iolson - Posted - 03/10/2016:  11:07:44

I recently put Nylgut strings on a cheap fretless banjo. They're very different and lots of fun, but I'm wondering if they need to be replaced, and if so, how regularly. I can't imagine that they'll snap in the near future, as I re-tune them far less (and far less drastically) than my steel strings.

Thoughts?

rudy - Posted - 03/10/2016:  11:44:12

As long as they don't show any mechanical wear and they intonate fairly well they can be kept on as long as they hold up.  I keep mine on a couple years with no obvious change in tone.

I've got a friend that has had the same Nylguts on for something like 6 years and gigs regularly with them.  (I think I did shame him into ordering a new set.)

On fretless it's harder to tell when (and if) they begin to stretch irregularly, but that's the tip off that they should be changed before mechanical failure.  I use standard Nylguts (and now use the Reds) on my fretted banjos and it's pretty apparent if they start to intonate poorly as a result of stretching.

bartmcneil - Posted - 03/10/2016:  13:00:33

It is nice to have a replacement set or two lying around but as mentioned above they can last a long time. I changed mine a couple of years ago but am not sure i needed to, I think I did it out of habit after using steel strings for years. I have broken a few but that was mainy from rough handling.

Bill H - Posted - 03/12/2016:  09:01:33

I've had them on an old banjo for five or six years and they still sound good.

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 03/12/2016:  16:28:46

The Nylon Strings on Jackie-O are going on 5 years now - actually maybe longer. I don't like or use Nylguts. I used to use nylon guitar strings (I still had tons of them around and no longer played guitar at all). I found Chris Sands Medium Classic Banjo Strings perfect for my playing - they are thinner than the guitar strings for the same pitch - harder nylon I assume. I do have a replacement set , but haven't gotten around to putting them on. - Heck man, the steel strings on my main players are probably 2 to 3 years old by now.

As you can probably tell, I like my strings aged a bit anyway. I never was much into the sound of new strings and always tried to change well before any gigs. This got to be a PITA when we had a steady 4 night a week gig for about 2 years - but that was back in the RnR days and since I was the rhythm guitarist I only changed strings about every 2 to 4 months. When changing time came around I would change them on Monday afternoon right after getting up, so they would be fully settled in by Thursday night.

 

I'm reminded of my Flamenco days when I changed strings 2 days before every gig (the gigs were thin on the ground for a Flamenco guitarist in the 1960s). Flamenco really needs that sharp edge you get from new strings. I never owned any particularly great flamenco guitars - and in fact did many of my "flamenco" gigs with a thin bodied Mexican classical guitar. I think it was built as a guitar for younger players - although it was full guitar scale. That is just a FMA guess. I really liked that guitar, but like all classical guitars (and most flamenco guitars of that era) by the time it was a year old the tone was too full to play flamenco even with the saddle shave down to the point where it buzzed a bit on most every fret. I put on a new saddle and sold it. Eventually I got a Conde Hermanos (Sobrines de Estesso) guitar. These were reasonably priced factory hand made guitars popular with a lot of flamencos in the 60s. Mine came from a friend who traveled to Spain every summer and usually brought back a stack of guitars - listed as 5 - 10 dollar tourist guitars on the bill of sale.

Factory hand made means the final assembly was done by luthierothersrs but all the parts were shaped and bent up by apprentice labour. Conde Hermanos (Conde Brothers) were the Sobrines (Nephews) of D. Estesso - a maker of professional quality classical and flamenco guitars from the 1930s and 40s. Estessos were prized possesions by Flamecos in the 1960s - the classicals were never considered to be above average.

Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 03/12/2016 16:42:47

iolson - Posted - 03/13/2016:  15:43:21

Thanks for the advice everyone! I haven't noticed any real difference in tone or wear, but I also know myself well enough not to trust my eyes or ears. I've got a spare set lying around, but since they still sound alright to me and the nylguts are a pain to change, I think I'll leave them on for a good while yet.