markpfander - Posted - 06/27/2014:  10:34:18

Hey Everyone! I'm new to the site and new to banjos so if this question is dumb you now know why. I have a pre war (not sure what year) Kalamazoo Banjo. Its in very good shape except every time I try and tune it the string pops. I'm not quite sure why this could be happening. The strings are brand new. If anyone has any advice/knowledge as to why this is occurring, please share! Thanks.

buckholler - Posted - 06/27/2014:  10:51:35

Which string and where is it popping and or breaking. If its the 5th and you have a friction tuner and the string's just not keeping tension than its the tuner. If you breaking string it can be a host of things.

If its the tuner trying tightening  the screw on top of the tuner.  But be careful you don't want to go to much and break the tuner button. 

Edited by - buckholler on 06/27/2014 10:56:25

markpfander - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:00:46

Its a 4 string banjo and its the g, d, and a strings that break.

deestexas - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:06:00

what size are the strings?   tenor or Irish banjo(17 0r 19 frets)?

where do they break? nut, bridge, or tailpiece?

beegee - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:15:15

Are you tuning to the correct octave?

markpfander - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:31:15

its a tenor, the sizes of the strings are .23mm, they break at the tuning guages, and yes i have an app on my iphone called "guitar tuna" and it is an electronic tuner for many string instruments 

Crusty - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:41:23

You just listed one size string, .23mm or .009" which is appropriate for the first string only, and there should be four different sizes.

An electronic tuner just tells you the note, not the octave that the particular note is in.  If I try to tune any of my banjos an octave too high I'll be replacing strings too.

You can get quality help here if you give everyone enough information to help you.

deestexas - Posted - 06/27/2014:  11:42:23

a typical light tenor set is 0.23, 0.41, 0.58. and 0.76 mm.  If the strings are breaking at the tuning pegs (is that  what you mean by guages?), then there may be sharp edges on the holes of the tuners.  Inspect them.