When I first got my cheapo banjo last Christmas, I played with the original strings. Not sure what they were. After a short while I bought D'addario light phosphor bronze. I hated those strings 😂. Too loose and weird overtones were coming in all over the place, especially on the B string. So I switched to D'addario nickel medium. It's a whole new world. My banjo loves them. They just need a little warming up when you play.
I’ve noticed when my strings start getting old the banjo needs tuning more often, not while I’m playing but every other day before playing ..... there seems to be a sweet spot.....new strings tuning--sweet spot no tuning for week or four-- old strings tuning. Good stuff BA!
Yeah I snapped the 1st string of my banjo when I was first tuning it (still not sure how) and had to go to the store looking for a replacement but couldn’t tell the guy what gauge strings it came with. Got a pack of both, put on the ones the helpful gentleman said were more likely, and it’s been sounding as good as I can make it since. This is a helpful video, thank you
Generally light strings are the best option. They are the easiest to play and also are the easiest on your banjo neck. If you have learned the GDGBD tuning I think it’s best to tune with a chromatic tuner that shows the octave of the string you’re tuning in. That way you’re not tuning to a G an octave higher than you should. That’s generally why strings snap while tuning.
@@BanjoAddict it very well could be that I was tuning up too high, that’s my best guess too. Thanks for pointing out the specific kind of tuner, I’ll look into it.
Methinks you don’t understand the gut / nylon strings. Gut was traditionally used on nearly all five string banjos until the late 1920s. They were used for finger style playing that lead to three finger blue grass and are very bright with the right bridge and when the weather is dry. Similar to plastic banjo heads, people went to nylon strings to keep the bright sound in humid weather. Google Classic Style banjo … not classical.
Yea I’ve studied gut strings. I know how they started, why people switched to steal and the same with nylon. It’s not rocket science. But also I don’t play with those type strings so sorry my rhetoric was off on the subject.
When I first got my cheapo banjo last Christmas, I played with the original strings. Not sure what they were. After a short while I bought D'addario light phosphor bronze. I hated those strings 😂. Too loose and weird overtones were coming in all over the place, especially on the B string. So I switched to D'addario nickel medium. It's a whole new world. My banjo loves them. They just need a little warming up when you play.
I’ve noticed when my strings start getting old the banjo needs tuning more often, not while I’m playing but every other day before playing ..... there seems to be a sweet spot.....new strings tuning--sweet spot no tuning for week or four-- old strings tuning. Good stuff BA!
Yeah I snapped the 1st string of my banjo when I was first tuning it (still not sure how) and had to go to the store looking for a replacement but couldn’t tell the guy what gauge strings it came with. Got a pack of both, put on the ones the helpful gentleman said were more likely, and it’s been sounding as good as I can make it since. This is a helpful video, thank you
Generally light strings are the best option. They are the easiest to play and also are the easiest on your banjo neck. If you have learned the GDGBD tuning I think it’s best to tune with a chromatic tuner that shows the octave of the string you’re tuning in. That way you’re not tuning to a G an octave higher than you should. That’s generally why strings snap while tuning.
@@BanjoAddict it very well could be that I was tuning up too high, that’s my best guess too. Thanks for pointing out the specific kind of tuner, I’ll look into it.
So how about us guys with long neck Vegas know which strings long enough. Great vid, it I need long neck details!
Great suggestion!
Methinks you don’t understand the gut / nylon strings. Gut was traditionally used on nearly all five string banjos until the late 1920s. They were used for finger style playing that lead to three finger blue grass and are very bright with the right bridge and when the weather is dry. Similar to plastic banjo heads, people went to nylon strings to keep the bright sound in humid weather. Google Classic Style banjo … not classical.
Yea I’ve studied gut strings. I know how they started, why people switched to steal and the same with nylon. It’s not rocket science. But also I don’t play with those type strings so sorry my rhetoric was off on the subject.