Banjo Uke in a Case

Regardless of how loose or tight a banjo or banjo uke is in its case. The bridge is bound to come in contact with the lid of the case, and that will apply pressure to the head. Do you flip the bridge down when you put the instrument into the case? A couple of pencil marks on the head make it easy to position the bridge correctly. I don't know if doing this is worth the effort, but I figure better safe than sorry.

I just checked my Tenor Banjo in a standard hardcase. The tailpiece on this is about 1/4 inch higher than the bridge so will hold the lid pressure. Whether this is by accident or design, I don't know. I also have an open back TB which lives in a padded gig bag with no adverse affects. Having said that, I tend to be pretty careful with all instruments.
Here's a photo of a case I built a few years ago for my Banjo uke I anticipated the problem and cut the lid padding as shown.
You could make a couple of pads, cover in fabric and attach to the lid with stick-on hook and loop tape, or hand stiching.

Hope this helps,
Vintage

VintageGibson said:

I just checked my Tenor Banjo in a standard hardcase. The tailpiece on this is about 1/4 inch higher than the bridge so will hold the lid pressure. Whether this is by accident or design, I don't know. I also have an open back TB which lives in a padded gig bag with no adverse affects. Having said that, I tend to be pretty careful with all instruments.
Here's a photo of a case I built a few years ago for my Banjo uke View attachment 124444 I anticipated the problem and cut the lid padding as shown.
You could make a couple of pads, cover in fabric and attach to the lid with stick-on hook and loop tape, or hand stiching.

Hope this helps,
Vintage

Click to expand...

Nice case and nice uke.

Thinking about that type of pressure on the head is why I quit using a gig bag and found a hard mandolin case for my banjo uke. So far if I'm just driving to a local jam I haven't worried about the banjo uke flopping over inside the case while carrying it and leave the bridge up, but I do make a point of laying it down head-up while in the back of my van. I find laying the bridge down to be a pain, so I do don't typically do it. But if I were flying with the uke or taking a longer trip I would.

The best solution would be to modify the case as VintageGibson above did, by adding some foam over the pot at the sides that leaves the bridge free but holds the side of the pot firmly in place. (I really should get around to that.)

I got a mandolin case as well, but I flip the bridge down anyway. Since I have teeny, tinny pencil marks, it's easy to flip back up and it a really quick tune.

After reading this thread I finally got around to adding the foam to protect the bridge. A little home made looking perhaps, but it holds the banjo uke tightly with no pressure on the head or bridge.

I never really thought about this — silly me.
Of course, mine doesn’t travel that much. However..... I’m going to make some padding to protect it

Besley
Who cares what it looks like if it works.
I got the idea from the case for my archtop electric guitar, it has the padding under the lid lining.

Vintage

besley said:

After reading this thread I finally got around to adding the foam to protect the bridge. A little home made looking perhaps, but it holds the banjo uke tightly with no pressure on the head or bridge.

Click to expand...

That looks good. Something to think about.