seek banjo cleaning advice

Subject: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 10:26 AM

I need to clean up and restring a banjo for a friend who's having some problems that prevent him from doing it on his own. Seems like a straightforward job, but I wonder: are there common pitfalls to watch out for? The head -- seems to be some kind of plastic -- has coffee or something spilled on it. Is any particular cleaner recommended? Seems also to be a dust buildup around the resonator. I suspect I should avoid using any kind of solvent; can anyone say what works best for this part of the job? Thanks

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,MC Fat
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 10:54 AM

Try on a 40 wash cycle, however you probably will have to break the neck to get it into the washer but hey.....

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 11:10 AM

god, i wish i'd said that! that is so funny!!

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: CelesteF
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 11:43 AM

Pinetop,

I have a banjo, but haven't had to clean it yet. When I do, I'm going to ask for advice from the discussion forum at the Banjo Hangout site, www.banjohangout.org. There are lots of experienced players there who know an awful lot about banjos.

Celeste

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Steve-o
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 12:16 PM

If there are no major amounts of drool, it is not ready to be cleaned yet.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,Steve Latimer
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 02:04 PM

I've cleaned the head of my banjo with Windex. Just be sure not to rub too hard as it can take the frosting off.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 02:18 PM

I have it on very good advice that concentrated sulfuric acid is very good for removing everything from a banjo.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: CraigS
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 05:07 PM

For the head, I recommend non-ionic shower cleaner. If it's dusty, use the pointy thing from the vacuum cleaner. For varnished wooden bits, use Pledge or Mr Sheen. For unvarnished wooden bits (eg fingerboard), use lemon oil. For metal bits, leave alone unless green deposits are forming, at which point get some of that expensive Amway metal cleaner. Remember, the banjo will be more pleasant and easier to clean if you cut those four or five unsightly wires off the front and throw them away.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,Chip A.
Date: 03 Nov 03 - 04:33 PM

A pencil eraser makes a fine head cleaner.
Chip

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,arnie
Date: 03 Nov 03 - 04:45 PM

You might be able to clean it, but can you tune it?
Incidently, did you know Banjo players spend half their lives tuning and the other half playing out of tune?
Arnie

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Hrothgar
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 05:28 AM

Use a flamethrower.

:-)

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 05:56 AM

explosives!!

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 06:27 AM

Seriously, don't put anything oily/waxy on the fingeroard, or anything that can build up and clog the strings. If you want to polish the rest of the instrument (not the head!), bear in mind that the only way to get under all that metalwork is to dismantle it -- don't, unless you're planning a major overhaul. Avoid ending up with polished areas and mucky areas that you can't quite get in to (i.e. don't polish it!).

If the headis plastic, a damp cloth ought to clean up coffe stains and the like; don't use any kind of cleaning fluid, unless it says it's suitable for musical instruments (unlikely). If the head is skin ... I'm not sure what to use on it. Sooner or later, a banjo cleaning expert is going to post to this thread. (I'm just good at getting them dirty!)

Steve

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 11:32 AM

Refer them to a local BA group. It's nothing to be ashamed of. BA groups are anonymous, and they are for people with similar afflictions. I know banjo players, who, after sufficient rehab in a BA group, lived otherwise productive lives. BA (Banjos Anonymous) is a great resource. Good luck!!!!!!

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 11:35 AM

define "perfect pitch?" - chucking a banjo into a skip without hitting the sides.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 01:25 PM

Kill two birds with one stone - tie it to the top of your vehicle and take it through an automatic car wash!

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Songster Bob
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 02:07 PM

"Seriously, don't put anything oily/waxy on the fingeroard, or anything that can build up and clog the strings."

Actually, lemon oil is the preferred item to put on fingerboards, and is recommended and used by many, many players. Other oils, yes, they could build up and gunk up and all those things, but lemon oil doesn't.

Now, you'd use it maybe twice a year, three times tops (but only in dry climes). Used weekly it would, indeed, gunk up any instrument.

The wood used for fingerboards eventually dries out, particularly at the upper end of the board, where your fingers aren't adding their own natural oils. Dried boards give rise to cracks and splits, or what's called "fret sprout," where the board shrinks and the frets, being metal, don't, so the ends stick out in deadly sharpness.

Bob Clayton

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Jon W.
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 02:27 PM

I recently cleaned up an inexpensive (Silvertone made by Harmony) banjo (yes, openmike, your ex-axe)- if you know what you're doing, dismantling and reassembly is the preferred method. I wasn't able to find anything that worked on the skin head but I'll try eraser and see how that does it. Lemon oil on the fretboard (and the rest of the neck and peghead) worked great - except mine was actually orange oil. Since this banjo had a bakelite pot and resonator, I just washed it in dishwashing detergent - NOT recommended for a wooden instrument.

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: Phot
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 04:36 PM

What a use for a redundant Concorde!! Use the afterburners to blow the dust off!! Though the banjo may be a bit warm for a while after!

Wassail!

Chris ;)

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,stevethesqueeze
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 05:41 AM

just in case you don't know, using a small piece of fresh white bread rolled into a small hard ball is great as a gentle way of removing marks of a real vellum or sking banjo head. Works really well.

stevethesqueeze

Subject: RE: seek banjo cleaning advice
From: GUEST,Pinetop Slim
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 01:28 PM

Thanks for all the good advice, and the laughs as well.