Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 00:29:44 EST
Subject: Gibson Scruggs Standard

Dear Mickey, I've been playing banjo for about 2 years and I'm addicted. I just purchased a Gibson Scruggs Standard that is 11/2 years old. I had a hard time making up my mind between an RB-250 and the Scruggs Standard. Is there a big difference between the two? There is a ding on the 3rd. G string. The fellow I purchased from said it was probably in the bridge and instructed me to take a knife and slide it into the groove and slide it toward the back of the banjo I did and it seem to help it. He said if that didn't work of course bring it in and he will take a look at it. The guy has given me a couple of lessons and I feel I can trust him. I think he would swap it for an RB-250 if I asked him to. I really like the Scruggs though. The Scruggs went for $2100. The RB-250 was $1499 and he said it was 7 years old. I guess i'm trying to get some re-assurance that I made the right decision. It was purchased a week ago and I put half down. The neck seems to be straight and no cracks, it just seems to be in great shape. The head has a pretty warn spot about a half an inch long, but everything else looks real clean. Anyway, I would appreciate any feed back you could give me. Thanks for your help.

Charles D.

Greetings Charles,

Glad to assist if I can:

I, personally, would hold on the the Scruggs model. The Scruggs model has maple woods...whereas, the RB-250 is a mahogany banjo. Now, if you're looking for more warmth and versatility, you might consider the RB-250. However, the Scruggs Standard is as powerful a banjo as you can ask...and, is in far more demand than the RB-250...therefore, it was always hold more value. I love my Gibson RB-800...which is also a maple banjo...like the Scruggs' models.

The warn spot would be common in any banjo played for a good length of time. My RB-800 has about a 5-inch long warn spot on the head (where the frosting is worn)...and, I have no plans of changing the head...which has been on it for over 15 years. I'm afraid it might alter the tone of which I'm really thrilled with at present.

On the "ding", or do you mean "ping"...you only need to get a tube of graphite...loosen your G string, and then apply graphite to the grooves of both the nut and the bridge. This is a guaranteed fix of which I've performed without fail many times. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to apply a little in every groove of your nut...this ensures ease of tuning and less likelihood of your banjo going out of tune in the middle of a song.

Hope this helps...Mickey

---

Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 12:35:20 -0600
To: George McKamy
Subject: Re: chrome polish banjo FAQs

I had called on Saturday concerning the semi chrome
polish and where to order it from. I bought my
deering golden era from you all, you might remember
me. Anyway I did some investigating, and on the
deering website it said for nickel plating to use any
automotive chrome polish, but not more than 6 months
to a year. My question is how clean is the armrest
going to get for 5 month old banjo? The other parts
seemed to polish up fine except for the arm rest.
Please let me know your thoughts. George


Greetings George,

Armrests do become tarnished with use...they seem to get this hazy look to them...although, it's contributory to the look of a vintage banjo...

Did you try Simichrome on the armrest? I'll have to try it...but I believe it's next to impossible to get armrests to look like new. Now, if you really want to keep your armrests looking like new, you would use a clear tape over it so that your arm does rest on the tape instead of the armrest. If done properly, you won't even notice the tape is there...in your case, you can purchase a new armrest that fits the Golden Era, and then try this technique...or, it's still possible that you can polish it to new-looking condition and then apply the tape to eliminate the tarnish look from reappearing. Mickey