Banjo set-up specs
 

I've set up hundreds of guitars... but this is my first banjo.

I generally start an acoustic guitar set-up like this. Nut slots... fret high or +.002" if I have a heavy handed player. Relief .005-006" in the middle of the neck. Action at the twelfth .095" low E, .065" high e, maybe 10-15 thou higher for a heavy hitter. I will adjust action a bit to suit the player's style.

The 5 string banjo I've just gotten in clearly has a low nut slot for the first string, but also has minimal relief for such a long neck. At the middle of the neck it's .003-.004". The action at the twelfth is about .040" for all strings.

Any thoughts?

Because of the longer neck, I set banjo relief around 0.012". I set the action at 1/8" for hard players, and around 0.100" for everyone else. Most banjos have flat fingerboards and bridges, so I generally set the action the same on strings 1 through 4. Action on the 5th string will be slightly less.
Neck angle cam be adjusted with a shim between the neck and the rim, or by adjusting the coordinator rods. Also note that tightening or loosening the head will change the action.
No matter the instrument, I set nuts as close to fret height as I dare.

I do an even 90 thou at the 12th for banjos.

Head (drum) tension is important as well.

Steve

Banjos vary all over the place, with some being nearly non-adjustable to modern ones with easily adjusted neck angles. Five string banjos may need high action for old-time clawhammer playing, and melodic bluegrass players might want very low action. Tenor banjos might need low action and near zero relief.

Often enough we need to use a different height bridge depending on whether the banjo can be adjusted by other means.

So much depends on the player that I think it's fair to say that if you are adept at setting up guitars, you'll have little trouble with banjos. Just dial the nut in carefully and go from there. . .

Interestingly enough, I did three banjo type instrument skins yesterday.

Exactly the same as a Banjo.

Did a walk through tutorial on it as well.

Just like a banjo, I set the action at the 12th to 90 thou.

Steve

http://www.mirwa.com.au/images/rt.jpg

Thanks to all. Very helpful.