How to Assemble a May Bell Banjo

The May Bell banjo was made by Slingerland.

The May Bell banjo, made by Slingerland, was a familiar instrument in the 1920s as a banjo ukulele, a tenor banjo or a queen banjo. Now vintage instruments, they can be put together like other banjos, using the original equipment wherever possible. This tutorial assumes all the parts are usable, except for replacing the banjo skin.

Things You'll Need

• Banjo skin
• Knife
• Adjustable wrench
• Tightening tool
• Banjo strings

Instructions

Putting On The Skin

1. Soak the banjo skin in water for 10 minutes, then place over the rim of the banjo body, allowing the excess to hang evenly over the edge. Place the metal ring on the rim. Fold over the excess skin.

2. Place the tension hoop on the rim, on top of the ring; the excess skin will be inside the hoop. Pull the skin to remove all wrinkles. Attach the brackets around the rim and over the tension hoop, tightening each one lightly. Allow the skin to dry.

3. Tighten the brackets further until the skin is tight. Cut off the excess skin with a knife.

Assembling The Banjo

1. Insert the two bolts on the neck through the rim, with the fretboard on the same side as the banjo skin. Place the washers on the bolt closest to the skin, followed by the nut, and tighten with an adjustable wrench.

2. Place the washers on the other nut. Check that the nut is on the end of the coordinator rod and screw it up the rod. Slide the rod through the hole at the tail end of the banjo rim, then draw back to meet the nut on which you just put the washers.

3. Hand-tighten the coordinator rod onto the bolt, then tighten using the tightening tool. Place the banjo tailpiece over the end of the coordinator rod where it extends beyond the tail of the banjo and fix in place by tightening a nut over the bolt; the tailpiece should be over the skin. Tighten the nut on the coordinator rod on the inside of the rim.

4. Attach the machine heads to the stocks at the top of the neck, if they’re not already in place, and the fifth machine head at the side if the instrument is a five-string banjo. Place new strings on the banjo, with the ends over the tailpiece. Place the bridge under the strings and slowly tighten the strings with the machine heads, tightening to the correct pitch (generally G B G B D).

5. Play the first string at the 12th fret and then the harmonic at the same fret. Move the bridge until the harmonic and the fretted note are the same; angle the bridge if necessary to achieve the same with all the strings.

References

• Acoustic Box: Changing A Skin Head
• Zepp Music: Assembling Your Goodtime Banjo
• TylerMountain: Banjo Bridge Placement