NotABanjoYoda - Posted - 11/10/2022:  11:59:03

Hi,

Just joined the forum. Been playing guitars since birth and just got into banjo playing. I noticed banjo players on stage often have something clipped or installed above the tuners? I am guessing a mic or maybe just a conveinient place to hold a tuner?

ChunoTheDog - Posted - 11/10/2022:  12:09:20

Those are electronic tuners

mike gregory - Posted - 11/10/2022:  12:29:05

"I salute you for your ability to notice the details. Welcome to the HangOut. That's my electronic tuner."

-S. Martin

NotABanjoYoda - Posted - 11/10/2022:  13:02:16

Wow, thats quick service.

Do banjos have them during performances because they switch keys in the middle of a song?


I use pedals on my guitar for that innersong. I just swap guitars or capo intersong so im just trying to understand the why now that you gratiously told me how.

NotABanjoYoda - Posted - 11/10/2022:  13:07:01

Mike....

Anyone who is dedicated to music enough to make 60k banjo related posts DESERVES that Martin salute, but not I!??

ChunoTheDog - Posted - 11/10/2022:  13:09:51

quote:

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Originally posted by NotABanjoYoda

Wow, thats quick service.



Do banjos have them during performances because they switch keys in the middle of a song?





I use pedals on my guitar for that innersong. I just swap guitars or capo intersong so im just trying to understand the why now that you gratiously told me how.

---

I've always wondered the same... either for quickly going from open G to D tuning or whatever....Or maybe for tuning that pesky 3rd string that always goes sharp, while theres a lot of ambient noise around?

Hopefully a gigging musician around here can fill us parking lot pickers in....

wrench13 - Posted - 11/10/2022:  13:29:39

E-tuner, no mystery involved.

JimHenry - Posted - 11/10/2022:  13:31:17

Tuners are useful not just for when you change keys (via capo or such) but also when you change tunings. There are a dozen or more common tunings, sometimes differing by just a half step on one string (for example, going from open G to sawmill you just tune the 2nd string up 1/2 step. It gives tunes in this tuning a whole different flavor).

BUT changing that one string changes the pressure thru the bridge onto the head and then on most banjos, the other strings will be a bit off due to the now-altered tension of the head. So you have to check and adjust. It is just the nature of the banjo. Rigid guitar bodies do not normally have this issue.

NewBlackDak - Posted - 11/10/2022:  14:34:36

Banjo players spend half their life tuning, and the other half playing out of tune.

Edited by - NewBlackDak on 11/10/2022 14:34:56