How to Install Banjo 5th String Spikes 

I did it! After 3 heart attacks, 1 stroke and 4 pairs of trousers I now have railroad spikes on my banjo! My tip for anyone who is brave/stupid enough to take a drill to their instrument is don’t underestimate the need for the feeler gauge, would have definitely saved me from 2 of the heart attacks the stroke and saved a pair of trousers. I used an old credit card, which nearly became a permanent feature of the banjo.

Wonderful tutorial! It showed me that I will never attempt this on my own. :)

Fantastic tutorial! I'll definitely be testing a few spikes in some scrap wood before going right to my banjo :)

Thanks, I have to do this today when I get to the shop. Been repairing guitars for many years but never did this job before. Feeling pretty confident thanks to your video.

Thanks for the vid. I have heard banjo players talking about railroad spike capoes but had no idea what they were talking about. Now I know

It’s nice to see what you are going to do when you install my 5th string capos . Thanks for posting this video Jake .

1/32" = 0.03125", in case your drill set is marked in thousandths. Great vid, I'll be using it to install some spikes that arrive with my Twanger, which is out for delivery as I type! Spikes will go on a couple of my other banjos.

Great tutorial! Perfect for my not too expensive banjos. However, I’ll pay a luthier to do the more expensive banjo.

Thanks for posting this video! You did a fantastic job of explaining what you were doing, as well as telling us why you did it. This video will be great to show someone wanting spikes to help them understand what will be happening to their baby when I install them. Excellent!

Thanks, Ben, great tutorial. My problem is breaking bits in hard ebony!

You are awesome!!!!! Exactly what I was needing to know!!!!! Muh banjo is about to be a wide open ass kicker!!!!!

So, it would be helpful to list the things you need first so we can gather all that stuff before watching: So 1. Pencil 2. hammer 3. finish nail 4. dremel with 1/32" bit 5. railroad spike 6. file 7. punch 8. 12 thousandth gauge (what?) or credit card. Otherwise, very helpful.

Thanks for this. Isn't it "dangerous" to place the opening of the spike downwards? I learned that it should be upwards so the the string cannot slip out due to "intense" playing ;-) ?

Excellent! Thanks from Barcelona

You sir have some big co-jones... I wouldn't be brave enough to drill my banjo.

Cool video, I never really knew how it was done. Thx

Awesome Job Banjo Ben !

I bought a spike, now I want to install a banjo on it

Great info. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Man oh man that's treading very close to the edge!! The edge of despair for me.

Is it the same to aim them up or down? I feel that downwards, with the force of the thumb, the string could come out of place. Thank you! excellent work

Thank you! Super helpful!

You don't use any glue?

I use a pin vise to drill.

Thanks for a great tutorial!

I’ve been looking for this information for ages! Living in Brazil, it’s kinda hard to come by this kind of content, since I didn’t even knew what words to use when searching on google! Do the spikes interfere with your “normal” playing in any way? Is it hard to press on a fret with the spike installed near it?

No glue?

Why is there no spike on the first fret of the fifth string to take it up a semitone or am i being stupid?

Very well explained

This is great, thank you Ben. A quick question, I have a spike for my 5th string, not a bone or nylon version and has worked its way loose. My closest Luthier is 100,s of miles away, do you or your followers have a solution. Many Thanks Chris (Oxford UK)

Now, what happens should your drill breaks? How do you take it out? and please explain the depth of the drill hole. Is it drilled the full length of the spike or just a little bit to start the spike

Thank you

What do you do when you have a spike that’s loosened up over the years? Is there some glue or something you can fix it with?

Jake, Do you drill the full depth of the post?

Excellent

Very cool thank you

Why don't they face the other way, that seems like you can pluck it out of the spike!

Followed the instructions per your RU-vid video and installed spikes at the 7th and 9th frets. When I got it back in tune the 5th string was muted. The string was hitting the spike at the 9th fret. I used the proper feeler gauge when I installed the spikes. What now?? Where did I go wrong?

I'm terrified of putting holes in my banjo bridge.

as an electric guitar player, putting nails on the fretboard is just painful to watch.

Theys a easier way to do that ,,,,,,and that's not the way I do it