Dallas B Banjolele repairs

[ozziebluesman]

Hello to you all. This Dallas B Banjolele was given to me as a project. It had been subjected to a flood in western Queensland Australia. Apart from a few issues it is in good condition even the head looks ok. Here the pics of the repairs so far and it is almost ready to put back together and setup. The neck needs a reset so that will be next. The instrument fingerboard was a ebony laminate and having been lying in water for sometime is had all curled concave. I think someone had been playing it till the action became almost impossible to play.

So a new fingerboard was my solution and the old one was removed with a fingerboard heat blanket. The nut and dots had been well glued in so drilling them out was the only option. I had a cupped side of Indonesian Ebony that was ideal for a replacement. So it was cut to fingerboard coping the old ones dimensions. I have a Stewmac fingerboard slotting system that works very well. So the neck is ready, fingerboard and fret ends dealt with.

The pics tell the story, if you have any questions please ask.

I hope you enjoy the post.

Cheers

Alan

 

[sequoia]

Somebody obviously played this instrument at one time a LOT. Good to see it brought back to life.

 

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks for your reply sequoia, I reckon it has been played till the action was very high. I will be happy if I can get it to sing once again. Cheers Alan

 

[Timbuck]

I once fitted a new replacement fretboard to one of those , it was only .060“ inch thick I remember.

 

[ozziebluesman]

Yes this fingerboard was the same, very thin. The new fingerboard is 3mm thick. Now to setup the neck angle and make a bridge. Cheers Timbuck and thanks for your interest. Alan