My next banjo...is here!

[Trapdoor2]

Heh, heh. I snagged another Stewart.

 

The new child is an "American Princess". She needs a bit of a bath and brush up but is otherwise in pretty much unplayed shape. She is missing three tuners, a nut, two hooks and her ebony wedges...and her poor ol' punkin' haid be split, but her neck is sexy and shiny and her frets appear unmarked by strings. She's got no significant defects and she still wears her original "common sense" tailpiece.

 

I've kept an eye out for one of these little gems for some time. Originally I wanted one to use as an "A Scale" clawhammer instrument. That idea went away years ago...so I decided to just wait until the right one fell outta the sky (well, out of ebay).

 

I'll post pix when I get her back in the pink. These smaller Stewarts are usually louder than one expects...I'm looking forward to hearing her voice!

[Adam]

Hey, congrats on your new baby! Looking forward to seeing pics!

I'm glad I wasn't bidding on that 'jo ... I've learned not to go up against Marc in an ebay auction! :)

[Trapdoor2]

Repairs...yeah. Here's a few pix of my "repair shop" and the new child getting a cleanup (sorry for the pitiful pix, my cellphone is last year's model). She's in excellent condition for her age (1893-94). She's sort of a plain-brown-wrapper, the kind Stewart himself liked. Simple star in the peghead, simple diamond shapes for markers. 10" pot and 24 1/4" scale.

The pot cleaned up quite nicely and can be seen glimmering on my kitchen table. I just finished polishing the tension hoop and will start on the brackets and hardware next (when my hands stop cramping up). As you can see, her lovely neck is marked by a naughty blemish (knot) but it doesn't seem to have led to any problems.

I'm probably going to put some Grover "Champion" tuning pegs on her, there were two old ones still hanging on when she arrived, so they'll do nicely.

Not sure if I'll put her original tailpiece on, she really begs for one with a rosette. Last time I checked, Wyatt Fawley was no longer producing rosette copies. That reminds me, I need to buy a couple of nice bridges...

[Adam]

Nice Marc. What do you use to clean up the wood?

I see you use simichrome on the metal, which is what I use, too. Have you read Carl's post on "Banjo Maintenance" and the use of Putz Pommade? Ever tried Putz? (Boy, it's an unfortunate name!)

I've never fully disassembled an older banjo (when I had a Goodtime it was in pieces quite often!) so I have a possibly silly question: how does one go about removing the wooden wedge that goes thru the dowel, inside the pot? They always look they want to removed from the skin side, so I assume I'd have to take the head off first.

Will be interested in seeing more pics of your restoration, should you be inclined to post more.

Thanks!
Adam

[Trapdoor2]

Hi Adam,

Yes, I spent the morning trying to find my tube of Simichrome and then had to go buy some. I couldn't find any so I bought a small tub of "Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish"...which works even better than the Simichrome (which I eventually found). I've never tried the "Putz Pommade" but am going to order a can...if for nothing but the humor in the name...akin to the tube of this I keep on my shelf at work http://www.buttpaste.com/BLButtPaste.php I hand it to whiners. ;-) UK translation: whingers.

For the wood, since the original finish was in such good shape, I used just a cloth dampened with Windex (the spray bottle on the table). I barely moistened the cloth and gently wiped her down. Other finishes might require oil or simply soap & water. It depends (and I always try in a small unobtrusive spot first). She will need a very light fret job (she had the remmnants of wire strings on her tailpiece), so I'll wait until after that to re-oil the fretboard (I use natural lemon oil, the furniture shop stuff is usually just a petroleum-based oil scented with lemon).

Yes, if the banjo has a wooden thru-wedge, you'll need to remove the head. This lady's head was already broken...and she's a Stewart, so no thru-wedge (her original wedges were gone anyway). I'll make new ones but with the removable Stewart wedge-thingy (what is that thing called anyway?), it usually isn't a problem getting them in and out without disturbing the head.

I got about a half dozen of the hooks and brackets polished before my hands gave up. I'll do another half-dozen this evening and then finish the rest tomorrow. Tedious and cramped work...I can't wait to get my workshop back functional again so I can get the electric buffer out!

[Joel Hooks]

The Putz looks like liquid sandpaper, might remove more plating and metal than it polishes. Brasso is just as bad.

Adam, the Stewart clad rims are nickel plate over German silver, if you are not careful, you can polish right through the plating.

Those Grover champion pegs work just fine, the older ones were direct replacements for tapered holes, no reaming required. I have set of the new ones to keep on hand, just in case, that I put my calipers to. Looks like they may be just the same.

Flute and fife turners suggest almond oil, found at Whole Foods or the like.

So are we gonna see her next week?

[Trapdoor2]

No, she won't be ready by next week. Finding my tools and ebony stash for a new nut is probably the worst issue. I ordered a couple of blanks from Stew-Mac but until I find my nut-files (or any files) she'll just have to wait.

You still need me to bring an extra banjo, right Joel? I have three set up and ready to go: my Flesher, the Stewart Orchestra #3 and a Vega Special #2. I'm planning on bringing them all anyway...and the Ashborn, of course.

I also gained another child tonight. My buddy from Nashville brought me a Gold Tone OT-6 "on approval". This is a 14" pot, open-back, 6-string but strung as a 5-string with an extra bass.

http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/373/OT-6

It is huge and I don't really know what I'm going to do with it...maybe restring it as a Cello-Banjo?