Work Page 4-19
Eddy Davis' Gibson TB-1
12" rim -Trap-door
Early example of the first 1000 banjos from Gibson.
FON# 705-17
Circa 1919 (Spann's Book)
Restore as needed to play professionally.
No Re-plating
Re-finish trap door, neck, outside of rim.
Inside of rim and trapdoor will be left orig.
Early example of the first 1000 banjos from Gibson.
FON# 705-17
Circa 1919 (Spann's Book)
Restore as needed to play professionally.
No Re-plating
Re-finish trap door, neck, outside of rim.
Inside of rim and trapdoor will be left orig.
INITIAL PICS
Click on thumbnails to zoom
Click on thumbnails to zoom
Finish degraded, sweat stains, delaminated center
Large tube rim, with ball bearings, no springs
Dowel stick and Co-rod in the early days
Disassembly
Frets pulled
Strange neck pin with one hole 1/2 thru
Cammed pin
Heavy wear 1 thru three, someone was a 1st position player
Slots sealed, ready to level
Simple tailpiece, clips on hoop/flesh ring.
As long as strings are on it, its on.
Pat Pend on the Trap Door
FON# on dowel , no batch#
Large head bearing should give a big tone on Synthetic
FON on rim inside by dowel
All parts present. I am the first to take it apart.
Batch # on outside of rim
Saw no batch # on face of heel
Batch number found on dowel
Rim cleaned, veneer sealed, waxed
Hardware machine buffed/waxed
I thought I had the correct head in stock for it, but its not the right crown.
I ordered a REMO Renaissance from www.bedfordbanjoshop.com in 12" medium and low crown.
Its hard to say what crown is best, because of the neck notch.
Possible mods to make it have clearance for a modern stretcher band may be in it's future.
Original flesh rings on skin heads are half the thickness of a modern Remo band.
Flesh rings on hide heads are small and these banjos were designed around that.
Nothing I have not dealt with in the past.
I ordered a REMO Renaissance from www.bedfordbanjoshop.com in 12" medium and low crown.
Its hard to say what crown is best, because of the neck notch.
Possible mods to make it have clearance for a modern stretcher band may be in it's future.
Original flesh rings on skin heads are half the thickness of a modern Remo band.
Flesh rings on hide heads are small and these banjos were designed around that.
Nothing I have not dealt with in the past.
Saw that is used to widen/deepen when binding is left on.
Teflon dams, building up divots
Compression fretting with 147 Stew Mac wire
Now to fret over the heel
Ready to level-re-crown-polish
Little or no finish is left. 2 bushings missing
Sweat stains and delamination on center laminate.
I will wick in #10 and then pressure the neck flat while it cures
Prepping to flatten neck
Wicking in #10, it goes all over into places that cannot be reached with other glues.
A little pressure on the back while it cures
Removing remaining finish
Filling peghead laminate shinkage
Ready to flatten and dye
Ready to strip outside finish
Stripping
Ready for tinted lacquer
1 coat on outside rim
Neck ready for second tint (honey amber)
Second tint on neck and bindings.
Teflon dam added to keep seam open
Cleaning/Lubing tuning machines
New heads arrive, looks like it will be low crown
Pulled to tension
Neck notch will clear, barely.
Now to finish the clear coats
Fretwork completed, leveled and crowned/polished
Went with simple down force tailpiece and a Gibson Style armrest
Bridged and strung to pitch, settling in
Trap door installed
FINAL PICS
Ed decided on a No Knot, so I changed it out and did a new setup.
Last mod will be to lower armrest bracket, cut and re-solder.
Now it will ride closer to hoop, Farquhar Cherry Bridge
Next to my Stromberg, settling back in.
Found a handle and fixed it up.
Off to the "Manhattan Minstrel" it goes.
Another fun project, its always a blast to work with Eddy.
Thanks for watching,Vinnie
Another fun project, its always a blast to work with Eddy.
Thanks for watching,Vinnie