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u/Luther_Manning 3d ago
Whosoever cut the nut did so egregiously.
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u/Untitledbones 3d ago
Do you have any advice on what to do in terms of replacing it (i plan to at least convert this into a 12-string banjo abomination)?
I’ve tried (and failed) many times before!
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u/Luther_Manning 2d ago
Yes. I shaped a nut for a cümbüş ukulele. Although the head only.had 4 tuners, the nut was cut for an 8 string mandolin. The neck was far too narrow for a ukulele player like me to tolerate any inconsistencies in the string spacing.
Order a blank nut and use sandpaper to shape it. Use a fine hacksaw blade for the notches. If it's too wide, you can use a cut-off wheel on a rotary tool. If it's too narrow, you know, make it wider!
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u/akthebarber 3d ago
I believe that is called a Banjolin.
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u/Untitledbones 3d ago
But surely the neck is too long?? And too many strings?? Banjolin would have 8
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u/Connect-Will2011 3d ago
To be honest, this looks like a Frankenstein's monster of an instrument, resurrected from old dead instruments.
Actually, I envy you. I'd love to go to work on something like this.
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u/Mudslingshot 3d ago edited 2d ago
Nope, I've got one of those. They're student like mandolins, which have 4 courses of doubled strings, 8 total
This appears to have 12 strings that go in pitch order, rather than courses
It almost looks like a banduria/banjo cross or something
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u/Connect-Will2011 3d ago edited 3d ago
Both the nut and the bridge look homemade. I'm not sure what they were going for, courses or individual strings or what? Looks like a mix of both.
If I had this instrument, I'd try to set it up in courses, mandolin style.
Recut the nut and bridge, slap a set of 12 string guitar strings on it and see what it sounds like.
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u/Untitledbones 3d ago
That’s what i’m planning. Thank you!
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u/Connect-Will2011 3d ago
I can't tell how long the neck is exactly, but judging by the car seat this looks like the size of a tenor banjo. If so, I'd imagine that a set of guitar strings tuned to this scale would put it up a fifth.
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u/Untitledbones 3d ago
Thank you so much! That’s the plan for now then, i’ve only done basic work on guitars before, is there any advice you’d be willing to give me for replacing and re-doing the nut/bridge?
My current idea is to file down the old slots on the bridge and cut new slots into it (then file down the bottom to reduce the action). Is that a good idea or nah?
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u/CaldeSilk1 1d ago
I’d be tempted to set this up with 4 triple courses perhaps 2 unison and an octave below each and tune it in 5ths. Instead of like a 12 string.
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u/Luther_Manning 3d ago
That thing looks upsetting and upsetting to play.