Collapsible banjo or like stringed instruments

A collapsible stringed instrument to be played manually comprising a sound-body presenting a substantially flat upper surface and a peripheral wall extending downwards from said surface, an elongated neck extending substantially radially from said wall and formed with a peghead at the end thereof remote from said sound-body, the other end of said elongated neck being formed with a heel bearing on said wall, screw means accessible from beneath said neck for detachably securing said heel to said wall by tightening said screw means whereby said neck can be detached from said wall by removing said neck radially therefrom when said screw means are released, a finger board on said neck substantially coplanar with said flat upper surface of said sound-body, a plurality of tuning pegs in said pegboard for tensioning strings when respectively attached thereto, strings respectively attached to said pegs, an anchor bracket fixed to said sound-body at a location in axial alignment with said elongated neck on a portion of said sound-body remote from said neck, a tailpiece attached to all said strings at the ends thereof remote from said pegs, screw means mounted on said tailpiece for drawing said tailpiece to said anchor bracket and for ready removal from said bracket while remaining engaged with said tailpiece, and a bridge removably resting on said flat upper surface of said sound-body between said neck and said tailpiece and formed with holes through which said strings respectively pass, whereby the assembly consisting of said neck, tailpiece, bridge and strings can be separated as a unit from said sound-body without slackening said strings and then mounted on said sound-body with said strings already in tune.