Here's a little detour. While we are checking the tightness of the coordinator rods I need give you my opinion about using them to adjust the banjo's action. I'm a firm believer in not using the rods to change the string height like some setup instructions recommend. This technique adjusts the action by changing the shape of the wood rim. By pulling or pushing on the lower part of the rim you are moving the neck up or down. This pulls the rim slightly out of round which makes it impossible to tighten the head evenly. It also tends to decrease the volume by keeping the rim from vibrating fully in tandem with the tone ring sitting on top of it.

The best way to raise or lower the banjo's action is to use a higher or lower bridge. Sometimes the holes through the rim are slightly bigger than the lag bolts that go through them. By moving the neck up or down as far as it can go before tightening it up you can make a small difference in the string height. Also, there is often enough play to allow the neck to twist a little when it is tightened causing the neck to be higher on one side of the other. Be sure to check this before tightening the neck. It's usually easier to make these adjustments after putting the new head back on so you can line things up with the notch in the stretcher band where the neck is attached.

Different brands of banjos often have different method of attaching the neck. On the standard Gibson design there are two rods. The lower one (closest to the resonator) is attached using a long bolt that is drilled and threaded at both ends. One end screws into the lag bolt in the neck. This actually holds the neck on. A coordinator rod screws into the other end of this “bolt”. The other end of the coordinator rod passes through the rim where the tailpiece is located. There are small nuts on the inside and outside of the rim to hold it in place. These bolts do not have anything to do with holding the neck on! They should be hand tightened so they do not exert any pull on the rim.

The upper cooordinator rod screws directly into the neck lag bolt and should be tightened firmly at that end. I use a small Allen wrench that fits in the hole in the middle of the rod and is short enough to be turned to tighten it. The other end fits in a hole in the rim and only has a nut on the inside of the rim. Like the bottom rod only the end attached to the neck holds the neck on so you should finger tighten this bolt as well.