panopticon - Posted - 04/01/2019:  20:33:55

I bought a used banjo sat on it for a while and now got it fixed but theres one catch the guy that fixed my 4 string tenor banjo up as a regular 5 string in DGBD tuning what should I do to recover if I don’t think I can simply retune it for the strings would break sorry if I’m wrong but I’ve been trying to get this thing working for months and keep runing into problems what should I do?

Banjosephus - Posted - 04/01/2019:  20:57:09

Trade it for a keyboard that has a "period" key.

Ciao - Posted - 04/02/2019:  01:52:10

Maybe give the 'jo away to a deserving youngster and take up line dancing?

Texasbanjo - Posted - 04/02/2019:  04:32:49

If you keep breaking strings, maybe the strings are old or maybe you're trying to tune up too high, maybe there's a rough spot on one of the tuning pegs that causes strings to break or on the tail piece. There could be several reason you can't retune successfully.

How about asking the guy who fixed it and tuned it for you why you can't retune, perhaps he can fix the problem.

Blackjaxe47 - Posted - 04/02/2019:  05:34:41

Trade it for a Accordian

brewerpaul - Posted - 04/02/2019:  06:39:36

I'd think that just putting a real set of tenor banjo strings on it would let you tune it to GDAE,but I'm no luthier. I'm hoping that you get answers (real ones ;-) ) from people more knowledgeable than myself.
Your very best bet would be to get it to a real luthier with experience on tenor banjos. There's a lot more to banjo setup than just strings.
BTW-- what kind of banjo is it? Do you know the string diameters?

thisoldman - Posted - 04/02/2019:  08:25:19

Continuing the light hearted humor -- don't sit on your banjo again. But seriously. 4 string banjos come in a couple of different flavors, depending on the number of frets. If it has the same scale length/number of frets (22) as a banjo, making it a "plectrum banjo" then tuning it the same as a banjo would make sense, and would determine your string choice. If it has 17 or 19 frets, then you would need to choose your desired tuning (GDAE or CDGA) and then you can find standard sets for those tunings.

leonbrown - Posted - 04/13/2019:  10:20:22

f you continue breaking strings, possibly the strings are old or perhaps you're attempting to tune up excessively high, perhaps there's a harsh spot on one of the tuning pegs that makes strings break or on the tail piece. There could be a few reasons you can't retune effectively.