Adjusting the coordinator rods during banjo setup should only be done by people who know what they are doing, particularly on instruments that are under warranty. If you break your lag bolts or damage the rim, the factory will not honor the warranty on the instrument.

People who adjust their own coordinator rods have been known to cause horrible damage to banjos. Do this at your own risk. I cannot overemphasize the danger of doing this yourself. I cannot and will not assume responsibility for any damage you cause to your instrument by doing this yourself.

Most Mastertone style banjos have a pair of rods inside the rim that go from the neck to the tailpiece. they are spaced about 1 3/4" apart and run across the diameter of the rim. These are the coordinator rods. Their actual function is two-fold. One purpose is to hold the neck onto the rim of the banjo. The other is to change the action of the banjo by altering the angle of the neck.

Current Gibson Mastertone banjos as well as most pre-war Gibsons have dual rods. Those made in the 1950's and 1960's have only 1 rod, the lower one. On these instruments, the upper rod has been replaced by a brass nut, which holds the neck in place.

To further complicate matters, some banjos that are styled after Mastertones have slightly different coordinator rod setups. On pre-war Gibsons and current Gibsons, the upper rod has internal threads at one end. This rod screws directly onto the upper lag bolt. The lower rod has a long nut (called "the long nut" by Gibson dealers and parts sellers) which is threaded at one end to fit the lower lag bolt and at the other end to fit the coordinator rod. Some copies have two coordinator rods, each of which has internal threads that fit the lag bolts on the neck. Fender banjos are a good example of this. Each brand has its own system, but the basic principles are the same.

The following instructions are specifically for Gibson dual rod instruments.

To raise the action with the coordinator rods, first loosen the outer nut that holds the tailpiece bracket in place. Insert a nail or small length of rod into the hole in the lower coordinator rod, to keep the rod from turning as you perform the next step. Tighten the nut inside the rim at the tailpiece end of the lower rod. This will push the rim into a slightly oval shape, thereby pushing the heelpiece of the neck outwards at the bottom, and raising the action.

Loosening the inside nut on the lower coordinator rod and tightening the outside nut will lower the action.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

Do not attempt major changes in the action of your banjo by using coordinator rod adjustments alone. Adjustments of more than 1/16" at the rim of the banjo will require another technique. Putting undue stress on the coordinator rods can distort the rim and/or break off the lag bolts that hold the neck onto the rim. Adjust these at your own peril.

A far better, less risky way to set the string height on your banjo by adjusting the neck angle, is to use the coordinator rods like a pair of screw jacks. This is a simple, but somewhat confusing step in banjo setup.

To raise the action, you need to push the bottom part of the heel piece away from the rim. Loosen all three nuts at the tailpiece end of the coordinator rods slightly. Loosen the upper rod slightly, by unscrewing it about 1 turn. Now, unscrew the long nut on the lower coordinator rod about 2 turns. Tighten the inner nut on the tailpiece end of the lower rod until the end of the rod at the heelpiece makes firm, but not overstressed contact with the inside of the rim. Tighten the outer nut (at the tailpiece), then re-tighten the upper rod and its nut. When loosening or tightening the nuts, insert a nail or piece of drill rod into the holes of the coordinator rod you are working on, in order to keep it from turning. A nail or piece of drill rod may also be used to turn the upper coordinator rod.

Now check the action. If it is correct, shim the neck so it fits firmly (see below). If it is too low, repeat the procedure. If it is too high, loosen the nuts and rods, and tighten the long nut on the lower rod slightly. Then retighten the nuts at the tailpiece end of the instrument. When the action is correct, shim the neck.

To lower the action, you must push the upper part of the heel piece away from the rim. Loosen all three nuts at the tailpiece end of the coordinator rods slightly. Then unscrew the long nut on the lower coordinator rod about 1 turn. Now, unscrew the upper coordinator rod about 2 turns. Tighten the inner nut on the upper rod until the end of the rod at the heelpiece makes firm, but not overstressed contact with the inside of the rim. Then re-tighten the long nut on the lower rod and the nuts at the tailpiece end until they are firm.

Now check the action. If it is correct, shim the neck so it fits firmly (see below). If it is too high, repeat the procedure. If it is too low, loosen the nuts and rods, and tighten the upper rod slightly and then retighten the nuts. When the action is correct, shim the neck.

Once you have adjusted the neck with this method, you will find that there will be a small gap between the heelpiece and the rim either at the upper lag bolt or the lower lag bolt. This gap will keep the neck from seating firmly against the rim. This will cause poor intonation, due to neck instablility and poor tone because the neck will not vibrate properly. To eliminate this problem, measure the gap with a feeler gauge, and insert a brass or hardwood shim of the proper thickness between the heelpiece and the rim. The neck must seat firmly.

Once you have found the proper neck angle for your playing, you may wish to have the heelpiece re-cut to change the angle permanently. A small amount of wood is removed from the area around the lag bolt that did not receive a shim. Re-cutting the neck angle is almost invariably a better solution to the proper neck angle than shimming, once the proper neck angle has been determined. Shims can and do affect the tone of a banjo. However, if you do not have the proper tools, it is very difficult to recut a heelpiece yourself. Fortunately, for us, Wayne Rogers, the owner of Gold Tone banjos can do this for a reasonable fee. The Gold Tone banjo web page may be found by clicking here.

IMPORTANT Do not let the shim or the heelpiece touch the tone ring, The skirt of the tone ring contributes greatly to the sound of the banjo.

Some people also alter the tone with the coordinator rods. I am wary of this, because if you throw the tone ring out of round, you can keep it from vibrating properly. And this is critical for the next part of my system. It is also quite possible to ruin a rim by overstressing the coordinator rods, especially the lower one. However, for those of you who are insatiably curious, here is how it is done.

At the 1998 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) convention in Nashville, Curtis McPeake, arguably one of the best banjo setup men alive, graciously told the attendees of the Banjo Newsletter banjo workshop how to adjust the coordinator rods in order to change the tone of the banjo. This work takes place at the tailpiece end of the upper coordinator rod. If you do it exactly as I describe, you will most likely not damage your instrument.

Once you have adjusted the action, shimmed the neck, if necessary, and tightened the coordinator rods properly, check to make sure the wooden rim is round. Do this, by measuring the diameter in three different places. When you are sure the instrument is correctly adjusted, listen to the sound of the banjo. If it is tubby, and you know the head is ajusted properly, tighten the nut on the upper coordinator rod, very slightly--about 1/6 of a turn. Listen to the banjo again. If it is still tubby, tighten the nut 1/6 of a turn again. Do not do this more than two times, otherwise you may damage your instrument.

Likewise, if the instrument is too brilliant, loosen the nut about 1/6 of a turn. Just make sure the nut and washer at that end of the upper coordinator rod are not so loose that they rattle. It was very gracious of Curtis to share this little known banjo setup technique with us.

Adjusting the coordinator rods should only be done by people who know what they are doing, particularly on instruments that are under warranty. If you break your lag bolts or damage the rim, the factory will not honor the warranty on the instrument.

People who adjust their own coordinator rods have been known to cause horrible damage to banjos. Do this at your own risk. I cannot overemphasize the danger of doing this yourself. I cannot and will not assume responsibility for any damage you cause to your instrument by doing this yourself.

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