Posted by on 6/14/2023 to
Firefly Banjo Support
To setup the Firefly Banjo – stand up the bridge and position it on the drum head centered between the pencil marks. If there is a dot or number on the bridge, face it toward the tailpiece. Place the strings in the appropriate slots and tune up to; 5 string banjo G scale tuning (g, D, G, B, D; strings 5-1); Tenor ukulele g,C,E,A; Baritone ukulele D,G,B,E. Strings and head will stretch for the first few weeks so frequent tuning will be required. Keep bridge perpendicular to the head or angled slightly to toward the tailpiece.
Action and neck angle – can be adjusted by loosening the 3/8” lock nut on the inside of the drum where the metal coordinator rod attaches to the tailpiece. By turning the Philips head screw in, the action will decrease. Turning the screw out will increase the action. Tighten the lock nut after adjusting.
String replacement:
5 String: requires the following set from Magic Fluke for proper tension tuned in G:
#5/g/Nylon .030” (or steel .012”)
#4/D/D’Addario NYXL wound .028”
#3/G/D’Addario NYXL .023”
#2/B/Nylon .038” (or steel .014)
#1/D/Nylon .030” (or steel .012”)
LaBella equivalents may be substituted.
Tenor: Standard tenor ukulele strings, gCEA(high or low G) or dGBE (high d)
Baritone: Standard baritone strings for DGBE tuning.
Tuner adjustment – may be required periodically. Grover friction tuners can be adjusted by turning the screw on the knob. Peghed geared tuners can be adjusted by pushing in while turning to increase drag or pulling out to reduce drag.
Tightening the head – is easily done with the 10 3/32” hex wrench provided. Turn the 10 screws evenly no more than 1/4 turn at a time. When properly tensioned, there should be about 1/16” of sag in the head at the bridge when in tune.
Long term storage or shipping - we recommend that you keep the bridge turned flat onto the head to relieve pressure. Avoid temperature and humidity extremes.
1 Comments
Jaroslav Budnyk
Date
9/19/2023
Hi, I have the baritone fluke banjo. (DGBE tuning). The top E string seems to break quite often. What can I do to avoid this happening? I am using the correct strings. Kind regards
Magic Fluke Co.
Date
9/19/2023
We have not heard of the E string breaking often, though we suspect it could be due to a sharp corner on the tailpiece. The next time you are changing strings, you can take a file or a bit of folded up sandpaper to the end of the tailpiece where the string is inserted, and round it out a little bit to make sure any sharp edges are smoothed out. We try and make sure all of our parts don't contain any edges, but some do slip through the cracks. Hopefully this helps!