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I’ve put together the mountain banjo but I’m having some trouble with tuning particularly with the thumb string. I try to tune it up to G but as I tighten the string the peg will sometimes flip back and I have to really pull to get it into G.
I also am noticing some action when I play with the bottom four strings – I’m wondering if the nut is too high; however, its already glued in there (and I made sure it was put all the way into the slot). Is there a way to adjust the nut height or should I adjust the height of the bridge?
Hello ejones1 and thank you for posting on the forum!
I’m sure we can get your mountain banjo playing properly. Let’s see what we can do.
The fifth peg will be easy to address. It’s a tapered peg, so as you turn it you must push it into the neck to lock it in place. The more you push it in, the harder it will be to turn. There is a very slight possibility that the peg is bottoming out in the hole. This is unlikely but you would feel it if it is the case. The easiest way to correct it would be cutting about a quarter inch off the end of the peg. And another thing that could be causing a little difficulty with tuning- I recommend tuning these banjos 2-3 steps below standard G. The strings are better suited to lower tensions. If you want to do g tuning I recommend upgrading to a set of nylgut banjo strings.
Okay, so action. Action is defined as the height the string rests above the playing surface. It can be high or low and it could be high/low at the nut specifically or high/low at the bridge specifically.
Could you tell me precisely what you mean by action?
If you want to lower the action at the nut you can lower the string slots carefully with a folded piece of 320 sandpaper. Raising the action on the mountain banjo is a little more involved but I can explain that also if needed.Thank you for the advice! I will try the tuning recommendations you have and check the thumb string tuning peg.
In regards to action – I meant that the action (I believe) is too high. When I play there seems to be a lingering buzzing sound that muddles the melody notes. However, I’m not sure exactly how to diagnose if it is high at the nut or the bridge. I suspected the nut but while inspecting it, it looks like it might be higher towards the bridge (at the 10th/12th fret area).
Your description makes me think that you might be experiencing high action at the bridge and/or string buzz at the bridge. The best way to lower action at the bridge on the mountain kit is to simply use a shorter bridge. Please email me your address and I’ll send a shorter bridge. Carverbanjos@gmail.com
The muddled notes makes me think you might have a separate issue with a string buzz at the bridge slots. This can happen from a flat spot in the bridge slot, and has a sitar like buzz effect. You can test this by slightly tilting the bridge back or forward so the string is in contact with as little of the bridge slot as possible. You can fix this permanently by angling the slot with a folded piece of sandpaper. Make the slot have the high side towards the peghead of the banjo and the low side towards the tail.
Hope this helps, without seeing it all in person it’s hard for me to say exactly what the cause of the problem is but this is my best guess.
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