For enthusiasts of early banjo

George Wunderlich's Comments

Comment Wall (11 comments)

At 3:58pm on January 22, 2009, Tim Twiss said…: Hey George. just logged on and saw you,
Glad you're aboard.

At 4:34pm on January 22, 2009, Greg Adams said…: It's about time you showed up! ;-)

At 5:15pm on January 22, 2009, Carl Anderton said…: Hey George, are we going to have a gathering this year?

At 7:42pm on January 22, 2009, John Masciale said…: Hi George, I'm glad you found your way here.

At 10:46pm on January 22, 2009, Carson Hudson said…: George,
Was wondering where you were...

At 9:13pm on January 23, 2009, razyn said…: Glad to see you have migrated to where the action is, nowadays.

At 1:27pm on April 27, 2010, Lucas Bowman said…: Looking good in the History channel's "How the States Got Their Shape" program. I bet if there had been bullets, youd have won ;D I heard you were to appear in a program, but was unaware which one. I was pleasantly surprised, much to the chagrin of the other viewers, to see a recognizable face.

At 6:40am on August 5, 2011, Dave Culgan said…: Hi George,

Not sure if you will see this here so please excuse the double note if I send it to the museum also. Anyway I broke a tuning peg on "the last banjo from St. Louis" down in Manassas. It looked like a standard violin peg but the one I got from Elderly Instruments was close but not exact (diameter too big). Do you recall where you were getting them back then? Is it a 1/2 size violin peg maybe?

Thanks,

Dave Culgan, Camptown Shakers

PS glad you had slotted the pegs instead of drilled. I was able to play the gigs tuning with a pocket knife in the slot on top, the peg broke off flush with the bottom of the peg head.

At 6:57am on August 5, 2011, George Wunderlich said…: If it just a matter of diameter then that is due to the fitting process, not the peg.

When a peg is fitted, it is shaved down in what looks like a big pencil sharpener. This is done since most pegs are slightly out of round and hive high and low spots. After the hole is drilled in the peg head, a reamer is placed in the hole and the hole takes the exact taper of the peg-shaper. Because of this, no two pegs are exactly the same diameter since both the hold and the final peg shape are individually done. In order to re fit a peg, it much go through the same process. If the button on the peg is the same size as the original, then it is likely that the peg simply needs to be shaped. Any show that does violin work can do this in about a minute at little or no charge.

I hope this helps.

At 1:50pm on August 5, 2011, Dave Culgan said…: Yeah, its the diameter, otherwise the replacement peg looks just like the original. I'll need to find someone with a peg shaper. Its just a little too big but I undertstand about the taper needing to be maintained, can't just sand it down. Thanks.

At 11:30am on November 1, 2013, Jim Jacquet said…: Hi George--Posted a thread about a possible 1870s Dobson that has a weird neck. Consensus seems to be that the neck is not original. Someone mentioned your name:

Comment by Dave Culgan 4 hours ago Delete Comment

Jim, George Wunderlich put that kind of 5th peg set-up on the Boucher style banjo he made for me about 20 years ago. He would probably be able to answer your question from yesterday.

So now I am wondering if you recognize who might have made the old neck that is on the Dobson pot. Thanks for any help!