Make Your Own Banjo Part 7

Finally, after months of trying I think I've got it right. I spent about six hours today fitting, stringing, unfitting, refitting, restringing, rejigging etc etc, but I think I finally got the neck right. I had to cut a slot in the pot where there perch pole fits to the body and loosen the bolt and slide it up and down until the action came right. I then cut a small shim which fits behind the neck heel and a plug to fix the perch pole bolt in the correct place and suddenly she sounded sweet... as a nut!

She needed a bit more tweeking to get the final sound right, as a couple of the strings buzzed, but I recut the slots on the nut and once they were slightly wider bingo - no buzz. It's some relief to get it right at long last, mainly for all the effort Harry has put in. Every time we it and it was wrong I was gutted for him. He's really found a creative outlet for his carpentry skills and he's dead keen to make a second instrument as proof that it wasn't a fluke, so I felt pressure to get a set up that worked so he can crack on with #2.

I've always held Harry in high esteem because he, and lots of my older relatives, are so practical and capable, and its been a rare opportunity to work on something together as equals. His skills with wood and my (meagre) knowledge of the instrument and I think we've both got something special out of it. As my mate Mark said 'That is a real legacy, something to keep and cherish for ever'.

all I can say is that I've learned a real lesson too.
2 degrees is a mighty small angle but without it you are stuffed!