Garry Greenland - Posted - 01/04/2017:  07:53:44

What are your suggestions for strings for a Lady Stewart, steel or nylgut , what gauges or packages of strings.  Thanks Garry Greenland

kyleb - Posted - 01/04/2017:  07:57:39

considering that ss stewart himself loathed the steel string, all his instruments were made for gut, so i would go that route, also theres no easier way to warp an old banjo neck than to test your luck with steel strings.

Edited by - kyleb on 01/04/2017 07:57:49

trapdoor2 - Posted - 01/04/2017:  08:22:59

quote:

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Originally posted by Garry Greenland

 

What are your suggestions for strings for a Lady Stewart, steel or nylgut , what gauges or packages of strings.  Thanks Garry Greenland

---

Nylon, Nylgut or Gut. You can go crazy from there...lots of variety and preferences. I would suggest Chris Sands nylons (medium or heavy gauge) to start with. I like Aquila Nylgut "Classic" also. How you play (Fingerpick? Clawhammer?) will influence your choices significantly.

Back in the day, strings were gut, which you can still source it from some vendors. It is expensive...and it doesn't like humidity or rough treatment (picks, or even very hard fingernails). I like the feel and sound of gut.

The Lady Stewart was designed to be tuned to standard pitch. That is, she wasn't designed as an "A" scale instrument. Strung with standard "soft" strings, she should be tuned gCGBD or gDGBD (or any of the scores of clawhammer tunings) as if she were a standard length banjo. However, since she has a shorter scale, she'll do very nicely tuned as an "A" scale banjo.

Edited by - trapdoor2 on 01/04/2017 08:25:49

Bill H - Posted - 01/04/2017:  09:19:24

Ditto on the Aquilla Nylgut Classic. I tried real gut on time and loved them, but they only lasted two weeks due to my fingernails shredding the.  Finger style might be kinder to gut strings.

revellfa - Posted - 01/04/2017:  09:23:05

I used very light gauge steel on mine. Worked fine. Having said that I think that I'd use nylons if I had to do it again. Less tension and just as much volume

banjonz - Posted - 01/04/2017:  10:06:16

I have seen a lot of Stewart's here strung with steel. Many of them have bowed necks. They were never designed for such strings.

Garry Greenland - Posted - 01/04/2017:  10:44:11

Wow!!  I must thank you all for the advice.  This certainly makes me much better informed.   Garry Greenland

Garry Greenland - Posted - 01/04/2017:  10:45:35

quote:

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Originally posted by kyleb

 

considering that ss stewart himself loathed the steel string, all his instruments were made for gut, so i would go that route, also theres no easier way to warp an old banjo neck than to test your luck with steel strings.

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OK, I'm on my way to a more informed state of mind.

Garry Greenland - Posted - 01/04/2017:  10:48:44

quote:

---

Originally posted by trapdoor2

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Garry Greenland

 

What are your suggestions for strings for a Lady Stewart, steel or nylgut , what gauges or packages of strings.  Thanks Garry Greenland

---

Nylon, Nylgut or Gut. You can go crazy from there...lots of variety and preferences. I would suggest Chris Sands nylons (medium or heavy gauge) to start with. I like Aquila Nylgut "Classic" also. How you play (Fingerpick? Clawhammer?) will influence your choices significantly.

Back in the day, strings were gut, which you can still source it from some vendors. It is expensive...and it doesn't like humidity or rough treatment (picks, or even very hard fingernails). I like the feel and sound of gut.

The Lady Stewart was designed to be tuned to standard pitch. That is, she wasn't designed as an "A" scale instrument. Strung with standard "soft" strings, she should be tuned gCGBD or gDGBD (or any of the scores of clawhammer tunings) as if she were a standard length banjo. However, since she has a shorter scale, she'll do very nicely tuned as an "A" scale banjo.

---

I'm getting better informed all the time.  Thanks for the information about the pitch, I definitely was wondering what the tuning should/could be.

Culloden - Posted - 01/04/2017:  15:11:31

quote:

---

Originally posted by kyleb

 

considering that ss stewart himself loathed the steel string, all his instruments were made for gut, so i would go that route, also theres no easier way to warp an old banjo neck than to test your luck with steel strings.

---

Did steel strings even exist when S. S. Stewart was alive?

trapdoor2 - Posted - 01/05/2017:  07:25:01

quote:

---

Originally posted by Culloden

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by kyleb

 

considering that ss stewart himself loathed the steel string, all his instruments were made for gut, so i would go that route, also theres no easier way to warp an old banjo neck than to test your luck with steel strings.

---

Did steel strings even exist when S. S. Stewart was alive?

---

Metal strings have been around for a very long time. As I recall, Rob MacKillop plays an English guitar (or maybe its a Cittern) that was designed for steel strings...and that instrument dates from the 1700s. I would guess that iron/steel strings date back to the Renaissance.

For banjo strings, I think we're talking about post Stewart...but only by a few years.

Joel Hooks - Posted - 01/05/2017:  08:41:02

I've ranted endlessly on the subject of wire strings used on 5 string banjos pre 1910/20ish.  During all my rants I have been able to assemble a huge volume of documentation that paints a very clear picture of musical fashions prior to the nostalgia music of the 1920s.

A direct answer is yes there were wire strings marketed for banjo as early as the mid 1880s.  But there is more to it than that.

Basically wire strings were cheap goods to make a sale to someone not serious enough to spring for a good instrument or strings.  Gut were 12 times more expensive then wire and that makes wire the perfect item to rust under a bed when neglected.  Just like all the $30 ukes of the recent uke fad.

FWIW, the nylon or polyester strings on the market today are much thicker than the gut strings originally used.  Some sets are nearly twice as thick (with an equal increase in tension).

Garry Greenland - Posted - 01/05/2017:  11:53:56

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Hi

Joel do you have a recommendation for strings for a Lady Stewart.  Thanks Garry Greenland

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joel Hooks

 

I've ranted endlessly on the subject of wire strings used on 5 string banjos pre 1910/20ish.  During all my rants I have been able to assemble a huge volume of documentation that paints a very clear picture of musical fashions prior to the nostalgia music of the 1920s.

A direct answer is yes there were wire strings marketed for banjo as early as the mid 1880s.  But there is more to it than that.

Basically wire strings were cheap goods to make a sale to someone not serious enough to spring for a good instrument or strings.  Gut were 12 times more expensive then wire and that makes wire the perfect item to rust under a bed when neglected.  Just like all the $30 ukes of the recent uke fad.

FWIW, the nylon or polyester strings on the market today are much thicker than the gut strings originally used.  Some sets are nearly twice as thick (with an equal increase in tension).

---

Joel Hooks - Posted - 01/06/2017:  12:13:15

The closest you can get "off the rack" are the LaBella No. 17 (they are actually .019 for the first and fifth now-- originally the more appropriate .017).