So I inherited a banjo...but

[SpoonyJank]

The headstock has been snapped off. My boss told me I could have his epiphone banjo if I were to get it fixed saying I would get more use out of it then he would. He plays upright bass and mandolin but isn't particularly inclined to fingerstyle type stuff and he only happened to run across the banjo by chance anyways. I don't really play bluegrass, or banjo for that matter, but the concept of me owning a fully functional banjo seems super duper awesome... yeah he's drunk when much of anything happens (ie breaking banjo's, giving away broken banjo's), but he convinced me to not feel guilty about accepting it. It looks pretty expensive for an epiphone; all sunburst and inlayed and whatnot. I'll probably look up the model right after I post this.

 

According to him it simply tipped over. Curse the man who made banjo bodies round enough to exact that much force. but in any event, yes, the headstock is definitely not part of the banjo any more. The break is very clean. it runs from about an inch up the headstock on the front side, to an inch past the nut on the back of the neck. its roughly a flat plane. So the neck is functionally intact. With how the break is angled it would provide a lot of surface area for adhesive (if that is in fact part of the repair). I know acoustic guitars have like 50+ pounds of string tension but I don't know if its quite so much necessarily for a banjo.

 

In any case I'm posting this on the DIY thread because I was contemplating doing exactly that. If the actual neck had been snapped it would obviously be scrap but the break is on the headstock behind the nut so it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that it would be a relatively simple repair. Just get the right string angle over the nut, which should happen by itself pretty much, and make sure the truss rod isn't screwed up in the process (figuratively speaking).

 

It does have the truss adjustment where they are on gibson acoustics though, underneath the plate on the headstock. And yes the truss rod is sticking out a tiny tiny bit in the middle, but nothing thats supposed to anchored is exposed. the function of the truss rod is my only concern in how I could muff this up and detract from the actual functionality of the instrument. I'm obviously not too worried about aesthetics here. That can come later, if ever.

 

I was basicly wondering what might be a good luthiery/repair information resource for this kind of DIY thing so I might be able to figure out if I'm in over my head. I also wouldn't mind learning how to properly set up all the knickknacks on a banjo and what all those knickknacks might actually be called.

 

If I had to venture a guess myself it would seem as easy as getting some clamps, some fabric and some glue and just pasting it back together, but I'm not sure if that would hold the string tension or mess up the truss rod and hence the neck angle.

 

I feel like I should apologize for not having a camera. I'll try to update this later.

[WRGKMC]

Glue and clamp. Use either yellow wood glue or epoxy. Try to wipe off most of the excess and make dam sure to get it on straight and at the proper angle. Once its dried sand it till its smooth, tape off the area around it and spray clear laquer on there. You'll probibly need about 10~15 coats. Just mist it on there and steel wool as nessasary. If you go too thick the stuff will turn white. That tells you you're ruching it trying to go too thick. If you do buff it out as it dries and continue.

 

Banjos dont have the pull a guitar does. with a wide break like you discribed you should be fine. If the front side is damaged it too can be filled, then sanded, a littel black touch up paint followed by laquer and you're good to go.