Good original example
Paintings and gravings are good
Mute is functional
3 orig tuners, rough... with one friction, will be replaced, customer furnished Gotoh's
Makers mark
Neck has solid steel bar truss from factory proven by wooden plug over the laminate as well as weight.
Friction tuner eroded celluloid, I will fill and hide with new tuner body
Celluloid shrinkage on binding is normal, and frets are sticking thru it.
Will seal fret blocks which are always loose from the fingerboard.
Fret Work
Installing #147 wire, and will seal with #10 cyano
Fingerboard shows normal cupping and glue will seal the irregular areas.
Repairing tuner hole damage
#20 white
Kicker
Dowel with wax paper as a release mechanism
After it hardens I will pull dowel and flatten it
A good repair, all hidden under tuner body so it needs no matching
I will wet sand the yellowing from the rest and it will all be more uniform.
Front overlay sealed and cleaned/buffed/waxed
Finish stripped, celluloid's sealed
I will scrape the yellowed lacquer from the heel cap so it also is white again, leaving all the colored areas original
Taking on clear coats
Frets leveled
Crowned
End dressing
Side smoothing
Fine paper then I will hit them with the fret polishing wheel
Resonator back
The few hairline cracks that it had in the celluloid I sealed up before removing the yellowed finish that was on it.
Now I am showing 3 procedures,
Fine wet sanding with 800 grit so as not to lose lines, but get it cleaned up
Cleaning out the concentrics with my scribe so that they can take on new blacking.
Rubbing in the blacking.
After a light wet sanding with 1200 grit on everything but the lines., ready to buff.
Buffed back to a high shine and waxed
ASSEMBLY
Gotoh's turn freely, I like these tuners
Mute adjusted
SETUP
DR Strings and REMO head furnished by www.bedfordbanjoshop.com
Banjo plays well with good tone and action
Mute actuates properly.
Ready for final adjustments if needed,, when customer arrives.
FINAL PICS
Thanks for watching
Vinnie