oasis humidifiers which keep the humifity between about 45 and 55% (which is optimal) and I am keeping one in the kit carton which will go into whatever I store the Banjo in after assembly.
RBSinTo

 

[Maguchi]

 

[Bill Ashton]

While I know very little about banjos, I have played alongside several...at a bluegrass or old time jams, the tunes are kept in one key as long as possible so the banjo does not have to retune. Apparently, every time they retune, it changes the tension on the top/bridge (makes sense) and it becomes a rather protracted process...agreed having witnessed it!

OK, that said, it would seem that atmospheric humidity would also effect the neck and the head. I would suggest humidifying, not unlike we do for guitar...when the heat turns off, you can take the humidifying devices out of the case...when the heat goes on, put the humidifying devices back in the case.

Climate change and the awful heat in the South, notwithstanding...

@RBSinTo , Oasis humidifiers are also my choice, must have a dozen of them (in plastic bags right now)

BTW, can ya do something about that smoke?

 

[RBSinTo]

While I know very little about banjos, I have played alongside several...at a bluegrass or old time jams, the tunes are kept in one key as long as possible so the banjo does not have to retune. Apparently, every time they retune, it changes the tension on the top/bridge (makes sense) and it becomes a rather protracted process...agreed having witnessed it!

OK, that said, it would seem that atmospheric humidity would also effect the neck and the head. I would suggest humidifying, not unlike we do for guitar...when the heat turns off, you can take the humidifying devices out of the case...when the heat goes on, put the humidifying devices back in the case.

Climate change and the awful heat in the South, notwithstanding...

@RBSinTo , Oasis humidifiers are also my choice, must have a dozen of them (in plastic bags right now)

BTW, can ya do something about that smoke?

Bill,
Thanks for reminding me about the smoke.
I'll have it looked after.
RBSinTo

 

[wileypickett]

Heads are only affected by humidity if they're made of animal skin -- calfskin, or goatskin, or what-have-you. Synthetic heads, which have been in use for ages, are not affected by changes in humidity. Most players, especially bluegrass players, use synthetic heads almost excusively.

Some old-time players swear by the sound of skin heads however, and will deal with all the "headaches" of the effect of humidity changes on intonation for the sake of the sound they're after.

There are dozens of banjo tunings and changing from one to another can be exasperating because the amount of downward pressure the strings exert on the head changes with the tuning, slightly compressing or relaxing the head. Which means that changing the pitch of even one string may require adjusting the other four as well.

I find that I retune to get it in the ballpark, then I retune again to dial it in more closely, and then maybe retune once more just to really nail it down.

My friend Nathan Bowles says tuning the banjo is like chasing your own tail!

 

[RBSinTo]

wileypickett,
My assembly kit is quite inexpensive, and the head is synthetic, so humidity changes won't affect it.
As for tuning the head, I plan on tuning it really well once, and then just welding all the tuning pins, as Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio suggested some years ago.
RBSinTo

 

[wileypickett]

The joke I heard about tensioning the head was: tighten all the nuts till the head splits, and then back 'em off just a hair.

 

[RBSinTo]

The joke I heard about tensioning the head was: tighten all the nuts till the head splits, and then back 'em off just a hair.

wileypickett,
That joke could be modified for use by the Banjoaphobes:
Just play the Banjo long enough 'till the audience has splitting headaches, and then stop playing.
RBSinTo

 

[adorshki]

wileypickett,
That joke could be modified for use by the Banjoaphobes:
Just play the Banjo long enough 'till the audience has splitting headaches, and then stop playing.
RBSinTo

And like the accordion, it's one of the instruments people will willingly pay you not to play.

 

[RBSinTo]

And like the accordion, it's one of the instruments people will willing pay you not to play.

adorshki,
You've obviously never heard Beethoven's Sonata no.6 in G: Duet for Accordian and Bagpipes.
It's killer.
RBSinTo

 

[spoox]

Always looking for an excuse to post this again: