My wife is a fulltime entertainer. By that, I mean it is her 40 hour a week passion that she happens to get paid for. My mother-in-love (law) is a lifetime entertainer. She learned to play a ukulele back in the 1950's. Since she did a good bit of live entertainment, she needed a ukulele that had some volume. It happened that a friend who owned a music store gave her a Dixie Banjolele. She used it a
lot..
Then she gave it to my wife, who used it a
lot. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it before I started this blog, and, as you will see, it's in parts for cleaning/repair.
Here's the neck where you can see the obvious wear.
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| What I'll call the "Red" model. |
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Yes, the chrome is gone on the lower frets. Note the red paint that outlines "Dixie" on the headstock. There's red paint inside the body, too. I know that this banjolele is all original (except maybe for the tuning pegs) since I know the original owner. We'll make use of that information as this blog grows.
Here are some other parts of the "Red" model:
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| Bottom view of the head. | |
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Notice that it is tied onto the metal ring that is used in tensioning the head. I believe this is a "vellum" head, but cannot swear to it. Vellum is made from calfskin. I know enough about this to be dangerous, so I'll leave it at that right now.
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| Top view of the head. |
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| Full bottom view of head. |
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| Upper frets -- DIRTY! |
This is a good time to say that this banjolele
has to be kept clean after every use. The salt and oil from your hands will corrode the metal. I should have cleaned old "Red" long before now, before it was put away. It got put away when we bought another Dixie in superior shape (the third one). My wife keeps it sparkling clean, and wipes it down several times a day :-) It's the one ahown at the top of the blog.
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| "Red's" original bridge at the top. |
A second banjolele was purchased a few years back. It has black paint where "Red" has red paint. The photo above shows the bridge that came with my mother-in-law's "Red" and the bridge that came with the second banjolele, which we'll now call "Black."
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| The "Black" model. |
The "Black" model is in very good to excellent condition. It went out of service when one of the plastic tuning peg "chicklets" cracked. I have been unable to find a modern replacement that is this same size. So, I took the tuners off "Red" temporarily to use them on this model.
This photo does not show it very clearly, but the chrome is partially worn off on the lower few frets. I see what I think is brass underneath. The head shown above is the head from "Red" since "Black's" head had a split in it.
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| "Black" head. |
Here, I've taken the metal wire from the head. I don't know if the head was originally attached to the retaining wire or if it became stuck to it when the head dried and stiffened up (I think this head is vellum, too).
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| "Black" neck on left, "Red" neck on right. |
The only other difference I see between the "Red" and "Black" model metal parts is the filled in hole between the threaded holes where the neck attaches to the body. (Sorry for the small type on the photo).
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| Neck attachment/adjustment hardware (upside down view). |
Notice the black paint. I do not know for sure if this model actually had black paint (or any paint at all) when it was new. The "Red" model was missing one of the larger bolts when I first worked on it. It was also missing one of the smaller set screws. Note that if the head were installed here, it would be at the bottom of the photo. This body piece is upside down.
I've learned that for at least three Dixie Banjoleles no neck adjustment is required. That means that the set screws are not pushing against the neck except enough to keep them from vibrating out.
My opinion on making adjustments here:
- If the banjolele is working well and you like the way things are, don't make any adjustments.
- If you do need to make an adjustment, take photos of all angles of the neck/body connection so you'll know where you started. Take special note of the gap between the neck and the body.
- I'm assuming that you're making these adjustments with the strings on and at pitch (tuned).
- For purposes of up/down and raise/lower I'm assuming that you are viewing your Dixie flat on it's back, strings, frets and head up.
- If the set screws are in use at all (they're not loose or are not easily loosened with light pressure), they are effectively tilting the neck down. Another way to say this is that it is lowering the headstock and tuning pegs, causing the strings to be closer to the frets. If your strings are buzzing against the upper frets (the frets near the body) or are buzzing against the body, you need to back the set screws out, effectively raising the strings.
- Before you make any adjustments, you should realize that the two big bolts have to be adjusted in concert with the set screws. So, the first step is to loosen both of the larger bolts before making any adjustments
- If you are making an adjustment to the set screws and you start meeting resistance, remember to loosen the big bolts some more.
- Each time you make set screw adjustments, you will only know the full effect of your adjustment by tightening the lower bolt. That results in lowering the neck even more.
- Play with the set screw/lower bolt adjustment. Don't worry about the upper bolt until you have everything set the way you want it.
- Finally, tighten the upper bolt, but only enough to keep it from vibrating loose. It's major purpose as far as I can tell is to keep the set screws from vibrating loose.
- I have effectively played one of our Dixie's with only the lower bolt in place.
- Finally, as I said above, I have never had to use the set screws. To do so made the strings buzz against the upper frets.
I hope this post helps someone. Please comment with your own opinions/thoughts/experiences.
The next post, I'll be listing part sizes and talking about tuning pegs.
