Ken LeVan - Posted - 02/29/2020:  06:05:55. Top Tension Wrench included. I made gaskets, seals, and bushings from it on a WWII turret lathe. Foundry patterns or match plates like we use take time to build. http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/361566, 'Agree or disagree: the private sexual conduct of consenting adults------', '(Earl Scruggs) Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Banjo - Gunnar Salyer'. Fathand - Posted - 02/28/2020:  13:49:49. Unfortunately, every machine shop has a shelf (or ten) of parts made on speculation. We will accept return for absolutely ANY reason, and you have 7 days to decide. Top Tension. This is why I believe a hoop fabricated out of yellow and free machining brass is the only suitable alternative to one machined from a solid billet. Cast from Eco brass and CNC machined. Stewmac, same thing. The blank for the hoop can be rolled from 3/4" square stock and brazed at the ends after annealing. Engraving would add another $300+. Bondo on top of standard parts would make for a poor pattern. We also have more Pre-Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray Basses and parts for sale than any store on earth! A "G coded" three axis CNC Mill could cut the part out of a solid sheet of brass... turning a twenty pound chunk of brass into a ten ounce part. IS anyone else out there in banjo world wondering about this very same thing? Historically, India has a huge "small shop" brass casting industry. Now there is a great solution to both cost and availability! And the third is machined from a solid sheet of brass.The Flange: because of it's shape, the standard method of manufacturing a flange is casting it in a permanent mold or possibly for a more limited production, using the lost wax and spinning it. The resonator looks great as does the neck both with minimal wear. ?? I guess I'm just more or less thinking out loud, but obviously I want to keep the conversation civil and polite. Ken LeVan - Posted - 03/01/2020:  08:27:18. Banjo Warehouse has a larger and more diverse selection of collector grade professional banjos than any store on earth. The parts would be machined from solid plate or core stock.Machining time is going to be about $300 a set. As for getting upset with people who won't sell individual parts, I must say that I don't sell parts, either—never have. Another is a brazed assembly. Thanks John. Then there's the fabricated method. Ken; I prefer conventional hooks on an open back. I love top tension banjos, and they have become the only kind of bluegrass banjo I make—I am working on two at the moment, BUT mine are not copies of the Gibson ones, nor do they work the same way. If established suppliers can't justify keeping top tension parts on the shelf I doubt I could sell enough to recover the development cost.I still plan on making at least one set for my RK85. Includes Original Hardshell Case. A lathe, a few hours of labor, and Bob's your uncle. The case has minimal wear and is also clean inside and out and structually sound. So Gregg, this is not some dark conspiracy, it’s simply supply and demand, dollars and cents. If that annoys you,  just make your own, as I do—that simple, then after you have set up a manufacturing operation, sell them to all those people who are frustrated that they can't find them and charge them a lot—seems as if there is a real business opportunity there. A "G coded" three axis CNC Mill could cut the part out of a solid sheet of brass... turning a twenty pound chunk of brass into a ten ounce part. The labor you put into your hoops is not wasted when you consider the cost of machining alone.My only interest in top tension hardware is to find a good use for an otherwise idle cnc mill. Tap the holes for hard inserts to begin with. This leaves the obvious question....how do your TT's sound? These banjos are built in the style of the 1937-41 Gibson RB-7 top tension resonator banjos. That's a lot of waste. If a person were to make the parts from aluminum, they would have to be either machined or cast, as you say, because it would be too tenuous to weld all the lugs onto aluminum without seriously weakening it, not to mention the strength of the welds. The Tension Hoop: this is one difficult part to make. I wonder if anyone  has used simple brackets that slip in wide tension band notches to retain Allen head bolts for building a top tension banjo? You could probably adapt conventional parts into a Top Tension mold by adding bondo etc. Anyone interested in a foundry pattern used for sand casting bronze top tension Gibson style hoops, send me a pm. Everything is potentially a blue sky project. It's a wood pattern so much less expensive than an aluminum pattern. The metal shows some age in the form of tarnish but it is in great shape for a nearly 100 year old banjo. Free Shipping within the U.S. CALL TODAY 404-372-5482. I do see more involved in the manufacture of the armrest and the tension hoop. Tone rings can be fabricated from aluminum easily enough, and I have made three different kinds of those—there is no force on a tone ring that precludes normal aluminum welding. Banjo Hardware | Shoe Bolts The bolts that fit the shoes are often 12-24 thread size as well, in any case they must match the shoe that they hold on. