I did not request or approve introducing this filler to the original peghead veneer. The way I see it: the minute I paid for the banjo, I owned it. Some mix of epoxy and ebony in a big lump. It turned out the shop had noticed the chipping while doing the neck work and decided to repair it, and then forgotten to complete the repair. In my mind, the chipping was not structural or something that I would have considered repairing. Now there is a raw, un-sanded glob of filler on it. There was some chipped veneer on the edge that I noticed the first time the banjo arrived. There is a big glob of filler on the peghead veneer that was not there originally. Then I noticed something really upsetting. Indeed the neck and hardware issues were resolved to my satisfaction. The banjo came back to me in less than ten days.
We agreed on a specific scope of work which included removing the jammed hardware and replacing the U-piece at the rim with a thinner one, resetting the dowel to bring the neck into alignment, set-up with nylon strings and adjusting the shim to a more playable action. I was encouraged to return the banjo for them to make it right with any needed work. At this point I called the dealer and spoke to the shop. When I loosened the dowel stick clamp to investigate a real problem arose: with the screw backed out and the tail lug removed, the hardware was jammed so tight that the retaining pin in the dowel would not budge. Then I quickly noticed that the neck was twisted, so that the plane of the neck was askew to the plane of the head. So a shim wouldn’t be the end of the world. The first issue I noticed when the banjo arrived was that the action was so high is was barely playable, but playable, I guess. Satisfied that all of the issues and defects were disclosed and that this banjo was both playable and in original condition (mostly) I made the purchase. I have been shopping for an A.C Fairbanks Electric for a while and one recently got my interest-the listing described the banjo as “playing perfectly with a straight neck…”, and my questions to the dealer revealed that there were no cracks in the fret board or the peg head veneer.
But I'm wondering if anyone on here has any insight into why, or how this banjo would have gotten a scale length that the company cannot account for? When I go to build my stew mac kit, rest assured I will be using the 27.5" scale length. AND I LOVE IT!!! I am certain that the extra length adds to the tonal qualities that I love about this banjo in particular. But mine, a normal 2013 Epiphone MB-200 has a 27.5" scale length. On all websites, and talking on the phone with customer service, all accounts say that my banjo should have a 26.25" scale length. I'm thinking about moving on to a stew mac banjo, and have been researching different neck configurations which is where I ran into a discrepancy with my current banjo. It's a fine instrument for a beginner and I have brought a lot of life and function out of it through setup and upgrades. This is my first post so I apologize if I am not in the right forum, but this seemed to match my topic closest! I've been playing banjo for going on two years on my Epiphone MB-200.