Zither Banjo Project

[Nathanael Hayes]

Hi everyone,

Happy to be here! Member Ian Salter referred me to classic-banjo.ning after a post I made over at BHO sharing some photos and details from a humble repair project I did on a W.E. Temlett Apollo ZB over the weekend, after it had been deconstructed and was languishing in my closet for quite a few months.

I'll post the pictures of some of its damage/defects first and see if I can compress the full-size photos of the completed zb to post after.

From BHO:

I mounted the skin head, cleaned the fretboard and neck, polished frets, hardware, tuners, etc. and put on new strings and bridge, both from Clifford Essex--in short, everything within my (limited) skillset! Need a luthier to slot a new nut with proper string widths, and maybe sand down the holes for the tuners as they seem a bit too snug in the headstock, creaking and generally being hard too turn. Other than that, I've had the pleasure of plucking a little bit on it over the weekend to celebrate the successful project. See photos for more issues that may or may not need addressing in the future...

[Nathanael Hayes]

And here's the full banjo and photo of its pot and new goatskin head, showing the new bridge and strings--cheers, Clifford Essex! Lost two screws along the way, which explains why two of the brackets are missing. Hope to find some suitable replacements in the future to affix them to the resonator, but at the moment it doesn't seem to affect tone or playability; in fact, I have them arranged so that the two missing spot are where my forearm lays on the rim of the resonator, so I don't have any brackets rubbing up against me.

While I'm at it, a question about those brackets: about 80% of them aren't actually affixed to the head assembly, instead resting beneath it like a series of platforms. I don't know if they're just "dummy" replicas of the brackets that actually screw to the underside of the head assembly, or if they actually serve a functional/structural purpose aside from making the zb look pretty. To my mind, I worry that this loose metal-on-metal contact between them and the head assembly will produce some unpleasant buzzes. Would love to hear peoples' thoughts on that, and general zb thoughts and advice, thanks for reading!

[IAN SALTER]

Hi Nathanael,

Tell me the width of the nut and if it is the same, or close to that on my Apollo N°1, I'll send you the measurements and maybe you could cut some slots and get a better spacing.

Ian.

[Jake Glanville]

Hi Nathanael,

Should have replied to this a year ago!  First let my thank you for the pictures.  I love seeing pictures of other people's banjos, especially if they're the zither type.

I note in your first picture you've got the 5th string running down the side of the screw which is pretending to be a 'pip' or 5th string nut.  The string is supposed to be in the groove!  I suspect the original 'pip' has got lost as it should be bone.

I have a number of W E Temlett banjos including a No.6A Apollo.  What to me seems a bit odd about mine is that W E Temlett, son of William Temlett Snr, is supposed to have eschewed fancy  Mother-of-Pearl inlay.  Yet mine is as richly inlaid as anything produced by his father.  Maybe it is the banjo that caused father and son to split up!

I'm not sure of the grading system used by Temlett Jnr.  I  have seen an Apollo No.1 which was very plain and basic, but my No.6A  is finished to a very high standard all round.  Maybe some of the experts on Classic Banjo Ning might be able to help.

Hope you still have your Apollo and still enjoying playing it.

All the Best,

Jake.