Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 02/01/2016:  04:21:22

Hi

Over Christmas I looked at a lot of pony banjos, banjeaurines etc as that is  what I have on my bench at the mo .I came across this lovely soprano banjo made by Pat Huff (Docs Banjos ). Its truly one of the loveliest looking and sounding banjos I've ever head. Although the scale length is given to be 24 inches ,I think its a bit shorter -Doc Huffs other sopranos on his website are 19 inches ish .If the guy in the video is playing a 24 inch banjo he must be a giant! Here's a link to the instrument ,nice photos and video.

dreamguitars.com/sold-guitars/...7/#photos

My question concerns Nylgut Minstrels that Doc strings his sopranos with .These are designed for low strung minstrel banjo type instruments .I'm not able to determine how the banjo is tune on the video . If I stuck these strings on  the  a 20 1/8 scale instrument I'm making  , where would they take me tuning wise - standard G /A tuning?

Pat's banjo has a wooden archtop tone ring .My pot  has a Rickard Dobson ,I'm wondering if it will sound  nice.

Jim

hughstrawn - Posted - 02/01/2016:  04:53:59

I had my Saga Pony banjo strung  with Minstrel Nylguts (22" scale?? - don't remember-I sold it) and was able to tune down to G/C with no problem at all. It also had a Fibreskyn head and Moon bridge--I liked the sound.

hugh

Edited by - hughstrawn on 02/01/2016 04:55:15

Lyndon Smith - Posted - 02/02/2016:  00:25:02

Jim, I have Nylgut Minstrel strings on two banjos, my Bowlin 1865 replica and my Ebony & Tiger Maple banjo (not presented on BHO yet). Both are 24" scale and both are tuned to dADF#A. I love this tuning, it's very mellow.

The 19.625" scale banjo I built for my youngest son used Nylgut baritone ukelele strings and is tuned to open G.

I've found Nylguts to be quite accommodating on different tunings. They can take quite a range.

As for the Dobson Tone ring, my Ebony & Tiger Maple banjo has one and I really like it, I think you will be pleased with it...

Hawgfiddle65 - Posted - 02/02/2016:  02:50:13

Hi Lyndon

I was really knocked out by Pat Huffs short scale soprano. I was intending using steel strings on my pony banjo , I went as far as installing a double action truss rod . I always have the option of using steel strings in the future and the set of steel stringsI bought  will always be put to use on my BC350 . By trying the  nylgut minstrels I also get the excuse to carve myself a bone tail piece. I love the sound of a Dobson tone ring .The pot I am using came from my baritone uke banjo I built a couple of years back .Neck alignment was a bit skew-whiff and I found I didn't use it as much as I expected, so the pot has been reassigned to the pony banjo . Looking forward to hearing the minstrel/dobson combo.

Plans change , projects evolve, the journey is ever forwards. Looking forward to seeing your ebony /tiger maple banjo at some point.I remember enthusing about the ebony  pot pictures you posted - reminded me of the base of chessmen and the tiger maple you had was gorgeous . I have lots f nice wood in my shed and am planning at least 2 banjos ahead at anytime . Its a healthier obsession than some!.

Cheers from a Storm Henry battered NW coast of Scotland

Jim