I bought a banjo about a year ago, nothing too expensive, it’s a Carlo Robelli that only cost me 130 bucks. But just today I picked it up, and when I hold a string down on the first or second fret and strike it with any moderate force, I get a very distinct buzz.
Now I have restringed within the past 3 months, and I wasn’t aware that the little pine bridge on the drumhead wasn’t attached. But after a lot of tuning and repositioning of the bridge I finally got the tuning pretty much perfect up and down the fretboard.
So is it a possibility that the sudden shift in temperature with the onset of summer has warped the neck and that’s what is causing the buzz? Is there any kind of remedy for this?
The guitar repair guy at your local guitar/music store could fix it, but it would probably cost more than the $130 you paid for the banjo.
Edit: It would only cost a lot of money if the neck is actually warped by the humidity. It’s more likely that it just needs a bit of a tune-up which would cost substantially less.
If it’s really warped, then the banjo will sound in tune when you pluck open strings, but if you play the same strings further up the neck then they will be out of tune, since the neck itself is twisted.
I’m not sure how banjos compare to guitars in this area, but it’s reasonable to assume they’re similar. My luthier routinely supplies two different height saddles, one for winter and one for summer, to let me adjust for the typical moderate warpage caused by humidity changes. Perhaps something like that is all you need.
These guys are right, I suggest bringing it to the local music store and buying a cheap humidifier from CVS or whatever you have near you. The humidifier will keep the humidity the same (duh) and should prevent a good majority of future warps.
I’m not sure about banjos but guitars have a steel rod running through the neck which can be adjusted with a hex key. The temperature and humidity in my house changes all the time and my guitar neck with it. It only takes a minute to correct.
Humidity( rather than temperature ) could be the culprit.Neck wood should be selected by the luthier/maker to be straight grained with minimal or preferably NO runout. Careless choice of wood could result in a twisted condition which would be expensive to rectify,as opposed to a simple change in plane,which CAN be addressed via the truss rod,though if you have no experience with that ,be careful. I have made good money fixing broken truss rods on vintage guitars.
Have you changed the gauge of string?Do you keep the instrument at a steady pitch?
You mention a “pine bridge”. I’m thinking,surely not.You need a hardwood,usually ebony or rosewood,to resist compression by the strings.
You could temporarily adjust the height of the bridge (assuming a fixed elevation style vs. thumbwheels ) by shimming with an appropriate thickness of paper,or if the neck is detachable,in much the same way.
Changing the gauge of string could be the problem.
In the unlikely even that the head is natural (cowhide, I think) and not synthetic, humidity could be affecting that as well.
Your banjo should have a truss rod in the neck, probably accessible by taking off the head. A skilled tech could adjust the truss rod if there’s any warpage in the neck.
Are you tuning with a pitch pipe, tuning fork, or strobe? If you’re going by ear, you may be tuning sharper, and that might cause some neck problems.
I had some fret buzz on a guitar I owned, and it was suggested the frets needed attention. Pretty expensive job for a $130 banjo, however.