New bridge Reily Baker banjo 1890

[Cana Rochbell]

Really loved that old tiny bridge but it was producing a mute tone on the first string due to how wide the string slots were. Gap under the bridge, top wasn't level. Quite a few issues but it felt great. Action was perfect, string spacing perfect for me, height of bridge felt great too, even though its a fraction of the height of modern bridges. So I just bought a cheap two leg bridge, was farr too tall, so I cut the legs off to get it nearer the size I wanted. Sanded down the top with a fretlevel until I could carve new string slots, sanded what was left of the legs down so it wasn't sharp. Gained a tiny tiny bit of height but it increased the volume and removed that unwanted muted tone from the first string.

have a listen to the new bridge here

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4SR5H0M6tMo ;

Using martin strings with a nylon 3rd string at the moment. Tried Clifford Essex regular zitherbanjo strings on this banjo and they sounded quite bad.So I went back to martin strings, but I left the 3rd string nylon from that clifford essex set for the moment to see how I like it.
Before trimming and after

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4SR5H0M6tMo