Where Epiphone players can come and talk about strings, setup and other tweaks to get the best tone/sound from their banjo

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New Epi MB-200 mods & Steve Davis bridge

From benderb9 on 3/22/2013 7:29:13 AM

I was looking on Craig's List a while back and stumbled on a 6 string banjo and thought it might be good to have. So doing some research I found that a real 5 string was tuned in open G. Surprise surprise Gomer...just like the tuning I play in on CBG and acoustic generally. So it was in for a real 5 string instead of a faux banjo. I've always liked Epiphones and have numerous guitars and a Les Paul Uke so in my price range I picked up an MB-200. When I got it home I started to tweak immediately and changed the strings, tightened the head etc. Ordered a compensated bridge from StewMac and a bone 5th string nut. The bridge really made a difference and I was off to the races. Next up was making a new nut and installing the bone 5th string nut. Read through BHO and learned how to adjust the neck/action (what a difference) and put the strings OVER the bridge (and the Epi site even shows it wrong, underneath, and thats the way it shipped lol). It now sounded waaay better. However having played and worked on other instruments for several years I wasn't done yet. I then ordered a few sets of GHS 160 strings (the heaviest I could find) and ordered a Remo Fiberskyn head (medium crown, I'll probably be ordering a low crown Fiberskyn head and a low crown Renaissance head to try out in the future) and a Little Mountain Music Nickel Plated BanjoMate. Putting all this together changed it up for the better and it was happy pickin' and a grinnin'. Tried the BanjoMate up by the neck but ended up with it under the bridge, no accounting for taste I guess. Next I wanted to be able to change tuning so a long slide Shubb long scale 5th string capo was installed so it would rest over the 5th string nut when not used (thanks BHO members! great idea) and got a G7 performance capo for the neck...wow VERY slick set-up now. Really liking it over all but there just seemed to be something missing, still. The string-to-string definition seemed a tad muddy even though the tonal difference in playing the string length from the bridge to the neck was what I was looking for. So off again on a search and again thanks to BHO I ended up ordering a bridge from Steve Davis. He suggested a 2.16 gram Maple and Ebony Cap Bridge so I placed my order and waited...it wan't long and from the fridgid NE it came packaged perfectly. With much anticipation I opened it and installed it immediately. WOW!!!! Suddenly the string-to-string balance was PERFECT. The tone went from yep I like it to yikes this is sweet. The notes decay quickly when played at the bridge and sustain sweetly whan played up at the neck, everything between rings out and projects very well. Steve Davis' bridge really made a difference and was like the tasty icing on a cake, makes you want more. I don't think theres anything else I can do to my little bottle-cap Epi, its just about all I'd expect from a banjo and doesn't weigh a ton either like a few of the better ones I looked at (I don't play my Les Paul much because of that weight issue). Now I just gotta buckle down and learn how to play the darn thing...struggling with the finger picks and have been mostly flat pickin'

posted pics

http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/photos.asp?id=87061

1 Comments
	LGriff6250 says: 3/22/2013 10:47:52 AM Wow, what a technician you are. I like the heavy GHS strings as well, they seem to stay in tune better for me. I have lighter D'addarios on right now, as I ran out of GHS, and I noticed the difference. The Ds sound good though.
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