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/361566. Then machining twenty four shouldered tubes out of bar stock. It's uncomfortable, ungainly, too heavy, the lugs on the tension hoop stick out too far and are on the top surface, they strangely decided to use drum bolts, the bolts thread into the flange, etc, etc. lightgauge - Posted - 03/01/2020:  04:37:48. Hey Glenn, Steve Gill would be really helpful with the reso specs as needed, or if that fails, I've got a prewar style 18 reso you'd be welcome to spec. Many of them specialize in sand casting brass for decorative art. I do understand it will cost more, and the whole supply and demand thing - BUT is it really that much more expensive to produce a threaded flange as opposed to one that is not? FULL SATISFACTION GUARANTEE Over the past 40+ years we have made more than 100,000 banjos and every one of them has been crafted with special attention. Maybe the cost was the key factor. I honestly prefer wasting time on the web.If I thought I could sell 100 sets in a year I could justify the effort. Ship within 2 business days of payment. A friend of mine lost more than $10,000 in Vietnam trying to act as his own rep. Thailand is just as bad and Malaysia is worse. Check out the Banjo Warehouse Website for All Sorts of Interesting New, Used and Vintage Banjos for Sale!! Having studied your tension hoops I think your design is more practical for custom builders than casting or machining from solid. Another is a brazed assembly. Having said that - IF they were readily available, AND the cost was reasonable, I might be tempted to do just that!! While we are on this topic, we are working on doing our own Hawthorn top tension solid carved resonator. Finish work would be done on the CNC mill.I suppose the next move is to have the purchasing manager look for the right sizes and get some pricing. I have been playing off and on for 50 years in NC and do not recall ever being in a jam with one. Their return on this investment is part of the profit on the sale of each banjo. The headstock also has pearloid along with some colorful work. The third, and most expensive alternative is feeding molten brass under pressure into a permanent mold. This is definitely in great shape. Hard to justify the cost of a permanent mold for a short production run. Development time for the solids modelling and machine code development would be at least $8000.  Banjo Building, Setup, and Repair Okay, that's my pre-excuse for any bad info. That would mean a heavy ring of steel with twenty four locating pins to hold the twenty four pieces of 1/2" diameter bar stock against a rolled ring of 3/16" x 9/19" brass strip. The last I heard, most of it had been obtained from Mr. Berlile. By the time the foundry casts them, the machine shop machines them, and the plating shop plates them, we have almost $500 in the flange and $350 in the hoop. We have more Gibson Banjos in stock than any store on earth and have Gibson Banjos from the Pre World War 2 Era all the way up to the 2010 flood. I've done it, but with the help of my partner who ran the foundry. If it wasn't for Bill Keith and now Noam Pickelny, There would probably be no demand for the Gibson design at all. This looks great, sounds great and plays great! Pre War President by Gretsch Banjo Top Tension Tenor Banjo. This is a really interesting Pre War Tenor Banjo called President which was made by Gretsch. You (or your people) machined that shape out of uniformly casting rings... a process similar to the manufacture to flathead tone rings. EDIT:  I have no idea how to import a pdf directly. Manufacturers and sellers require inventory to turn over a certain number of times per year to make a profit and these parts obviously did not meet the minimums.I have read many times that banjos are a small market and I wonder what percentage of banjos are top tension? We offered top tension hoops and flanges on BH for a couple of years with no takers. The flange can be built up from segments in the same manner. 'Agree or disagree: the private sexual conduct of consenting adults------' 12 min, '(Earl Scruggs) Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Banjo - Gunnar Salyer' 20 min, 'Magpie (with time signature variation)' 1 hr. ?? Why not just add heli-coils or Keen-serts to an existing flange?The Tension Hoop: this is one difficult part to make. You didn't. Includes Original Hardshell Case.
2020 top tension banjo hardware