How to get clear tone & sustain up the neck

What do you do to make the notes clear and get some sustain up the neck?  The further up the neck I go the more dead the notes get.  Doing a slide way up the neck, the note goes dead before I get there.  The banjo is a Gold Tone CC 100 R.  Action is low and have a compensated bridge.  Head is adjusted to a quarter.  Intonation is right on.  What do you do to fix this, other than get a high end banjo.  Everywhere else this banjo sounds fantastic.