![]() Refinishing is pretty much the kiss of death for vintage instrument value, but if you aren’t worried about resale value and just would like to make it look better you might consider it. Hello Justin, what a cool banjolele you have there! The back almost looks kinda mettalic the way the color seems to have scraped off in small places. (Either that’s dirt or someone tried to fix up the holes in the finish with one of those furniture repair markers) ![]() The curve in the wood unlike the one you worked on. I know how to work with wood but I don’t want to do anything dumb. I know basically to stay away from the fret board unless I want to replace them but anything else I’m in the dark about. I was curious (myself not being very experienced with instrument repair) if you would suggest sanding and refinishing it? Like I said, it’s looking a little rough in places. It looks like they just changed the design slightly. And the wood around the head sort of dips in. The resonator cap is different, more of a bubble shape without the holes. I found your post by googling around for a few minutes. It’s a little more scuffed up than the one here but it’s still gorgeous. I just bought a banjo ukulele almost exactly like this off of craigslist. Shoot me some photos if you end up getting it! I really like the old banjo ukes, in fact I just bought one last night at a Ukefest we had a vendor booth at! They usually have decent intonation and when the head is properly adjusted they project well. If this is the case, I suggest carefully removing the old one (paying close attention to how it is seated in regards to the hoop/rim parts) and then practicing the installation using a small piece of cloth to get it down before doing it with the actual skin head. ![]() Sometimes if the skin is very old it can’t be tightened up any more and must be replaced. Often with the Rolando ukes there is a wooden resonator cap on the back which you will have to take off in order to gain access to the bolts or lugs for the head. Most of the the tension is applied during this initial installation, but you can add tension after the fact by tightening the screw lugs that sit inside the body (under the hoop and rim). The heads used on these old style instruments are calf or goat skin that is soaked in water to soften it up before initial installation. The tensioning system involves a circular hoop that sits inside of a metal ring.
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