"Greetings Kind Sir of the Magnificent First Moniker! Thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply. My technical prowess is close to zilch, alas, and I am unable to get sufficient magnification on the zither-banjo neck to make much…"
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Zither: no tunnel
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Hello folks. I have acquired a zither banjo with a 5 peg headstock and no tunnel. There's a pip on the 5th fret but it's not clear to me how the 5th should travel beyond that. The nut is only 4…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Malachy Robinson Oct 29, 2023.
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"Hi Jake, thank you for the interest!
My profile pic is not the banjo in question (that's my lovely Canadian 12" openback). I only posted a picture of the neck of this zither one. It's currently having its back reattached, but it…"
"Hi Jake, thank you for the interest!
My profile pic is not the banjo in question (that's my lovely Canadian 12" openback). I only posted a picture of the neck of this zither one. It's currently having its back reattached, but it…"
"Firstly, this is NOT a zither-banjo! At least not as far as I can see from the photo. A zither-banjo has a unique type of pot and a unique way of suspending the drum from the wooden surround. For details see A P Sharpe.
However, I…"
"Thank you! This is what I found, and it seems like a good solution for me, (although in the absence of the second side-pip I don't know how my one originally worked!)"
"There was a banjo maker in Glasgow called Buchanan who made 5 stringed banjos without a 'tunnel' for the 5th string but which connected with a peg in the head. The 5th string went over a pip in the fingerboard and then followed a groove in…"
"Hi Malachy, the fitting on the side of the neck that takes the 5th string is a very small eyelet through which the string is threaded. You may have problems finding one so small but it would be possible to make one from light gauge…"
"Thank you! I still don't understand how my one was supposed to work, but maybe I'll add a second side pip like this "
"I've owned this banjo for many years, and have been unable to find the maker but as you can see from the picture, it has the 5th. string running along side the arm"
Zither: no tunnel
Hello folks. I have acquired a zither banjo with a 5 peg headstock and no tunnel. There's a pip on the 5th fret but it's not clear to me how the 5th should travel beyond that. The nut is only 4 strings: does the 5th just run alongside the neck after the pip? Has anyone seen this type of neck? (It's needing repair of course, the back is off, strings and bridge gone, but neck seems original and non-slotted headstock and tuners look like Windsor) Thank you!
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Comment Wall (3 comments)
- At 14:00 on November 5, 2023,
Jake Glanville said…
Firstly, this is NOT a zither-banjo! At least not as far as I can see from the photo. A zither-banjo has a unique type of pot and a unique way of suspending the drum from the wooden surround. For details see A P Sharpe.
However, I have seen a zither-banjo without the 5th string tunnel with the peg at the 5th fret like an American open-back, so they are not completely unknown.
Thanks, Malachy for mentioning it, and the interesting details of your banjo.
All the Best,
BJ.
- At 22:00 on November 5, 2023,
Malachy Robinson said…
Hi Jake, thank you for the interest!
My profile pic is not the banjo in question (that's my lovely Canadian 12" openback). I only posted a picture of the neck of this zither one. It's currently having its back reattached, but it certainly has the structure you refer to. Until it's repaired, I won't know what it sounds like but I'm intrigued.
I suspect it may have been strung as a 4-string, and the pip and 5th fret left unemployed. It shows lots of signs of having been played, which is promising. In order to use the 5th string I will need to add a side-pip (my term: surely there's a proper term for the guide that brings the 5th around the side of the neck?) or add a 5th-fret peg, as you suggest.
yours in banjo, Malachy
- At 20:34 on November 7, 2023,
Greetings Kind Sir of the Magnificent First Moniker! Thank you for taking the time and trouble to reply. My technical prowess is close to zilch, alas, and I am unable to get sufficient magnification on the zither-banjo neck to make much comment. My apologies for not realising that the banjo illustrated is not the one under discussion.
What I can tell you is this. During the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's the five-string banjo went a bit out of fashion and in came the tenor banjo (4-strings) and the plectrum 'G' banjo (basically a 5-string -same scale, but 4 strings) specially for traditional jazz and dance (in Britain, at any rate). Many standard 5-string banjos were converted to the 4-string 'G'. You'll often see them with the normal 5th string peg at the 5th fret removed as well as the 'pip', and the hole for the peg blocked off. With a zither-banjo you just used one less string, and the 'pip' (it's usually called that, or you can call it the 5th string 'nut' if you want) removed as well as the string.
I've seen quite a few ZB's where the finger-board was obviously made to accommodate a 5th string peg which never got fitted.
My superb long-neck (25 fret) open-back bespoke banjo made in Barnsley, Yorkshire, has a 5th string going the full length of the finger-board to the tuning key on the headstock, but does not go over any frets beyond the 5th. At the 5th it is stopped by a railroad spike. Crude, but effective. All we've been talking about here, is basically different ways of installing the 5th string, if you want one.
If you do you'll need that 'pip'. Otherwise you're liable to break the string and wear a groove in the fingerboard. On a ZB there should be a little hole on the fingerboard at the 5th fret. If there isn't, it's probably been filled in.
Good luck with your banjoing!
All the Best,
Black Jake.
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