oldetymey
Well-known member
Had my eye on a soprano banjo uke at the local junk shop here awhile back. It appeared to need alot of work, and at 125 bucks seemed to be a little pricey for a no name fixer upper. I ended up passing on it, and it sold eventually. I figured it wasnt meant to be, and forgot about it. So yesterday Im at my folks for thanksgiving, and go figure an older friend of the family who heard about my uke playing is there and presents me with another soprano banjo uke! It is also in rough shape, Ive had it out in my shop, and cleaned all the rust off the hooks, and shined up all the chrome. It has no name on the headstock, and the finish is flaking off it. I put a spare set of aquilas on it and Im waiting for it to stretch in. the bridge will need replaced, and I think the head is original and very very old, but appears to be in good shape. This wasnt a gift however, he said I could test drive it, see if it was worth my time, and if I kept it hed like 75 bucks for it. Considering the poor condition of the one I saw for 125, Id say thats a fair price, this is at least playable. The sound though is pretty poor. and Im wondering if I messed something up head tension-wise taking it apart to clean the hardware, or if the ancient head is to blame, or it just is what it is as an old cheapo uke.......any thought on proper adjustment of a banjo uke would be appreciated. Ive placed the bridge where it would be on my regular soprano uke, and the tuning sounds good, but the banjo has more frets 17 to be exact, while being the same overall length as my regular uke....is that normal? no experience with a banjo uke at all as you can tell. I can say it sounds better muted (with a sock rolled up between the back of the head and the bar in back) then unmuted which sounds......uncontrolled, harsh, and echoey...with intonation issues in some spots... would be the best way to describe it....could this be a string choice factor as well? Thanks!