Too Late...Should have replaced the strap...

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Stewart MacDonald Banjo Owners

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Just a place for us parts banjo people to hang out and show off our banjos and extoll the virtues of doing it yourself!

47 Members, Created 1/31/2011 -

Administrators: Diamond Eagle (owner)

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From Gumbograss on 5/21/2013 8:38:29 PM

Monday, May 20, 2013 @11:07:00 PM

Banjo brothers and sisters, I would like to remind you to pay attention to the smallest things, when it comes to your banjo. See the archtop Stew Mac I'm playing in my profile pic? It had the same leather cradle strap on it for over 30 years. A week ago I found a spot where the leather was wearing thin and I thought, "I need to see about getting a new strap soon." I wish I had. While playing at a local nursing home tonight, I reached up to put an electronic tuner on the head, leaving the banjo supported only by that strap, and it chose that moment to break. I could not catch my banjo. The banjo my mom had made for me in 1981 fell like an anvil and smashed onto the tile floor. The binding broke, the back of the resonator popped off, and the rim is cracked all the way through.
I will be taking it for an estimate this weekend, and I'm praying a repair is even possible. I believe everything happens for a reason. It will be interesting to see what the reason for this could be.

3 Comments
	Tim Sander says: 5/22/2013 6:09:51 AM That looks like fairly easy things to repair. Glue and clamps should cure it.
	n1wr says: 5/22/2013 6:21:00 AM Yes - agree with Sander. Even a good furniture repairer should be able to fix it. If there is something we're not seeing in the damage it is possible to get another one from Stew Mac - but it will be unfinished and you will need to put the purfling on it.
	Gumbograss says: 5/22/2013 6:46:03 AM Thanks, guys. Yes, all of the visible damage is to the resonator. But I have a violin maker/stringed instrument repair man (well known around here) who I want to check it out completely, in case there's damage I don't see. Also, I've never put purfling on before, and I'd rather let a pro do it.
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