60's kay Banjo

[Johnny R Rowland]

I'm working on a 60's Kay 5 string banjo for a friend,I found you article most helpful,But the part about loosening the neck was'nt clear to me,Did you put a shim in the gap for proper alignment?? Or do I tighten the nut to hold it?? Also,what is the screw for in the heel of the neck?? Thanks..JR..

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Who are you asking this question Johnny? Frank Ford?

[Johnny R Rowland]

Who ever can help..

[Greg Mirken]

The big screw in the heel only holds the bolt that goes from the heel through the rim; it doesn't adjust anything. If you loosen the nut on the inside of the rim, you should be able to move the neck up and down against that aluminum bracket-thing it tightens against. That changes the neck angle. If that doesn't give you enough of a change, you have to remove the neck and that bracket (it's just held on by 2 brads) and make a tapered shim to fit under it.

[Johnny R Rowland]

Thanks very much,Never worked on a banjo..

[Paul Hostetter]

Yours is not a typical banjo, but it's a type, and amazingly, banjos very much like it are still being made in Asia.

[Dave Fox]

Some of their banjos had an aluminum spacer that has a radius to it, which will allow you to adjust the neck angle by sliding the neck up or down. Others are just a flat mount, and those need to be either shimmed or have the heel re-cut if you are not able to adjust the neck enough by vertical positioning. These banjos are much simpler than the dual co-rod are, BUT many people are not as familiar with working on these simpler ones and therefore stay away from them. The answers that others have given you here are spot on, and should have no trouble. Just study how everything works, and you'll be fine.

I will point out one thing to keep in mind.....MANY of theirs (and others with similar construction) often don't have the center line of the neck truly in line with the co-rod. So, you end up with the bridge drifting way sideways as you tighten the strings and often end up with a string too close to a neck edge (or even over the edge by the time it gets to the heel....seen that too many times) In that event, you can completely reshape the heel to allow for proper alignment. I have also had some that the heel was ok, but the hole for the c-rod as it exits below the tailpiece was way off-center. For those, I plug and redrill the holes. So far, haven't had even one that couldn't be corrected. Have fun!

Dave Fox

[Johnny R Rowland]

Thanks for all the help!!! Never worked on a banjo,I'm fixing this up for a friend,How do you know what position to set the bridge??